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Voting with the GOP might seem like an easy political choice for Idaho Democrat Walt Minick. But could it be a problem when he needs clout to help the state?

"Studies Are Homing in on Which Particles Polluting the Air Are Most Sickening -- and Why"

The EPA says North Carolina Has More 'High-Hazard' Sites Than Any Other; the Industry Calls Them Safe.

California this week put in place the toughest restrictions in the world on smog from ships, requiring reductions of more than 80 percent of soot from foreign and US ships out to 24 miles from shore. Tankers, cargo vessels and cruise ships burn bunker fuel, which has sulfur content as much as 1,000 times higher than on-road diesel. The US is moving forward to copy California's rules by 2015. Paul Rogers reports in the San Jose Mercury News.

"The U.S., European Union and 12 of the world's largest nations plan to embrace 'an aspirational goal' of reducing emissions of global-warming gases by 50% by 2050, according to a draft declaration by world leaders set for release next week in Italy."

"Proposals to impose 'carbon tariffs' on imported products will violate the rules of the World Trade Organization as well as the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol, China's Ministry of Commerce said."

"Los Angeles will eliminate the use of electricity made from coal by 2020, replacing it with power from cleaner renewable energy sources, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa said."

"Perhaps the last thing the Navy is looking for at the moment is a tangle with environmentalists. But that is exactly what it has -- over a proposed $100 million naval warfare training range off the northern Atlantic coast of Florida."

The state budget crisis has caused the Massachusetts legislature to eliminate all funding for the state's Toxics Use Reduction Institute.

"West Virginia regulators and coal operators have not properly implemented state rules meant to keep strip mining from contributing to flooding during heavy rains over narrow mountain hollows, according to a new federal report."