Air

"Government scientists who study the depletion of Earth’s protective ozone layer are pointing to a previously unheralded culprit: nitrous oxide."

The Justice Department and Illinois are suing Midwest Generation, charging the utility company with evading the Clean Air Act by not installing pollution controls when modernizing its plants. The move marks an Obama administration reversal of Bush policies.

An aging fleet of coal-fired power plants continue to pollute many urban areas. They were exempted from pollution-control requirements of the 1977 Clean Air Act. Companies rebuild them over and over to avoid installing pollution-control equipment. "The clunkers of the power-plant world" may once again escape new rules and modern technology.

"In a victory for environmental groups, a Richmond judge on Tuesday invalidated a permit for a coal-burning power plant being built in southwestern Virginia."

"LONG BEACH -- More than a year after California was rebuffed in federal court for pursuing emission rules on freight ships, federal authorities are pushing to adopt similar restrictions that could prevent up to 33,000 premature deaths annually in the U.S. and Canada."

"The Obama administration moved Wednesday to expand a national network of monitors to track lead emissions, a troublesome source of industrial air pollution."

The Food and Drug Administration tested electronic cigarettes -- whose makers (most Chinese) tout them as safer than ordinary cigarettes. The FDA found that some e-cigarettes contained cancer-causing chemicals.