Air

"Indonesia is preparing warships as a last resort to evacuate children and others suffering from smoke inhalation from slash-and-burn fires, a minister said on Friday, as the country struggles to contain fires expected to continue for weeks."

"The legal onslaught against the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan kicked off [Friday] as 25 states, industry and labor groups challenged the rule in court."

"As the Obama administration's carbon rules become final, states weigh fighting vs complying. ‘We can’t count on winning the lawsuit,’ one official says."

"JAKARTA, Indonesia – Fires started illegally to clear land for oil palm and acacia pulp plantations in Indonesia are sending thick smoke over the Southeast Asian region, making breathing painful, closing schools, canceling outdoor events and disrupting air traffic."

"The Obama administration announced a set of executive actions and commitments by over a dozen companies to curb the use of super greenhouse gases known as HFCs, which have a global warming potential 10,000 times greater than carbon dioxide."

"JAKARTA -- The forest fires blanketing Southeast Asia in choking haze are on track to become among the worst on record, NASA has warned, with a prolonged dry season hampering efforts to curb a crisis that has persisted for nearly two decades."

"The body examining the practices of the car industry following the Volkswagen emissions scandal has been accused of a major conflict of interest after it emerged that nearly three quarters of its funding comes from the companies it is investigating."

"The Obama administration on Thursday unveiled a major new regulation on smog-causing emissions that spew from smokestacks and tailpipes, significantly tightening the current Bush-era standards but falling short of more stringent regulations that public health advocates and environmentalists had urged."

"In August 2011, as President Obama prepared to unveil a major new environmental regulation on smog, his political advisers issued a warning: The rule would affect power plants and factories throughout the Midwest, slowing the economy in states like Ohio that would be crucial to the president’s re-election."

"The Environmental Protection Agency announced new rules Tuesday to reduce toxic air pollution from oil refineries by forcing operators to adopt new technology that better monitors and controls emissions."