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The LA Times reports today that the Environmental Protection Agency has proposed the nation's strictest-ever smog limits this morning, a move that could put large parts of the country in violation of federal air quality regulations. The EPA proposed allowing a ground-level ozone concentration of between 60 and 70 parts per billion, down from the 75-ppb standard adopted under President George......read more
Under a proposal from the EPA and Transportation Department, cars could get environmental grades visible to consumers on showroom floors starting in 2012. The grades will account for the vehicles' overall fuel economy as well as its level of greenhouse gas emissions. According to the plan, the average vehicle would receive a B-. On the high-scoring end would be electric vehicles (A+) and......read more
The University of North Carolina, best known for its basketball prowess, is celebrating a different sort of victory this week. The Chapel Hill, NC school was named winner of the Environmental Protection Agency's National Building Competition to see who could get the most energy savings out of their respective buildings over the course of a year. The winning team, from UNC's Morrison......read more
After a midterm election that saw the House of Representatives shift from Democratic to Republican control, it's become abundantly clear that comprehensive climate legislation is going to be incredibly difficult if not impossible to pass. That's all the more evident when you consider that two dozen members of Congress who voted for the Waxman-Markley climate legislation a short while......read more
In an interview with Chris Wallace on Fox News, the incoming chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee said he will fight Obama's plan for the EPA to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. Republican Congressman Fred Upton told Wallace that the new GOP-led House won't "let this administration regulate what they've been unable to legislate." On the one hand, we shouldn't be......read more
GOP vs. EPA: The Congressional Republican attack on the Environmental Protection Agency began in earnest this week, as GOP leaders assailed EPA chief Lisa Jackson about her agency's authority to combat climate change under the Clean Air Act. Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) said that the proposed emissions limits will put the US economy in a "straitjacket" and cost the country "millions of jobs and......read more
Impending regulations on emissions by power utilities could create 1.5 million jobs over the next five years, according to a new report commissioned by Ceres. These jobs would be found in areas like operations and maintenance of new power plants, as well as through exports of pollution-catching technologies such as scrubbers. Senator Tom Carper, a Dem who has sponsored air pollution bills, said,......read more
Falling Up: Almost a year ago, we happily reported that global deforestation rates were falling sharply, thanks in large part to less logging in the Amazon. But newly released study, is turning our upside-down frowns back around again. The figures in the report say that Amazon deforestation rates are up 1000% from last year. Dirty Air Act: Faced with stiff pressure from Congressional......read more
A GOP-led effort to block Obama administration climate change rules passed a crucial first step Thursday, when a House subcommittee voted to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its power to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. The bill, tabled by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman (and climate change turncoat) Fred Upton, would prohibit consideration of CO2 and other......read more
Plant Plastic: Drinking soda is bad for you, yes, but petroleum-based plastic bottles bad for everyone. In 2012, Pepsi will drop the world's first fossil fuel-free plastic bottle, made from 100% plant-based materials like switch grass, pine bark and corn husks. Bike Share, Yo: Inhabitat reports that Brooklyn will join Washington D.C., Boston, Denver, and Minneapolis as the first cities in the......read more
