Air

EPA this week will release its long-awaited new rule to protect downwind states from pollution emitted by coal-burning plants in upwind states.

"Odors are part of life in Mecca, a small farming community in the Southern California desert 140 miles east of Los Angeles."

"Exposure to wildfire smoke -- particularly that from smoldering peat -- can dramatically increase the risk of cardiac and respiratory illness, according to new research led by the Environmental Protection Agency."

"After the Navy complained that cargo ships were traveling through its testing area to avoid pollution regulations closer to shore, the California Air Resources Board votes to extend the clean-fuel zone."

"A new coalition of public health advocates is urging Maine's two U.S. senators to take a stand against what they describe as a full-scale assault on the Clean Air Act by powerful corporate interests."

"The Environmental Protection Agency said on Tuesday it has extended the comment timeline by 30 days on a draft rule on reducing mercury emissions and other toxic pollution from power plants but left the target for finalization of the rule unchanged."

EPA chief Lisa Jackson told the Senate Environment Committee Wednesday that American Electric Power's recent narrative about job loss resulting from EPA's mercury regulations was were "misleading at best and scare tactics at worst."

"All around the world, women will cook meals for their families today, and as a result, in certain parts of the world, one of them will die every 16 seconds. That statistic is one of the reasons Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had planned a stop in Ethiopia on her current trip through Africa, to highlight an initiative she strongly supports: bringing cleaner cook stove technology to many parts of the developing world."

"Tall smokestacks are one reason that emissions from coal-fired power plants are blown across state lines, making it more difficult for downwind states to clean up their air, a new Government Accountability Office study found."