Good Tuesday morning.
Ah spring. New leaves, fresh grass, budding flowers. I am loving it. But I have a lot of friends who are suffering greatly with runny noses, itching and watery eyes, coughs and more.
Yes, my friends, It’s allergy season. That’s particularly bad news for those who suffer from allergic asthma, because allergens like pollen can cause airwaves to become inflamed and sensitive, potentially leading to asthma flare-ups.
To be clear, allergies and asthma are not one and the same. Allergies are triggered by allergens, mediated by histamine release due to an immune response in reaction to irritants like pollen, pet dander, and/or dust mites. Asthma, by contrast, impacts the airwaves more directly and impacts one’s ability to breathe, which allergies may – or may not – also cause.
More than 34 million Americans have a chronic lung disease; more than 25 million have asthma. Thanks in part to climate change, along with increases in air pollution and allergens like mold and pollen, the rates of respiratory diseases are rising.
As if the mere fact that asthma exists and is increasing in frequency wasn’t bad enough, here’s another wrinkle that makes this subject even more complicated: One common method of treatment for asthma – metered-dose inhalers (MDIs) – are a hidden contributor to climate change.
How could something so small be so detrimental? Well, first of all, there are a LOT of MDIs in circulation. In 2020, they made up 75 percent of all the inhalers in use across the nation, with about 144 million prescribed, and their collective emissions were equal to that of driving half a million traditional gas-powdered cars annually.
MDIs use hydrofluorocarbon aerosol propellants to drive medication into the lungs. The active ingredient, hydrofluoroalkanes (HFAs), re greenhouse gases that have the capability of trapping heat about 1,500 to 3,600 times as well as carbon dioxide over a century.
This sounds bad, and it is. But actually, HFAs are an improvement over the propellant that was originally used in MDIs, chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which damage the ozone layer. The good news is that HFAs have zero impact on the ozone layer. The bad news? They have 1,000 times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.
What to do? Well, there is an alternative to the HFA-powered inhaler. It’s called a dry powder inhaler, and some patients actually prefer them, though there’s a catch – you have to be able to inhale deeply on your own for a dry powder inhaler to work, which is something that not all individuals with severe asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) can do.
Dry powder inhalers can also be more expensive, though it depends in part on what your insurance covers. Another downside: The powder can leave a bad taste in your mouth, and users are encouraged to rinse or brush their teeth after using it, which isn’t always doable.
The US and other countries are trying to reduce the use of HFAs, though, given the current direction of the EPA, it’s anyone’s guess where that effort will land. Also, the companies that make inhalers are largely exempt from these new requirements, though some of the larger ones have pledged to reduce their carbon footprint voluntarily and are working on products that have less of an impact on the environment.
By the way, today is World Asthma Day, organized by the Global Initiative for Asthma to raise awareness of the condition and encourage those who suffer from it to educate themselves about how to manage it and seek medical help if they need it.
Guess what? It’s going to rain today! How novel! It will rain steadily in the morning, tapering off to showers and clouds in the afternoon. Temperatures will top out in the mid-to-high 60s. For the record, rain is a mixed bag for allergy sufferers. It does knock the pollen out of the air, which is theoretically a good thing. However, it can also break pollen clumps up into smaller, more easily inhaled, particles. It also creates humidity, which is not great if you are allergic to mold and/or dust mites.
In the headlines…
The Trump administration asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit that seeks to sharply restrict access to the abortion pill mifepristone — taking the same position as the Biden administration in a closely watched case.
The court filing by the Justice Department is striking, given that President Trump and a number of officials in his administration have forcefully opposed abortion rights.
Trump’s administration offered to pay undocumented immigrants $1,000 each to leave U.S. voluntarily — plus plane fare to sweeten the deal.
Trump said that he “had nothing to do with” a depiction of himself as the pope that was shared on his and White House social media accounts over the weekend, distancing himself from the apparently A.I.-generated image that has agitated Catholics.
The Department of Education resumed collections on defaulted federal student loans yesterday and reminded colleges and universities of their “shared responsibility” to ensure taxpayers aren’t on the hook for unpaid debts.
About 4 million, or roughly one in five, federal student loan borrowers with a payment due are seriously delinquent, according to a new analysis published by TransUnion.
The Trump administration sought to force Harvard University back to the negotiating table by informing the nation’s oldest and wealthiest college that it would not be eligible for any new federal grants.
That decision was relayed in a contentious letter to Alan M. Garber, the president of Harvard, from Linda McMahon, the education secretary, who blasted the school for “disastrous mismanagement.”
Former Vice President Pence warned of a “price shock” and other consequences of Trump’s new tariff policy in an interview that aired on CNN.
“I do have a concern that when the so-called 90-day pause comes off, that even the administration has conceded that there may be a price shock in the economy … and there may be shortages,” Pence told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.
Senate Republicans yesterday grew increasingly nervous after Trump’s comments over the weekend that some of his tariffs could be permanent and that things would be “OK” even if the U.S. experienced a short-term recession.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth wants the number of active-duty four-star generals and admirals in the U.S. military to be cut by at least 20 percent, according to a new memo released yesterday.
In the order, dated May 5, Hegseth also directed senior Pentagon leadership to slash the number of general officers in the National Guard by a minimum of 20 percent, and cut the total number of general and flag officers across the military by 10 percent.
Gov. Kathy Hochul dismissed Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik’s possible 2026 gubernatorial run, boldly declaring: “Bring it on.”
Hochul is delivering a big win to businesses that have been pressuring her to pay off their billions of dollars in unemployment-insurance debt — but she’s stealing the cash from state reserves to do it.
Hochul sent an open letter to NHL commissioner Gary Bettman expressing her disappointment in the league’s decision to turn the Long Island-hosted All-Star Weekend in February 2026 into what Bettman vaguely described as a “kickoff going to the Olympics.”
AG Letitia James and the attorneys general of 19 other states sued the Trump administration to stop it from abruptly shrinking and restructuring the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, moves James said are “putting countless lives at risk.”
James along with her counterparts in 17 other states sued the Trump administration yesterday, seeking to permanently block Trump’s complete halt on all offshore wind energy development.
The Democratic attorneys general argued in a 101-page complaint that the president’s attacks on the industry violated a litany of federal laws and are already causing significant economic harm across the country.
New York has filed a lawsuit seeking to reverse the Trump administration’s reorganization of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which announced in March that it would cut 20,000 full-time employees.
State Sen. Pam Helming has introduced a bill in response to New York state bail reform after she and some law enforcement claimed current state law has led to increased crime involving repeat offenders.
The Board of Regents issued a defiant defense of its regulations for private schools, saying that some state legislators are trying to get the rules watered down in exchange for budget votes.
Some New York Democrats want to hamstring the ability of commercial airlines to work with ICE as the Trump administration has ramped up efforts to deport criminal migrants and those who entered or re-entered the U.S. without authorization.
Ongoing budget disputes between New York City and Albany halted enrollment in a vital childcare voucher program that serves more than 60,000 families statewide—many of them in the Bronx, where parents face the city’s highest childcare cost burden.
First Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro said that the city only has enough money to cover existing enrollees, and that new applicants will start being put on a waitlist.
Attorneys for Mayor Eric Adams are appealing a court decision that’s temporarily blocking his administration from taking any steps to let federal immigration authorities operate on Rikers Island.
Commissioner Sue Donoghue, who has led the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation since the start of Adams’ term, will reportedly leave her post at the end of the month.
The nonprofit group behind the SummerStage concerts has canceled a scheduled Central Park performance by the popular R&B singer Kehlani under pressure from the Adams administration.
The move came after a top New York City official warned the group, the City Parks Foundation, that its license to stage the long-running concert series could be at risk if it did not “promptly take steps” to address “security concerns” raised by the planned show.
The “After Hours” singer had been set to headline a June 26 concert billed as “Pride with Kehlani” at the iconic Manhattan park as part of SummerStage, an annual slate of free concerts at parks across the city.
Kehlani responded on Instagram Stories by sharing the announcement, along with the phrase “lol.” The post included a selfie in which the musician wrote: “I just found that one out on instagram by the way.”
In a move to alleviate the student debt crisis for public servants in New York City, Adams has partnered with the student loan benefits company Summer to help wipe out an estimated $360 million in debt.
New York City will stop enrolling new families seeking child care vouchers, amid an escalating feud with the state over who should pay for the popular program that helps thousands of low-income New Yorkers.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams urged the Adams administration to look at ways to reduce the city’s jail population, which has surged to 7,405.
Campaign finance regulators sent a warning shot to Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic front-runner in the New York City mayoral race, over a recent practice that raised concerns.
Cuomo may have run afoul of New York City rules by using his campaign website to instruct a super PAC supporting his candidacy on how to help his mayoral bid, though his campaign denies wrongdoing.
Cuomo is poised to release a proposal to remove more mentally ill people from the streets to address fears about public safety.
Fewer drivers have gotten into crashes in Manhattan’s congestion pricing zone since the tolls went into effect, accelerating a citywide trend that’s reduced injuries and deaths of motorists, cyclists and pedestrians.
According to a new report by the city comptroller, Brad Lander, the city is sitting on at least 7,000 unpaid invoices from nonprofits, some dating back years, totaling over $1 billion, though that also might be an undercount.
Workers from organizations representing hundreds of nonprofits rallied outside City Hall last week to beg the city to simply pay them what they are owed.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy blamed the Biden administration for not addressing aging airport infrastructure, which he claims contributed to the terrifying radar and communications outage at Newark Liberty International Airport last week.
A Gothamist and WNYC special investigation into decades of sexual assault at the Rikers Island women’s prison was named a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in audio reporting.
The New Yorker won three Pulitzers, and ProPublica was given the public service award for its coverage of the deadly consequences of state abortion bans across the country. Here is the full list of winners and finalists.
The Met Gala brought out the stars and paid homage to Black fashion while raising a record $31 million for the Costume Institute.
Trump appointed Joseph Nocella Jr., a Long Island district judge, to be the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
In doing so, Trump sidestepped the objections of Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who had said he would block Nocella’s nomination along with that of Jay Clayton, Trump’s pick to lead the Southern District of New York.
A town official in Chester, N.Y., opened fire on a food delivery driver who had come to his home to ask for directions, shooting him in the back, the authorities said.
The official, John J. Reilly, the highway superintendent for the town of Chester, has been charged with felony assault, Orange County prosecutors said.
Christopher R. Walrath, a 36-year-old former state correction officer, faces 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Monday in Oneida County Court.
He is the first officer to take a plea deal in connection with the killing of the prisoner, Robert Brooks, 43, who was beaten to death in December at Marcy Correctional Facility, a state prison in Marcy, N.Y., near Utica.
Plug Power is set to settle an overtime pay class action lawsuit filed against the company in July 2023. The settlement totals $600,000, according to court papers filed in district court.
A Siena College freshman has been charged with arson after he allegedly set three fires in a dormitory building last month.
Approvals for a controversial 18-home subdivision in the Adirondack Park has provoked a lawsuit that residents hope will stop its construction.
Photo credit: George Fazio.
