Environment News

BEIJING (AFP) - Poor visibility delayed about 280 domestic and international flights serving Beijing on Wednesday, the capital's airport said, following several days of heavy air pollution. Full Story »

NEW DELHI (AFP) - Chetan Maini, the engineer who pioneered India's first electric car, had his eureka moment two decades ago when he drove a vehicle fuelled by solar power across the blazing Australian outback. Full Story »

Internet security and climate change had a surprising run-in last week, as thousands of emails from the University of East Anglia's Climate Research Unit wound up on climate-skeptic web sites. The University says it is cooperating with police and launching its own investigation into how the emails wound up online. Full Story »

LOS ANGELES - Los Angeles County leaders responding to the summer's destructive Station Fire voted Tuesday to urge the U.S. Forest Service to allow helicopters to battle wildfires at night. Full Story »

OTTAWA (AFP) - Canada's parliament on Tuesday passed a motion urging Prime Minister Stephen Harper's minority Tory government to adopt a deep carbon dioxide reduction target at upcoming international climate talks. Full Story »

Junk Science: The Senate expects to take up global warming legislation by spring, but nothing more should happen in Congress on this issue until there's been a thorough probe of the ClimateGate scandal. Full Story »

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency is continuing its crackdown on coal pollution with a new plan to cut sulfur dioxide — a move that would clean up the air for millions of Americans and bring some relief to people who suffer from asthma and other respiratory diseases. Full Story »

INDIANAPOLIS - Coal-hungry Indiana ranks fourth in the nation for carbon dioxide emissions from mostly aging power plants that contribute to global warming, an environmental group said Tuesday. Full Story »

NEW YORK - Offshore drilling contractor Atwood Oceanics Inc. reported its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings fell 35 percent drop as its revenue tumbled and companies in its industry faced weak energy markets. Full Story »

ST. PAUL, Minn. - A push to scrap a Minnesota law barring new nuclear power plants gained a pair of influential supporters Tuesday, adding intensity to a debate before a state Legislature that has narrowly resisted the change. Full Story »

BEIJING (AFP) - China called on the European Union Tuesday to step up cooperation on climate change, saying global warming would be at the top of the agenda at next week's China-EU summit. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama sought Tuesday to boost hopes of a landmark deal at the Copenhagen climate summit, as a new report showed the crisis facing the planet is deeper than previously thought. Full Story »

MONTPELIER, Vt. - Maine and Vermont are moving ahead of other states on regulating pollution in storm water running off roofs and parking lots, which often carries oil and other toxic substances. Full Story »

AUGUSTA, Maine - Maine utility regulators have dismissed a petition by a solar-power firm to become an electric transmission utility. Full Story »

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - The Canadian province of Quebec said on Monday it aims to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 20 percent below 1990 levels by 2020, the same target as that set by the European Union. Full Story »

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - A Democratic candidate for agriculture commissioner has a response to Republican calls to "Drill, Baby, Drill." Full Story »

CANBERRA, Australia - Australia's opposition leader Tuesday pledged his party's support for contentious legislation proposed by the government aimed at curbing the country's greenhouse gas emissions. Full Story »

CANBERRA (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urged parliament Tuesday to approve legislation aiming to slash carbon pollution by up to 25 percent by 2020 ahead of next month's global talks on climate change. Full Story »