“The pollution most responsible for shortening lives consists of the tiniest airborne particles, called PM2.5. They are small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream, causing breathing and cardiovascular problems, cancer and possibly even dementia. They’re bad for healthy people and terrible for young children, the elderly and anyone who already has heart or respiratory problems.” Researchers at University of Chicago’s Energy Institute wanted to present their data on air pollution in a way that would make sense to the average person. So they developed a metric that assesses how many years we lose to the air we breathe. In some places, that number is shockingly high. According to the lead author of the study: “The present is not destiny. When you look around the world, forceful policy can really change air quality and lengthen people’s lives.” (But don’t hold your breath…)

+ “When the Trump administration laid out a plan this year that would eventually allow cars to emit more pollution, automakers, the obvious winners from the proposal, balked. The changes, they said, went too far even for them. But it turns out that there was a hidden beneficiary of the plan that was pushing for the changes all along.” NYT: The Oil Industry’s Covert Campaign to Rewrite American Car Emissions Rules.