Big Boost for Alzheimer’s
This week’s press event announcing an immediate $50 million infusion of NIH funding to Alzheimer’s research—along with commitments to include an additional $80 million in research dollars and $26 million in services and supports in the President’s FY 2013 budget—was monumental on a number of fronts.
New Air Standards will Improve Health
New air standards issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in December are expected to have far-reaching effects on both pollution and public health. The new standards fall under the Clean Air Act’s power to control pollutants from coal and oil-fired power plants, and slashes allowable emissions of all hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) including metals like mercury and arsenic, acid gases, and particulate matter. Power plants have 3 years to conform to the new requirements and once fully in effect, the EPA estimates that the standards will reduce mercury emissions alone by as much as 90%.
