Air

"U.S. EPA is working on a new strategy aimed at providing a clearer road map for industrial investment in air pollution controls, the agency's top air official said yesterday."

"Oil- and coal-fired power plants would be forced to reduce mercury emissions under a deal that ends a long-standing suit by environmentalists."

"An Environmental Protection Agency proposal that would compel [Great Lakes] vessels to burn cleaner fuel and upgrade their engines has sparked a furious behind-the-scenes lobbying campaign that has come to a head this week, pitting congressional Democrats against a Democratic administration as lawmakers allied with Midwestern and Alaskan shippers pressure the EPA to back down and protect jobs."

"Michigan’s 19 coal-fired power plants will need to install technology to reduce mercury emissions by 2015, according to new rules finalized this week."

"U.S. EPA has proposed withdrawing part of a George W. Bush-era air toxics regulation, saying the rule may not accurately characterize the risk posed by petroleum refinery emissions."

"The port agrees to remove requirements not directly related to the push to allow only newer, less-polluting trucks at the complex, including a demand that trucking firms file financial reports."

"The Obama administration is cracking down on BP as the oil company overhauls its massive refinery in northwest Indiana, one of the largest sources of air pollution in the Chicago area."

"Groups argue over whether benefits of green technology outweigh the possible health effects associated with burning garbage."

"The state is poised to ban the use of mercury-tainted coal fly ash at a Ravena cement plant that is the state's second largest source of airborne mercury pollution."