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Submission + - Nearly Half of US Children Are Breathing Dangerous Levels of Air Pollution (theguardian.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Nearly half of children in the United States are breathing dangerous levels of air pollution, according to a new report, as experts warned Donald Trump’s expansive rollback of protections will make the situation worse. The 27th annual air quality report from the American Lung Association (ALA) released on Wednesday evaluates pollution across the country by grading levels of ground-level ozone – also known as smog – as well as year-round and short-term spikes in particle pollution, commonly referred to as soot. The report analyzed quality-assured data collected between 2022 and 2024. It found that 33.5 million children in the US – 46% of those under 18 – live in areas that received a failing grade for at least one measure of air pollution. The report also found that 7 million children, or 10% of all children in the US, live in communities that failed all three measures.

The report further found that communities of color are disproportionately exposed to unhealthy air. As a result, they are more likely to live with one or more chronic health conditions that make them more vulnerable to pollution, including asthma, diabetes, and heart disease. Although people of color make up 42.1% of the US population, they represent 54.2% of those living in counties with at least one failing grade, the report noted. It also found that a person of color is 2.42 times more likely than a white person to live in a community that fails all three pollution measures. Smog remains the most widespread pollutant affecting Americans’ health. Between 2022 and 2024, 38% of the US population – approximately 129.1 million people – were exposed to ozone levels that put their health at risk. This marks the highest number recorded in the ALA’s report in six years, and a 3.9 million increase from the previous year.

Several factors contributed to these unhealthy pollution levels, including extreme heat, drought and wildfires which have exposed a growing share of the population to harmful ozone, the report said. The regions most affected by high ozone levels include south-western states from California to Texas, as well as much of the midwest. This is mainly driven by smoke from Canada’s 2023 wildfires crossing into the US, along with high temperatures and weather patterns that favored ozone formation in 2023 and 2024 – particularly in southern states. More broadly, the report found that climate change is intensifying ozone pollution by boosting precursor emissions and creating atmospheric conditions such as higher temperatures and lower wind speeds that allow pollutants to build up and ozone to form.

Submission + - Trump Administration to Begin Refunding $166 Billion in Tariffs 1

Submitted by hcs_$reboot
hcs_$reboot writes: After a Supreme Court of the United States ruling in Feb. 2026, many tariffs imposed by the Trump administration were declared illegal, because the president overstepped his authority.
As a result, the U.S. government now has to refund a massive amount of money, around $160-170+ billion, paid mainly by importers.
On April 20, 2026, the administration launched a system/portal (run by U.S. Customs and Border Protection) so companies can start filing claims to get their money back.

Who gets the money?
— Primarily importers and companies, since they were the ones who directly paid the tariffs.
— Consumers generally won’t get refunds, even though they often bore the cost through higher prices.

How it will work
— Claims are submitted electronically.
— Refunds (with interest) could take 60–90 days per claim, but the overall process may take much longer due to scale and complexity.

Challenges and uncertainties
— The process is logistically huge (hundreds of thousands of importers, millions of shipments).
— There are legal disputes over whether companies must pass refunds on to consumers.
— Delays and administrative issues are expected, possibly stretching the process over years.

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