China to tighten air pollution monitoring rules

2011-12-22T04:00:18Z

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will introduce stricter air pollution standards from next year to monitor tiny floating pollution particles in Beijing and other big cities but may not start releasing the results to the public until 2016, state media said on Thursday.

Swathes of urban China from the capital in t...

U.S. rolls out tough rules on coal plant pollution

2011-12-21T13:30:09Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration on Wednesday unveiled the first-ever standards to slash mercury emissions from coal-fired plants, a move aimed at protecting public health that critics say will kill jobs as plants shut down.

Facing fierce opposition from industry groups and lawmakers from coal-intensive states, the China on Tuesday ordered local governments to reduce emissions of "major pollutants" by as much as 10 percent by 2015, amid growing public anxiety over the country's bad air.

Authorities will also start to monitor the smallest and most dangerous airborne pollution, known as PM2.5, in densely populated areas such as Beijing and Tianjin<...

China vows to curb heavy metal pollution

2011-12-20T06:30:09Z

BEIJING (Reuters) - China promised Tuesday to contain heavy metal pollution but admitted it faces a challenge with inadequate environment protection resources in a rapidly growing economy.

China wants to cut its heavy metal pollution by 15 percent of 2007 levels by 2015, whilst keeping non-heavy metal pol...

Peru lifts state of emergency in mining dispute

2011-12-16T14:30:31Z

Peru's government Friday lifted a state of emergency declared early this month in a region where a mining project had sparked violent protests, and scheduled talks for next week over the development.

Authorities had declared the emergency December 4, originally set for two months, after an 11-day worker strike over adverse environmental impacts that many in the region fear will result from a planned $4.8 billion mining project in the Ca...

Wisconsin debates law to speed mining permits

2011-12-14T17:30:23Z

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - A state measure to speed up the regulatory process for iron mines was met on Wednesday with a mix of support for the jobs a planned northern Wisconsin mine could create and concerns about its potential impact.

An environmental group also questioned whether the mining bill...

Coal ash taints 20 U.S. sites: report

2011-12-14T14:30:24Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Toxic contamination from coal ash, a waste product of coal-fired power plants, has been detected in ground water and soil at 20 sites in 10 U.S. states, an environmental watchdog group reported on Tuesday.

These sites are the latest to contribute to a total of 157 identified by the WWF accused Indonesia's biggest paper producer Asia Pulp & Paper Wednesday of clearing forest in a tiger sanctuary set up by the company.

The report, "The truth behind APP's greenwashing" by the coalition Eyes on the Forest, published satellite maps showing clea...

Wisconsin debates law to allow iron ore strip mining

2011-12-14T08:00:23Z

MILWAUKEE (Reuters) - A controversial plan to strip mine for iron ore in northern Wisconsin could proceed under a proposed state law designed to ease environmental rules.

The bill, which will be discussed in a public hearing in Milwaukee Wednesday, was introduced by majority Republicans<...

Arsenic in water near coal-fired US plants: monitor

2011-12-13T19:30:36Z

An environmental monitor Tuesday identified 19 new sites across the United States where groundwater near coal-ash dumps from power plants was found to be contaminated with arsenic and other pollutants.

The Environmental Integrity Project said the pollution -- in some cases more than 10 times the maximum contaminant level for arsenic -- is a direct health threat to thousands of residents who live near plants which use coal.

Durban just the start of fight for EU climate chief

2011-12-13T10:30:25Z

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - European climate chief Connie Hedegaard, who salvaged Durban talks on global warming, has a next-to-impossible task ahead of striving to shame the world's biggest polluters into real action and tackling the

Brazil's Belo Monte dam better than alternatives: study

2011-12-11T16:30:31Z

Brazil's Belo Monte hydroelectric dam in the heart of the Amazon will have fewer environmental effects than fossil-fuel alternatives and will be cheaper than other renewable energy sources, state media said Sunday.

Agencia Brasil cited a study by Federal University of Rio de Janeiro experts stating that alternatives...

Brazil cracks down on illegal logging in Amazon

2011-12-08T16:30:39Z

Brazilian authorities on Thursday wrapped up a major operation against illegal logging in the Amazon, seizing thousands of tons of precious timber amid growing frictions over land conflicts in the region.

Operation "Captain of Forest 2" involving federal police, the military as well as experts from several forest protection agencies began on November 18 in this municipality of the northern state of Para.

Authorities said they seized 3,000 cubic meters (105,944 cubic feet) of ...

Ecologists fume as Brazil Senate OKs forestry reform

2011-12-07T18:30:18Z

The Brazilian Senate has passed a forestry reform bill which is backed by the country's powerful agribusiness sector but opposed by environmentalists who see it as a threat to preservation of the Amazon.

The legislation, which received 59 votes in favor and seven against in an overnight vote, still has to be approved by the Chamber of Deputies before being submitted to Cambodia on Wednesday opened the country's largest hydropower dam to date, a multi-million dollar Chinese-funded project that has attracted criticism from environmental groups.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said the start of operations of the 194-megawatt hydroelectric dam, which cost more than $280 million, in southern BRASILIA (Reuters) - Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon region fell to its lowest in 23 years in the year through July, the government said Monday, attributing the drop to its tougher stance against illegal logging.

Destruction of the Brazilian portion of the world's largest rain forest dro...

Exclusive: Keep pipeline out of tax cuts, senators tell Reid

2011-12-06T10:00:52Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Five U.S. senators urged Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to reject Republican efforts to make approval of the Keystone XL pipeline part of a payroll tax cut bill expected to pass through Congre...

EU court to rule on airline CO2 cap on Dec. 21: EU source

2011-12-06T09:00:21Z

DURBAN, South Africa (Reuters) - The European Union's highest court is expected to give its final ruling on December 21 on a European law that would force all airlines to pay for their carbon emissions, an EU source said on Tuesday.

The ruling was previously expect...

Brazil says Amazon deforestation down to lowest level

2011-12-05T19:30:29Z

Brazil said Monday that the pace of deforestation in its Amazon region fell to its lowest level since authorities began monitoring the world's largest tropical rainforest.

The head of the National Institute of Space Research (INPE), Gilberto Camara, said deforestation dropped to 6,238 square kilometers (2,408 square miles), between August 2010 an...

Mozambique's new forests may not be as green as they seem

2011-12-04T16:30:23Z

Foreign companies are spending billions of dollars to plant forests in Mozambique, but conservationists fear the investments aren't as good for the environment as they might initially seem.

Mozambique has about 400,000 square kilometres (155,000 square miles) of largely untouched forests, an area larger than Germany that covers half of the country, making it a prime target...

U.S. proposes less costly pollution rule on boilers

2011-12-02T11:00:25Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. environmental regulator said on Friday it slashed the cost of proposed pollution rules on industrial boilers by $1.5 billion year by allowing some plants to fine tune existing equipment or burn cleaner fuels.

The Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said it will propose a long-delayed rule this week that aims to slash emissions of mercury, soot and lead from boilers and incinerators, a measure opposed by heavy industry and by Republicans in Congress.

Global net forest loss smaller than thought: FAO

2011-11-30T06:00:39Z

MILAN (Reuters) - The global net loss of forest over 1990-2005 was smaller by a third than earlier estimated but deforestation still threatens environment and food security, the United Nation's food agency said on Wednesday unveiling new satellite-based data.

Net loss, in which forest losses are partially offset by new plantings and natural expansion, totaled 72.9 million hectares (ha) betwe...

Shipping sector may accept price on CO2 emissions

2011-11-29T11:30:22Z

The world shipping industry could accept a global levy on carbon emissions from merchant ships under a deal that would also channel proceeds to poor countries, according to an announcement at the UN climate talks on Tuesday.

Maritime transport accounts for roughly three percent of world emissions of greenhouse gases.

But, like the aviation industry, it does not have any targeted curbs on this pollution, an omission t...

Shipping industry sees price on carbon emissions

2011-11-29T05:30:38Z

Maritime transport accounts for roughly three percent of world emissions of greenhouse gases.

But, like the aviation industry, it does not have any targeted curbs on this pollution, an omission t...

Amazon countries vow to enhance conservation efforts

2011-11-22T19:30:54Z

Eight South American countries pledged Tuesday to boost cooperation to protect one of the planet's largest natural reserves from deforestation and illegal trafficking in timber and minerals.

Representatives of Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Brazil, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador,

Nebraska lawmakers vote to reroute pipeline

2011-11-22T10:30:09Z

LINCOLN, Nebraska (Reuters) - Nebraska lawmakers on Tuesday voted unanimously to reroute a controversial proposed U.S.-to-Canada oil pipeline away from an ecologically-sensitive region in the state, and the governor quickly sig...

Nebraska governor signs bills to reroute Keystone pipeline

2011-11-22T10:00:30Z

LINCOLN, Neb (Reuters) - Nebraska governor Dave Heineman signed into law on Tuesday bills to reroute the Ke...

India's waste pickers brave landfills to live

2011-11-22T06:00:09Z

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Durga Mukherjee remembers the first time she climbed to the top of New Delhi's largest and oldest landfill, joining the dogs, cows and crows there to begin her life as a waste picker.

"I vomited so much," the 40-year-old mother of four recalled of the pungent smell.

"I got there and I thought 'God, why...

EPA seen delaying CO2 rules on oil refineries

2011-11-21T09:30:30Z

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, struggling with an ambitious agenda on clean air regulations, will likely delay proposing the country's first ever greenhouse gas limits on oil refineries, sources on both sides of the issue said.

The EPA had bee...

Food And Farm No Till

2011-01-05T07:31:43Z

FILE - In this Dec. 4, 2009 file photo, a farmer cultivates his recently harvested cornfield near Farmingdale, Ill., turning what remains of the plants back into the soil. A new study that suggests no-till farming, in which fields are left alone between harvest and planting, releases far smaller amounts of a potent greenhouse gas than conventional farming, in which fields are plowed while fertilizers are still breaking down in the soil. The ...

Antarctica Whaling

2011-01-03T01:01:12Z

In this photo released by Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Japanese whaling ship Yushin Maru No. 3 shoots a water cannon at Sea Shepherd's inflatable boat in the Southern Ocean off Antarctica Saturday, Jan. 1, 2011. The anti-whaling activists were chasing the fleet in the hopes of interr...

EPA vs Texas

2010-12-30T10:31:43Z

FILE - In this Feb. 25, 2010 file photo, refineries and chemical plants release steam near the Houston ship channel. Texas and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are fighting over permitting and other bureaucratic issues, a battle that environmentalists, state regulators and the EPA ag...

Vegetative Wasteland

2010-12-28T04:01:11Z

In this photo taken Dec. 15, 2010, Neil Carman, a Sierra Club air specialist who has several degrees in botany, points out dead trees in Ellinger, Texas. Some environmentalists, ranchers and scientists believe the cause of trees dying in the area is sulfur dioxide emissions from the nearby Fayette Power Project, a coal-fired power plant. (AP Photo/...

EPA Greenhouse Gases

2010-12-24T06:31:10Z

FILE - In this Oct. 21, 2010 file photo, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson, listens during a news conference at the National Press Club in Washington. The

Environmental Problems and Protection