24 Salt Lake Valley schools in areas of dangerous air pollution (KSL Salt Lake City) A new study finds that two dozen schools in the Salt Lake Valley are located in places with potentially dangerous amounts of air pollution and that poor families bear a greater degree of exposure. Researchers are making recommendations for future urban planning. [News Source]

Texas town deals with byproducts of gas drilling. Folks in Dish, Texas were giddy when drillers started offering up the fat checks. But tests have shown elevated levels of cancer-causing benzene near the tiny town, spooking residents who now fear that what once looked like found money could end up harming their health... [News Source]

Lobbyists rush to block EPA action on climate change. The prospect of EPA greenhouse gas regulation looms large - mostly because agriculture and other interests haven’t liked any of the climate bills so far on Capitol Hill. And now the lobbyists for those same interests are trying to block the EPA regulations as well. [News Source]

Research shows US political system biased against green laws. Environmental campaigners have long suspected that the over-representation of rural interests on Capitol Hill is at least partly responsible the USA's slow response to climate change. [News Source]

Heathrow airport expansion e-mails investigated. The Department for Transport is facing an "intensive investigation" over claims e-mails about the expansion of Heathrow Airport were deleted. The Information Commissioner's Office confirmed it would examine the 2007 e-mails about the controversial third runway. [News Source]

Air pollution in city takes alarming turn. Air pollution in Dhaka has taken an alarming turn, posing serious health problems for city dwellers. In the dry season, air thick with particulates becomes a prevalent cause of pulmonary, respiratory and neurological diseases, health experts warn. [News Source]

Flat tax on diesel cars too little, too late, environmentalists say. The Kirit Parikh Committee proposal for imposing a flat tax on polluting diesel cars and gas-guzzling sport utility vehicles is too little and too late, say environmentalists who have campaigned against ‘dieselisation’ of personal transport. [News Source]

Christie reports take aim at DEP, but offer little to back up their claims. The Department of Environmental Protection transition panel report makes sweeping statements against the way the agency is run and suggests a major overhaul. [News Source]

Lawmakers urge EPA to expand Plume testing. Although the federal Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to get more involved with the DuPont contamination cleanup and has instituted some changes to the project, state officials are encouraging the agency to do even more. [News Source]

Battlement Mesa to be site of study on oil, gas health effects. Garfield County officials are moving ahead with plans to conduct health studies among the residents of Battlement Mesa in order to better evaluate health effects related to oil and gas drilling activities. [News Source]

Birth defects plague tiny California town. Born with multiple facial deformities and missing part of his brain, Emmanuel is one of several children to have been born with severe birth defects in Kettleman City, Calif. [News Source]