Indoor air pollution (Daily News) AIR POLLUTION: Air pollution has become a much talked about topic today. In the past, the focus was mainly on outdoor or urban air pollution and much research has been carried out in developed countries. [News Source]

GAO Faults Voluntary Air Pollution Reduction Programs (Free Internet Press) The Bush administration's voluntary programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by industry have yet to deliver promised results, according to a report issued Thursday by the Government Accountability Office. The 51-page report, which was requested by Sens. John McCain (R-Arizona) and John F. Kerry (D-Massachusetts), highlights shortcomings in two projects aimed at encouraging the private sector [News Source]

Water-quality plan opposed. The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission has proposed relaxing some of its pollution standards for all of the 981-mile river. [News Source]

Flush with ideas. Some people may still question whether global warning is occurring, but no one who has lived in a drought-prone state can doubt the need for water conservation. [News Source]

Meeting set on pollution in Columbus. Federal environmental investigators, who have worked since 2002 to assess how much pollution Columbus has from Kerr-McGee's closed wood-treatment plant, will hold a public meeting June 28. [News Source]

Mercury concerns on the Range. Stringent mercury emission laws are making it tough for new industries to meet the standards and some people want a better accounting of how much damage pollutants like mercury can do to an economy. [News Source]

Residents fearful of air quality from burning tires. Environmental activists are still worried that someday they'll be breathing bad air that's full of heavy metals in Gallatin, TN, despite the county Resource Authority's unanimous vote not to allow tires to be burned. [News Source]

Meeting set on pollution in Columbus. Federal environmental investigators, who have worked since 2002 to assess how much pollution Columbus has from Kerr-McGee's closed wood-treatment plant, still needs more information before the US Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry can conclude its assessment. [News Source]

Groups to city: Reject cleanup. Representatives from several local environmental groups have joined the call for a more complete federal cleanup of contaminated soil at the Escambia Treating Co. Superfund site in Pensacola, FL. [News Source]

Residents voice mercury concerns. A parade of young mothers, doctors and environmentalists in Charlotte, NC, on Thursday urged the state's top environmental board to sharply rein in power plant emissions of mercury, a toxic metal that can impair babies [News Source]

Chesapeake Bay underwater grasses rebound. Underwater grasses in the Chesapeake Bay were more plentiful again last year, with the important habitat-providing plants now covering about double the acreage they did when the survey began in 1984. [News Source]