News Reporter: Climate Coach: Leaded aviation fuel is poisoning a new generation

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Down-to-earth advice for life on our changing planet.

By Michael J. Coren

Welcome. This week, the plight of the firefly and microwaving solar panels. But first, how leaded aviation fuel is poisoning a new generation.

Every day, we burn about half a million gallons of leaded gasoline in the United States.

Most people assume lead in fuel was banned decades ago. But while Congress banned the potent neurotoxin in automotive gasoline, ending one of the largest U.S. public health emergencies in history, loopholes persist.

The biggest one is large enough to fly a Cessna through.

Congress exempted the country's fleet of 170,000 piston-engine aircraft to allow time to find an alternative to lead, an octane booster for small aircraft. But it underestimated the delay's health implications.

At least 16 million people — and 3 million children — live within a kilometer of the country's general aviation airports, where these small planes take off and land.

Many of these people are dosed with small but meaningful amounts of lead from aviation exhaust. Researchers have even tracked the lead in children's blood rising and falling along with the frequency of nearby small-aircraft flights. (You can read my prior investigation here)

Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration finally approved an unleaded alternative. But Congress could push this out to 2030, and possibly much longer.

Language recently inserted into the FAA's reauthorization bill, if passed, could force airports to carry leaded fuel indefinitely. That would halt or even reverse efforts by airports, especially those in California, to go lead free.

Groups like the aircraft owners and pilots association AOPA say they support a "safe and smart transition" to unleaded fuel but want time to ensure safety, says Eric Blinderman, a spokesperson, despite the FAA's fleet-wide authorization of unleaded fuel.

Yet this will force communities to endure lead exposure with no end in sight, argues Stephanie Safdi of Stanford University's Environmental Law Clinic. "The market is innovating in a certain direction, and Congress is turning back the clock," she says. "That could have serious public health ramifications."

What can you do? There is no safe level of lead exposure, especially for children, but families can take steps to minimize their exposure.

If you live near one of the country's 13,000 civil aviation airports and have thoughts for Congress, you can tell your representative. The bill will probably go up for a vote this summer.

Write with your thoughts at climatecoach@washpost.com.

Learning Curve

July Fourth is the most polluted day of the year in many U.S. locations, with the impact of fireworks on air quality rivaling wildfires.

Each year, the $2 billion worth of explosives set off cause water pollution, spark wildfires and increase fine particulate pollutants known as PM 2.5, which are small enough to travel into our lungs, by 42 percent, report Kasha Patel and Kate Selig in The Washington Post.

This year, the wildfire smoke on June 7 and 8 produced pollution levels in cities traditionally only seen near the peak of July 4.

Tracking Biden

The Biden administration on Wednesday greenlighted the largest offshore wind project the United States has ever approved, paving the way for dozens of turbines that could eventually power hundreds of thousands of New Jersey homes.

Snapshot

Fireflies, the badges of childhood, are in trouble. Nearly 1 in 3 firefly species in North America may be threatened with extinction.

Humans have transformed the insects' world, by lighting up the skies and bulldozing their habitats. As these ethereal insects struggle to thrive, scientists are trying to find ways to save them, as The Post's Dino Grandoni reports.

A synchronous firefly in the red light of a headlamp at Grandfather Mountain State Park in North Carolina. (Travis Dove for The Washington Post Magazine)

Here are some top tips:

Let the grass grow: Leaving parts of your lawn unmowed and with leaf litter helps the ground retain moisture, creating a better habitat for firefly larvae.

Minimize lights at night: To reduce light pollution, only turn on outdoor lighting when you're using it. And consider installing lights equipped with motion sensors and timers.

Reduce the use of pesticides: Many broad-spectrum insecticides go after beetles. And fireflies are, technically, a type of beetle.

The Second Degree

Happy Independence Day. I'm back from the forests just outside Yosemite. I hope you're rested, sun-kissed and well-grilled after celebrating.

After my column on grilling better, many of you asked about pellet stoves and grills as a sustainable option. Pellets have become controversial because of some companies' poor forestry management practices and even deforestation. But there are Forest Stewardship Council-certified pellets. These are your best bet.

Lincoln wrote to extol the virtues of "BBQ à la Taïwanése." His wife, Hsu, puts a dry tea and sugar mixture into the bottom of a wok and suspends the food over it on a grate. After a few minutes, it is ready to serve, with the length of time varying according to what she's cooking. "You can play around with the flavors by tweaking the ratio of tea to sugar, the kind of tea that you use and the height of the flame," wrote Lincoln.

On the Climate Front

From The Post:

The deadliest animal in the world is smaller than a pencil eraser, weighs less than a raindrop and kills an estimated 700,000 people each year — the mosquito is on the move.

The same microwaves that warm your food are being used to heat up parts of a solar panel to take them apart and recover the materials.

Agricultural workers are at least 35 times more likely to die of heat than other workers. A nurse may have found a way to protect them.

Climate change is probably a death sentence for Maryland's Smith Island. Home sales are surging.

From elsewhere:

'I'm here for my grandchildren': Protesters delay Wimbledon to demand climate action, according to Euronews.

Politico reports the White House is "cautiously" opening the door to studies on blocking the sun's rays to slow global warming.

A Pew survey finds Americans support sweeping action on climate change "but haven't recognized they have to participate in that process," reports Ars Technica.

I wish I had more space to include artists who have carried on Ansel Adams's work in their own style. Isobel saw the exhibit and wrote: "I went in expecting it to be rather typical Adams, but was blown away by all of the more modern responses to his work, many of which I think say much more about humans' real relationship to the environment."

Here's one such piece by Arno Rafael Minkkinen.

Arno Rafael Minkkinen (American, born in Finland, 1945). Homage to Watkins, Yosemite, 2007 photograph, inkjet print, Sophie M. Friedman Fund © Arno Rafael Minkkinen, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

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See you next Tuesday,

Michael Coren, Climate Coach