The nation's air has gotten marginally better over the past 10 years, according to an annual report released Wednesday, but many cities still suffer from severe pollution problems.
What do CEO Bill Ford of Ford Motor, CEO Jim Rogers of Duke Energy and CEO Bruce Usher of carbon trader EcoSecurities have in common? A deep aversion to unpredictability.
Six heat-trapping gases that contribute to air pollution pose potential health hazards, the Environmental Protection Agency said Friday in a landmark announcement that could lead to regulation of the gases.
The Environmental Protection Agency will monitor 62 schools across the nation to determine whether the air around them contains toxic pollutants, the agency said Tuesday.
When Lynn Heinisch and her neighbors in Atlanta's Lake Claire neighborhood take their recycling to the curb for pickup each Thursday, they cross their fingers and hope for the best.
A federal judge has ordered the Tennessee Valley Authority to clean up four coal-fired plants that he said were engulfing parts of North Carolina with air pollution -- emissions that fouled the region's health, economy and natural resources.
Debate is rife in Australian political circles about whether carbon trading is the way forward for climate change abatement.
Who would think the banks would land the job of sorting out the world's climate change problems?
It was one of the most surreal images in American history: A river, so fouled with industrial waste that it caught fire and burned. In June 1969, Cleveland's Cuyahoga River become the poster child for the birth of the modern American environmental movement.
Has your latest brokerage statement got you down? Maybe it's time to try something completely different: a $96 billion market built entirely on the certifiable absence of a colorless, odorless gas.
Decades of extraordinary growth have catapulted China to the top of the world's economic charts, earning the admiration of much of the rest of the world.
updated: Wed Oct 08 2008 15:27:00
The U.S. Navy is locked in a battle with environmentalists over its use of sonar during exercises off the Pacific coast.
The Supreme Court appeared conflicted Wednesday as it juggled national security and environmental concerns in a case over whether the U.S. Navy is doing enough to protect whales from underwater sonar tests it conducts.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday all but killed a federal plan nearly seven decades in the making to build the world's largest water pump in the Mississippi Delta
Chinese officials implemented $17 billion in antipollution programs before the start of the Games. The skies are clearer, but simple meteorology may be the chief reason why
BEIJING -- For all the fuss about the measures that Beijing is taking to clear its smog, the reality is that the blueness of the skies during the 2008 Olympic Games will have very little to do with Beijing's Potemkin village-style pollution control efforts, because the air pollution in Beijing comes predominantly from south of the city, riding winds and making the journey to the capital from up to hundreds of miles away.
The U.S Environmental Protection Agency has turned a "blind eye" to Florida's Everglades cleanup efforts, while the state is violating its own commitment to restore the vast ecosystem
The Court affects environmental policy more than you may realize. And it may only be as green as our next President
It's not just the American dollar that's losing value. A government agency has decided that an American life isn't worth what it used to be
Wen Bo says he was inspired to enter the environmental movement in high school when he watched the televised tactics of the international pressure group, Greenpeace.
Short-term exposure to smog, or ozone, is clearly linked to premature deaths that should be taken into account when measuring the health benefits of reducing air pollution
updated: Tue Apr 22 2008 11:58:00
Folks are paying a lot of green for eco-mansions. But do they really get green bragging rights? Miles O'Brien reports.
Twice a day, 7-year-old Hannah Austin exhales all the air from her lungs. She then takes a puff of a low-dose steroid from a purple inhaler, holds her breath for a few seconds and exhales.
updated: Mon Apr 21 2008 19:46:00
Air pollution can have a significant effect on young children, as CNN's Judy Fortin reports in this Health Minute.
It's thousands of square miles wide, virtually devoid of oxygen and it has been blamed for an increase in shark attacks: the Gulf of Mexico "Dead Zone" is getting bigger and forcing marine life -- including sharks - into shore.
updated: Mon Apr 21 2008 01:01:00
Sandy Creek, North Carolina, gets a helping hand from nature to clean up its drinking water. CNN's Miles O'Brien reports.
The world's greatest green champion is no tree-hugger. He's an economist who's made lots of money off the cap and trade of pollutants -- which, incidentally, also cleans the air
An advisory panel of scientists told the Environmental Protection Agency that its new air quality standard for smog fails to protect public health as required by law and should be strengthened
The withdrawal of the world's leading marathon runner from this summer's event over concerns about air quality highlights the stakes in a spat between Chinese authorities and an American researcher
The EPA tightened restrictions on ozone, but why is the new limit still higher than what science recommends? Critics say it comes down to politics and money
When the average person contemplates the issues surrounding landfills, it's doubtful they give much consideration to the tons of food that fill them.
updated: Tue Jan 22 2008 11:21:00
CNN's James MacDonald reports on how leftover food is causing environmental problems in Hong Kong.
The EPA strikes down the state's tough new carbon emissions rules, in a crippling setback for environmentalists
A new report admits the country has fallen short on goals and proposes more money be spent on cleaning up the environment. But it's far from enough to make a difference
We've changed the energy- producing rules to prevent acid rain and smog. Now each of us can take a seat at the negotiations on climate change next month in Bali to eliminate carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuel
Gov. Schwarzenegger wants to clamp down on greenhouse gas emissions. Only the US government stands in his way
updated: Mon Oct 22 2007 19:03:00
The results of body-burden testing in two children are cause for parents' alarm. CNN's Anderson Cooper reports
updated: Fri Oct 19 2007 14:53:00
CNN's Todd Benjamin speaks with Jonny Goldstone of Green Tomato Cars, a cab company that only uses hybrids.
American Electric Power has agreed to install $4.6 billion in equipment to sharply reduce emissions at coal-fired power plants in five states, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
In the largest environmental settlement in Justice Department history, American Electric Power has agreed to install $4.6 billion in equipment to sharply reduce emissions at coal-fired power plants in five states, sources said.
Forget all the talk lately about whether Congress will regulate carbon dioxide - a gas generated from burning fossil fuels and one of the main culprits behind global warming. Several individuals and environmental groups are using laws already on the books in an attempt to force polluters to change their ways.
China's environmental watchdog has closed down 400 factories since it started a national campaign in July to tackle water pollution, an official said Tuesday.
As a growing number of well-known companies promote themselves as friends of the earth, it's easy to overlook the fact that others still pollute, unnecessarily. But they do.
Despite a persistent gray haze, officials said Tuesday an exercise that removed more than 1 million private vehicles a day from Beijing's gridlocked streets was a success that could mean a clearer sky during next summer's Olympics.
Laser printer emissions may damage your health, says a new study -- not to mention the load of indoor air pollutants we're breathing 90% of the time
The former chief of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency fought off fierce criticism Monday that the agency did not do enough to protect September 11, 2001, rescue workers from toxic pollutants.
Environmental groups say the vote on three key amendments will determine their support of the Democrat-backed measure
President Bush said Tuesday he is directing the Environmental Protection Agency, and the departments of energy, transportation and agriculture, to develop steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2008, but he failed to call for a specific increase in fuel efficiency standards.
Sometime this year China will surpass the U.S. as the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. This "accomplishment" reflects the pace and scale of industrialization in a country that is alread...
Los Angeles ranks as the smoggiest city in the United States, according to an annual report card released Tuesday by the American Lung Association. It leads the nation in all three major air pollution categories, short-term particle pollution, year-round particle pollution and ozone pollution.
Twenty years ago, Corporate America and environmentalists squared off regularly and acrimoniously across the globe. Today, large companies can't stop talking about their green initiatives, and groups like Rainforest Alliance (RA) deserve a slice of the credit.
For whatever reason - the wreckage of Hurricane Katrina, Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," the plight of polar bears in the Arctic, the Democratic takeover of Congress - this is the moment when co...
It's time to breathe a sigh of relief -- sort of. Thanks to changes in air-quality and emissions laws over the past 30 years, the air you breathe when you head outdoors this summer is cleaner than ever.
The Supreme Court appeared sharply divided Wednesday over what role the federal government should play in regulating carbon dioxide emissions from new cars.
In this era of corporate environmentalism, big companies like General Electric, Wal-Mart and McDonald's have grown accustomed to working closely with save-the-earth groups like the World Resources Institute, Conservation International, even Greenpeace.
A company operating coal-burning power plants was sharply critical of what it called "arbitrary" changes in government pollution-control rules over the past quarter century, in an important environmental case argued Wednesday before the Supreme Court.
As the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to take up the issue of climate change, some unusual alliances are forming - and corporate America finds itself on both sides of the debate.
The Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday that it won't start dredging the Hudson River until 2008, yet another delay in the project to remove harmful PCB's from the river's bottom.
Yea, Bush! Way to go! I realize this is last week's news, but I'm a great believer in giving credit where credit is due. By designating the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands as a national monument, Bush has put one more level of federal protection around a vast spread of islands and irreplaceable marine life.
Most people looking out across the sky of a large city are aware that breathing in that hazy, gritty cocktail of suspended pollutants simply cannot be good for the health.
DETROIT (CNNMoney.com) - Soon all vehicles in the United States will get lower fuel mileage as estimated by the Environmental Protection Agency if the agency has its way.
The Environmental Protection Agency says it can help drivers save fuel. It has said that for a long time, of course, but this time it's not talking about providing fuel mileage data for car shoppers. It's talking about a new invention created in its own Ann Arbor, Mich. research laboratories
What do you think is today's biggest environmental concern? We asked CNN.com readers to send their comments about the changing Earth. The following are some of their thoughts.
For $160 you can turn a Hummer H2 into a zero-emissions vehicle. No tools or mechanical ability are required.
In 1969, the Cuyahoga River flowing past Cleveland, Ohio, caught fire and burned noxious sludge from steel mills, paint factories and sewage plants. In California, an offshore drilling rig stained the coast of Santa Barbara with more than 3 million gallons of crude oil. The skies of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, home to the nation's steel industry, were so dark with soot that drivers sometimes had to turn on their headlights during the day.
The Bush administration needs Congressional approval of the contentious Central American Free Trade Agreement, which is the top priority on its trade agenda this year.
ON A FREEZING, PRISTINE DAY, WITH the Bighorn Mountains shining nearly 100 miles away across the Wyoming prairie, a huge dragline with an arm longer than a football field gulps 100 cubic yards of r...
A few weeks ago in Los Angeles the board of directors of a state regulatory agency you've never heard of met in an airport hotel you'd never notice. The California Air Resources Board voted to adop...
There's been a lot of griping lately about the Environmental Protection Agency's fuel efficiency estimates. Those estimates are pretty far off, they say.
While one major environmental group is praising Ford Motor Co. for being the first to produce a fuel-efficient hybrid SUV, others are taking advantage of the opportunity to remind consumers of Ford's otherwise poor fuel economy record.
Olympic runner Ryan Tolbert-Jackson is familiar with the effects of smog. She has asthma, which was triggered after she competed at the 1997 World Championships in Athens.
The final addition to a trio of Earth-monitoring satellites will blast into orbit Sunday, marking a 15-year effort by NASA to study our atmosphere and climate change in better detail.
Several of the nation's national parks are choking on bad air, according to a report released Thursday by a coalition of conservation groups.
One way to gauge the impact of a pressure group is by the quality of the vitriol it provokes. By that measure, the Rainforest Action Network stands out. When RAN, as it is known, launched a campaig...
Southern California tops the list of the nation's cities and counties most threatened by air pollution, according to the American Lung Association's annual report.
In a radio address geared to Earth Day, President Bush Saturday touted his environmental record and trumpeted a wetlands initiative to restore "at least 3 million acres over the next five years."
A national group of Christian leaders is sending a scathing letter to President Bush to coincide with Earth Day, accusing his administration of chipping away at the Clean Air Act.
Setting limits on states rights, the Supreme Court Wednesday gave the federal government the power to impose more expensive pollution controls than Alaska wanted regarding power generation at an Alaskan mine.
"Two offers at 150."
All history, it has been said, can be condensed to two words: "challenge" and "response." They determine the fate of mighty empires. They even apply to the everyday problem of air pollution from sm...
Here's a little-known fact about hogs: They produce ten times the amount of waste humans do--800 pounds per year, to be exact. Why worry about that kind of volume? Because the EPA is about to crack...
For anyone in the business of growing corn, one of the biggest frustrations of the job is a brown inchworm-like creature that spends most of the summer and fall munching and tunneling through the c...
In recent years, one of the most powerful forces outside of nature--the profit motive--has impelled companies to clean up their manufacturing processes and products. It pays to be green. To be sure...
Greg Shierling is every inch a pillar of the community in the all-American city of Quincy, Ill. The franchisee of two McDonald's, he has tutored a legion of the town's teens in the art of business,...
For our 12th annual ranking of the best places to live in America, we interviewed people in 500 households across the country about the factors that are most important in choosing a place to live. ...
There is a seamy underbelly to the stupendous economic expansion that has brought so much prosperity to Asia: With every uptick in industrial production has come a surge in smoke and hazardous wast...
When it comes to picking a place to live, you laid down the law: Safety is your top concern in 1996, catapulting over last year's first and second priorities: clean water and clean air. This spring...
You get some idea of how life has changed--really changed--in the new, conservative Congress when the chemical industry has to come to the rescue of the Environmental Protection Agency. But action ...
Here's a prediction that doesn't exactly sound like big news: In 1994, with the possible exception of a much needed reform of the Superfund law governing toxic waste dumps, no major environmental l...
The Environmental Protection Agency's proposed new rules on emissions of pollutants such as dioxin, to take effect in 1995, have the paper industry seeing red. Whereas the EPA says it would cost pa...
FREE TRADE, despite the considerable odds against it, has just won two of its biggest victories in decades: first the North American Free Trade Agreement, then the successful completion of a new Ge...
WHEN AMERICANS first demanded a cleanup of the environment during the early 1970s, corporations threw a tantrum. Their response ran the psychological gamut from denial to hostility, defiance, obsti...
TWENTY YEARS ago, the Potomac River was full of slime and muck, so polluted that not even kids dared swim in it -- and so embarrassing to Washington politicos that they agreed to spend $5 billion c...
When you pay your dry-cleaning bill, do you sometimes feel you're being taken to the cleaners? Just wait. A proposed new Environmental Protection Agency regulation could add another 10% to your bil...
So you want to be an environmentally correct consumer? Very commendable. But before you head to the supermarket, try this shopping quiz:
LET'S START with a short quiz. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that radon, an odorless gas that seeps up naturally from the ground and gets trapped in homes, may be causing as many as...
You may not believe it, but we claim authorship of the headline above. It was not produced by chimps randomly banging on a keyboard or by CBS moles infiltrated into the Keeping Up production depart...
WHY IS THIS MAN smiling? Well, one reason is that taxes are going up and the federal budget deficit is going down. As the new head of the Business Roundtable, Union Pacific CEO Drew Lewis, 59, lobb...
AS SOON AS the installation of new carpeting began in 1987, workers in a Washington, D.C., office building started complaining of burning in their lungs and dizziness. Within months 700 people were...
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