Jon Levy
@jonlevybu.bsky.social
Professor and Chair of Dept of Environmental Health at BU School of Public Health. Focus on indoor and outdoor air, climate change, housing, and environmental justice. Occasional parental musings and the odd dad joke. Once called “Very human, relatable”.
Insane new research. Scientists gave asthma patients free electric stoves to replace their gas stoves, then checked to see if symptoms improved. Not only did symptoms improve, ditching gas was *better than medicine.* Details in today's newsletter: www.climatecoloredgoggles.com/p/electric-s...
Researchers used electric stoves to treat asthma. It worked.
The latest evidence that gas is bad for your health.
climatecoloredgoggles.com
Scientists--if your funding was cut over the last year (for research on climate, global health, DEI, LGBTQ or womens health, etc) but you managed to keep the research going, I want to talk to you for an upcoming article! Plz contact me: gewin at me dot com. Re-posts appreciated!
Plugin (or balcony) solar was illegal in all 50 states 18 months ago. Today it's legal in 8, and 89% of Americans support it. It's a panel you hang on a railing and plug into a wall outlet. No roof, no $30k, renters welcome. What it is and where your state stands👇
🧵 Public science in the US has taken some heavy hits over the last year, but the White House OMB is proposing a series of changes that will result in a TKO for science as we know it unless we fight back. Here's what's happening, and why it matters. 1/n
You'd never know from US media, captured as it is by deep RW narratives, but the US EPA is -- or at least was -- one of the wonders of the world. Sharp, credible independent science tied to serious regulatory & enforcement authority. China would *kill* for something like it. Trump is destroying it.
How the Trump Administration Ended Independent Science at the E.P.A.
nytimes.com
Scrapping offshore wind: The Trump administration says it will pay two more energy companies, including one developing a wind project off Morro Bay, to abandon their projects. The federal government will pay $885 million to end the leases. @hayleysmith.bsky.social www.latimes.com/environment/...
Trump administration pays wind developer to walk away from California offshore lease
In the second such highly unusual move, the Trump administration is paying to make wind power go away
latimes.com
I think most people are unaware of the extent to which the EPA has been destroyed in the past year. In a November 2024 poll, 76% of Trump voters opposed weakening the EPA (86% of all voters). People want environmental protection and decisions based on evidence. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/27/c...
How the Trump Administration Ended Independent Science at the E.P.A.
nytimes.com
A few reflections on Earth Day 2026, and why there are some glimmers of hope in spite of the federal assault on environmental regulation and research. www.bu.edu/sph/news/art...
Earth Day Forecast: Cloudy With a Chance of Optimism
Despite shifts in federal policies, Jonathan Levy, professor and chair of environmental health, sees signs of improvement in public acceptance of climate change.
bu.edu
Those of us in public health don't just have to become better storytellers, we need go out into our communities and co-create a better future for all of us. The story of public health in the 21st century should be one embedded in communities that need us most. www.thenation.com/article/soci...
Public Health Needs to Get Off the Laptop and Into the Streets
Too often, we reduce our outreach to distant communication. We have to embed ourselves in communities to make a real difference.
thenation.com
EPA's endangerment finding and car rules repeal suggested that oil prices fall because of Trump policies. Lower future prices at the pump would mean consumers pay less for policies that keep demand high. But then came Trump's war... www.eenews.net/articles/epa...
EPA tied its climate rollback to low oil prices. Then came the Iran war.
The Trump administration relied on rosy price estimates to argue that repealing emissions limits for cars would save consumers money.
eenews.net
For the low price of $1B in taxpayer money, we get higher electricity prices, more climate change, more air pollution, and greater dependence on fossil fuels. All this because the President didn’t like the view from his golf course (and to benefit donors). www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/c...
Trump Officials Weigh New $1 Billion Deal to Stop Offshore Wind Farms
nytimes.com
Oil has been a stated or unstated cause of recent wars, and many of the impacts come back to oil. We notice the growing gas prices but may not see the growing health harms in Iran, the region, or the military. We pay a heavy price for our reliance on fossil fuels. www.nytimes.com/2026/03/10/w...
Black Rain and Health Fears After Strikes on Iran Fuel Depots
nytimes.com
"By confronting climate change, we promote good health," @jonlevybu.bsky.social & colleagues write in a new @theconversation.com article. Their piece is a response to the Trump admin's move to rescind the endangerment finding, which asserted that climate-warming gases also endanger health.
Trump’s EPA decides climate change doesn’t endanger public health – the evidence says otherwise
Climate change is making people sicker and more vulnerable to disease, doctors and scientists explain. Erasing the federal endangerment finding increases the risk.
theconversation.com
Gas stoves can degrade indoor air quality. For the past year, researchers including @jonlevybu.bsky.social have been partnering with the city of Boston on a program to replace gas stoves with electric. The team is also studying how indoor air quality differs before and after replacement.
Bringing Cleaner Air to Boston Homes—One Stove at a Time
Boston University researchers have been partnering with the city to replace gas stoves with electric induction alternatives and measure the effect on air quality
bu.edu
While others are stepping back on climate, Project Drawdown is stepping up! We’re proud to announce the Climate Science Serving America Fellowship to support U.S.-based Ph.D.-level scientists & engineers focused on climate solutions for the public good. drawdown.org/news/project...
Project Drawdown launches Climate Science Serving America Fellowship to support scientists working in the public good
Fellowship seeks early- to mid-career researchers based in America who are committed to science and public expertise
drawdown.org
The Trump administration rescinded the "endangerment finding" today, declaring that climate change doesn't harm health. They are wrong. Some evidence from me, @howardfrumkin.bsky.social, @jonathanpatz.bsky.social, and Vijay Limaye from @theconversation.com theconversation.com/trump-says-c...
Trump says climate change doesn’t endanger public health – evidence shows it does, from extreme heat to mosquito-borne illnesses
Climate change is making people sicker and more vulnerable to disease. Erasing the federal endangerment finding increases the risk.
theconversation.com
As I say here, there is no scientific justification to revoke the engagement finding. In fact, over the last 15+ yrs, the evidence of how climate change affects our health has only grown. Higher risk of allergies, dementia, fertility, heart disease, and death: that’s what’s on the line. @nature.org
There is No Scientific Justification to Revoke the Endangerment Finding
The U.S. EPA's decision to repeal the Endangerment Finding will limit the government's ability to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act.
nature.org
"To really make America healthy, in our view, the nation should acknowledge the facts behind the endangerment finding and double down on our transition from fossil fuels to a healthy, clean energy future." -- @jonathanpatz.bsky.social @howardfrumkin.bsky.social @jonlevybu.bsky.social
Jonathan Patz, MD, MPH@jonathanpatz.bsky.social · 6mo agoEPA rescinded the climate change Endangerment Finding an hour ago. Here's our response: theconversation.com/trump-says-c... @docsforclimate.bsky.social @csfh-lab.bsky.social @globalecoguy.bsky.social @katharinehayhoe.com @maibached.bsky.social
You can't... repeal... a scientific finding. At that point it's just called lying about it.
The New York Times@nytimes.com · 6mo agoBreaking News: The Trump administration repealed the bedrock scientific finding that greenhouse gases threaten human life and well being, meaning that the EPA can no longer regulate them. nyti.ms/4rSszQu
The Trump administration rescinded the "endangerment finding" today, declaring that climate change doesn't harm health. They are wrong. Some evidence from me, @howardfrumkin.bsky.social, @jonathanpatz.bsky.social, and Vijay Limaye from @theconversation.com theconversation.com/trump-says-c...
Trump says climate change doesn’t endanger public health – evidence shows it does, from extreme heat to mosquito-borne illnesses
Climate change is making people sicker and more vulnerable to disease. Erasing the federal endangerment finding increases the risk.
theconversation.com
Today we won. A U.S. District Court ruled that the administration violated federal law when it secretly convened a group of climate contrarians to produce a thoroughly debunked report to overturn the Endangerment Finding. The science still matters. We won't stop. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/30/c...
A Secret Panel to Question Climate Science Was Unlawful, Judge Rules
nytimes.com
New research out today in #ScienceAdvances, in which Kyan Shlipak et al. explore the health impacts of burning wood for heat across the U.S. Of note: ~8600 premature deaths w/ more urban impacts than expected, disproportionate impacts to POC www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... @science.org
Ambient air quality and health impacts of PM2.5 from US residential wood combustion
Air pollution from residential wood burning contributes to thousands of premature deaths annually, with unexpected urban impacts.
science.org
Just breaking. Good to see the truth emerging: www.edf.org/media/newly-... @globalecoguy.bsky.social @katharinehayhoe.com @maibached.bsky.social
Newly Disclosed Records Show Trump Administration’s Unlawful Actions Related to Secretly Formed “Climate Working Group”
The records are part of more than 68,000 pages of records obtained by EDF and the Union of Concerned Scientists as as the result of a lawsuit.
edf.org
Trump’s E.P.A. Has Put a Value on Human Life: Zero Dollars
Trump’s E.P.A. Has Put a Value on Human Life: Zero Dollars
nytimes.com
Dr. King is often misquoted as having said “Of all of the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.” He actually said “injustice in health”. Although the quote was about medical care discrimination, Dr. King understood that health was more than health care.
Now Trump EPA head, Lee Zeldin, enters the scene with rank dishonesty & theatrical indignation to dispute the NY Times' correct, accurate reporting. But I've read the EPA smoking gun document, I'm a 30+-year clean air lawyer, I understand its meaning better than Zeldin, & I have the receipts. 1/
John Walke@johndwalke.bsky.social · 7mo agoThe Environmental Protection Agency is going to stop considering the economic benefits of reducing asthma, heart disease and premature deaths as it repeals limits on air pollutants like mercury, soot and smog, according to reports: www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c... 1/
The fact that air pollution protections save lives (and thus dollars) has long been an inconvenient fact for those who want polluting industries unfettered. This move is indefensible and dangerous. www.nytimes.com/2026/01/12/c...
E.P.A. to Stop Considering Lives Saved When Setting Rules on Air Pollution
nytimes.com
