"The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing tougher rules to reduce air pollution from large oceangoing ships, including oil tankers and cargo vessels."

"The Obama administration on Monday proposed to strengthen a key air pollution health standard to better protect children and people with respiratory illnesses."

"The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality will evaluate older coal-fired power plants for compliance with today's federal air quality standards, Virginia Governor Tim Kaine announced today. The state will survey air pollution from facilities throughout Virginia that were initially grandfathered by the 1970 federal Clean Air Act."

"Iowa's largest utility companies are ramping up their opposition to proposed state rules that would require them to monitor the mercury being emitted from their power plants, public records obtained by The Des Moines Register show."

"The federal agency has proposed regulations that could cut mercury emissions 81% to 93% annually. Industry representatives warn the rules would increase costs and could lead to outsourcing."

"The air across Iowa is so polluted that the state is perilously close to violating new federal limits aimed at protecting human health."

"Port officials unveil what is billed as the world's first electrical shore-side power system for tankers, which are notorious fuel guzzlers and air polluters."

"BP Products North America Inc. is being sued by Texas authorities who accuse the petrochemical giant of 46 pollution violations at its Texas City refinery -- including one tied to an explosion that killed 15 workers and injured 170 others four years ago."

A new look at the data shows that mortality among people exposed to tiny soot particles is twice as high as previously thought.

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday cited the BP Whiting Refinery for violating federal air standards by releasing a cancer-causing toxin in waste from 2003 to 2008, which at times reached 16 times the acceptable limit, EPA officials said."

"A federal judge in Indianapolis has ordered Duke Energy Corp. to shut down nearly 40 percent of an Indiana power plant's capacity as part of an enforcement case that dates back to the Clinton administration."

Scientists in the Houston area are focusing research on the flare stacks at its hundreds of petrochemical plants -- which may be a major overlooked cause of smog.

"China's frenetic construction of coal-fired power plants has raised worries around the world about the effect on climate change. ... But ... China has emerged in the past two years as the world's leading builder of more efficient, less polluting coal power plants, mastering the technology and driving down the cost."

Athletes arrive in Peking wearing masks.

BEIJING -- Olympic host city Beijing was shrouded in haze on Monday 11 days before the Games begin, raising anxieties about whether it can deliver the clean skies promised for the world's top athletes.