Air

"The Obama administration as soon as Wednesday will announce its plans for curbing methane emissions from the oil and gas sector, which the United States must do to meet its 2020 target for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, people familiar with the issue said Tuesday."

"The scientific case has been building for how a smoggy summer afternoon in North Texas might harm a child playing outdoors, a person with asthma or, on the worst days, perhaps even a healthy adult."

"President Obama could leave office with the most aggressive, far-reaching environmental legacy of any occupant of the White House. Yet it is very possible that not a single major environmental law will have passed during his two terms in Washington."

"The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to weigh a challenge by industry groups and some states to an Obama administration regulation intended to limit emissions of mercury and other hazardous pollutants mainly from coal-fired power plants."

"The Obama administration is expected to release on Wednesday a contentious and long-delayed environmental regulation to curb emissions of ozone, a smog-causing pollutant linked to asthma, heart disease and premature death."

"The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday rejected parts of a key Texas clean-air plan, setting up a conflict with deep implications both for the state’s electricity mix and air quality across much of the country."

"After failing to rid Beijing’s skies of pollution before a gathering of world leaders this week, Chinese officials took a different approach to smog control -- limit the data."

"COLUMBIA, SC — Hazardous chemical vapors are leaking through the top of an industrial waste dump along Lake Marion and are suspected of contaminating shallow groundwater near the surface of the 36-year-old site."

"Residents of parts of the Russian capital Moscow have been urged by the emergencies ministry to stay indoors because of a noxious gas that is spreading through the city."

"Potash Corp of Saskatchewan Inc agreed to spend more than $52 million on plant improvements and pay a $1.3 million civil penalty to resolve U.S. charges that it violated the Clean Air Act over the emission of harmful pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, U.S. authorities said."