Air

"For years, the advocacy group Environment and Human Health Inc. has led the battle against outdoor wood furnaces, claiming their smoke is bad to breathe. Now it has an ally -- Attorney General George Jepsen."

"Air pollution causes about 200,000 early deaths each year in the United States, according to a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)."

"PITTSBURGH -- A project examining the local health impacts from natural gas drilling is providing some of the first preliminary numbers about people who may be affected, and the results challenge the industry position that no one suffers but also suggest the problems may not be as widespread as some critics claim."

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Obama administration officials on Friday proposed to update the federal government's 42-year-old exposure limits for silica dust, a move the Labor Department said would prevent 700 deaths and 1,600 new cases of silicosis every year. The proposal would provide new protections for 2.2 million American workers, cutting in half the legal limit for dust exposure on the job."

"DENVER -- Colorado regulators looking at new air quality rules for oil and gas drillers are getting more time to set the rules."

"WASHINGTON — As part of the climate change agenda he unveiled this year, President Obama made a commitment to significantly reduce the federal government’s dependence on fossil fuels. The government, he said in a speech in June at Georgetown University, 'must lead by example.' But just two miles from the White House stands the Capitol Power Plant, the largest single source of carbon emissions in the nation’s capital and a concrete example of the government’s inability to green its own turf."

"Federal judges today upheld U.S. EPA's ozone air standard in a challenge from public health groups that said the agency ignored a scientific consensus pointing to a stricter limit."

"With a massive freight yard expansion backed by Mayor Rahm Emanuel poised to bulldoze the northeast corner of Englewood, a new analysis suggests the project would substantially increase lung-damaging pollution in a neighborhood already plagued by high rates of asthma."

"Listen to Harvey Gebhard talk about grilling and you can almost smell the smoke. Gebhard is the CEO of the Lone Star Barbecue Society, a group that organizes charity cook-offs."