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New research on gas flaring suggests that the practice poses a significant risk to expectant mothers.
The study, published this month the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, found that pregnant women who lived near areas where flaring is common had 50 percent greater odds of giving birth prematurely than those who did not. These births occurred before 37 weeks of gestation, when incomplete development raises a baby’s chance of numerous disorders, even death.
“It’s on par with the increased risk you see for women who smoke,” said Lara Cushing, an assistant professor of environmental health sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles, and lead author of the study. Unlike smoking, however, “it’s not really something you can do much about on an individual level,” she said.
Scientists do not know what causes some women to give birth prematurely, said Dr. Heather Burris, a neonatologist at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine who was not involved in the study. But the new research adds to growing evidence that environmental factors play an important role.
In the case of flaring, researchers say the mechanism may involve particulate matter, volatile organic compounds and other toxic substances. “It seems pretty plausible that it would have an effect on premature birth given that air pollution and preterm birth are well linked,” said Elaine Hill, a health economist at the University of Rochester Medical Center who was not involved in the study.
In the study, the impacts of flaring fell entirely on Hispanic mothers, raising concerns about environmental injustice at a time when questions of racial inequality have gripped the nation.
Dr. Cushing said there were several potential explanations for the sharp ethnic disparity.
On average, she said, Hispanic women experienced more flaring, and it’s possible that the effects only manifest above a certain threshold of exposure. Other studies have also shown that women of color are more susceptible to pollution. That may be because their bodies are already worn down by longtime health problems, exposure to other contaminants or chronic stress caused by discrimination, Dr. Cushing said.
Although the study didn’t address it, economics could also provide part of the answer, Dr. Hill said. If white women in the study were more likely to own land, and thus mineral rights, then the income bumps they received from oil and gas extraction could have offset negative health effects, she said.
Whatever the reason, Dr. Burris said the study suggests that flaring poses a danger to expectant mothers. “I wouldn’t go as far as to say that it’s safe for some women and not others,” she said. “No way.”
An energy bailout could stick, despite corruption charges
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Federal agents arrested the speaker of the Ohio House on Tuesday in what law enforcement officials described as a giant scheme to support foundering coal and nuclear energy plants, and that has opponents of the plan exploring their legal options to undo it.
But they acknowledge they have a long and uncertain road ahead. Even if the criminal charges stick, some said, Ohioans may also be stuck with the bailout package.
“It is presently the law of the land in Ohio,” said Brandon Lynaugh, a consultant who served as campaign manager for Ohioans Against Corporate Bailouts, which tried and failed to put the initiative, known as House Bill 6, before voters in a ballot referendum in 2019. “It really is going to be up to the legislature if they’re going to make a change.”
The federal racketeering and bribery allegations accuse the speaker, Larry Householder, and four others of engaging in a criminal conspiracy dedicated to bailing out the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear power stations in northern Ohio as well as quashing the referendum. The complaint did not name the company that owns the plants, Energy Harbor Corp., formerly known as FirstEnergy Solutions, but accused the defendants of collecting $60 million in exchange for passing the bailout and blocking attempts to overturn it.
The Ohio governor, Mike DeWine, has called for Mr. Householder’s resignation. But he hasn’t called for the legislature to overturn the law, which provides nearly $150 million a year in subsidies to keep the two nuclear plants afloat, extends subsidies to two coal plants and guts Ohio’s renewable energy standard.
Leah C. Stokes, a professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who has written extensively about the Ohio bailout, described the law as a “massive corporate giveaway” and said she thought Governor DeWine should call for its repeal.
It isn’t clear yet whether anyone in the Ohio legislature will take up a repeal measure. A spokesman for Governor DeWine declined to comment.
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