the Trump E.P.A. predicts its plan will see between 470 and 1,400 premature deaths annually by 2030 because of increased rates of microscopic airborne particulates known as PM 2.5, which are dangerous because of their link to heart and lung disease as well as their ability to trigger chronic problems like asthma and bronchitis.

By contrast, the Obama administration’s central argument for its Clean Power Plan was that the measure protected human health as well as the climate. Specifically, it said, the plan would help avoid between 1,500 and 3,600 premature deaths annually by 2030.

The Clean Power Plan aimed to curb planet-warming greenhouse gases by steering the energy sector away from coal and toward cleaner energy sources like wind and solar. According to its calculations, the decreased coal burning also would reduce other pollutants like sulfur dioxide, which poses respiratory risk, and nitrogen oxides that create ozone, which, in the form of smog, can damage lung tissue.

Mr. Obama’s E.P.A. also estimated that, by 2030, the Clean Power Plan would result in 180,000 fewer missed school days per year by children because of ozone-related illnesses. Asthma instances would also drop significantly, according to the analysis.

By contrast, the Trump administration analysis finds that own its plan would see 48,000 new cases of exacerbated asthma and at least 21,000 new missed days of school annually by 2030 because those pollutants would increase in the atmosphere rather than decrease.

The mission of EPA is to protect human health and the environment.

WASHINGTON — In the final hours of Scott Pruitt’s tenure as administrator, the Environmental Protection Agency moved on Friday to effectively grant a loophole that will allow a major increase in the manufacturing of a diesel freight truck that produces as much as 55 times the air pollution as trucks that have modern emissions controls.

The move by the E.P.A. came after intense lobbying by a small set of manufacturers that sell glider trucks, which use old engines built before new technologies significantly reduced emissions of particulates and nitrogen oxide that are blamed for asthma, lung cancer and other ailments.

It was just as strongly opposed by an unusual alliance of public health groups like the American Lung Association, environmental groups like the Environmental Defense Fund and major industry players like United Parcel Service, the largest truck fleet owner, and Volvo Group, one of the largest truck manufacturers.

The shift in agency policy came quietly late Friday, the last day of work for Mr. Pruitt, who resigned after several ethics scandals. But agency officials confirmed to The New York Times that, through the end of 2019, the E.P.A. will not enforce an annual cap of 300 gliders per manufacturer that had been imposed in January.

The glider truck concept began so the engines of relatively new trucks that had been involved in accidents could be transferred to new truck bodies. But as the emissions control requirements went into effect in recent years, companies like Fitzgerald Glider Kits of Crossville, Tenn., began to attract thousands of buyers from around the United States — including many small fleet owners — that wanted to evade the new rules, getting trucks they argued were cheaper to run.

The E.P.A. estimates that over the life of every 10,000 trucks without modern emissions systems, up to 1,600 Americans would die prematurely, and thousands more would suffer a variety of ailments including bronchitis and heart attacks, particularly in cities with air pollution associated with diesel-powered trains, ships and power plants.

Bizarre statement from Trump here. What's the relevance to... anything? The United States has no official language.

is there enough popcorn in the world???

Christopher Steele wins libel case over Trump campaign dossier

Christopher Steele and his company Orbis produced a dossier with claims about Donald Trump and his activities in Russia

Steele exonerated by a US court for producing the dossier.

Christopher Steele and his intelligence firm, Orbis, were sued by three Russian oligarchs - Mikhail Fridman, Petr Aven and German Khan – for libel, after they were named in the dossier.