Air

"California sued the federal government Monday over the Trump administration’s decision to postpone indefinitely a decision by former President Barack Obama to dramatically increase the penalties for violating federal fuel economy standards."

"In the wake of Hurricane Harvey, an exploding chemical plant and spikes in cancer-causing emissions are highlighting how little the public knows about potential dangers from the oil and chemical industries. Critics say one reason for the darkness: tons of campaign money."

"Commemorations for the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks began in New York late last week as they have for multiple years, with twin beams of light piercing the night sky, a tribute to those lost in the World Trade Center that could be seen across the region."

"For much of this week and last, devastation wrought by Hurricane Harvey in Houston and Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean has grabbed front-page headlines. But wildfires in the West have been wreaking destruction of their own, though it has attracted less attention. Vast swaths of land have burned, choking the air with ash and smoke."

"Houston’s sprawling network of petrochemical plants and refineries released millions of pounds of pollutants in the days after Hurricane Harvey began barreling toward Texas."

"GALENA PARK, Texas —  Cindy Sanchez began to feel ill while barbecuing just before Harvey's torrents started pelting this city just east of Houston, along a corridor with the nation's highest concentration of petrochemical plants."

"Three environmental groups sued the Trump administration Thursday over its decision to delay a new regulation to increase fines for automakers who violate efficiency rules."

"A group of first responders exposed to smoke from a Crosby, Tex., chemical plant fire after Hurricane Harvey are suing the owner of the plant for more than $1 million, saying that they vomited and gasped for air in the middle of the road in a scene the suit describes as 'nothing less than chaos.'"

"Wildfires burned across hundreds of thousands of acres in the American and Canadian West this week, fueled by scorching temperatures that are breaking heat and fire records across the region." "'These unprecedented extreme events are exactly the types of events that are more likely due to the global warming that’s already occurred.'"

"The tug of war over how much more fuel efficient new cars and trucks should be in coming years — a fight that once seemed all but settled — will play out again on Wednesday in a downtown Washington hotel."