Church group calls for changes to aid state’s rural areas.

Representatives of almost a dozen Christian denominations yesterday called for broad environmental and social changes in Kentucky.

[News Source]

Churches call for changes in rural practices. Some rural practices - such as mountaintop removal coal mining - are damaging the environment and should be discontinued, the Kentucky Council of Churches said at the conclusion of a conference on Friday. [News Source]

Apex gets assurances, awaits definitive answers. Questions about the environmental aftereffects of the Oct. 5 hazardous-waste depot explosion linger like a haze in Apex. [News Source]

I-937 pits environmentalists, timber companies. Pulp mill owners are lined up against environmental activists who want to safeguard air quality and who favor the bill, which would promote wind and solar power and limit reliance on hydroelectricity. [News Source]

Environmental group sues TCEQ. Environmental Defense, a New York-based environmental group, has filed a lawsuit against the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regarding the permit applications for TXU to build six coal-fired power plants in Texas. [News Source]

Regional leaders call for pollution cuts. Clean-air plans for urban North Texas moved forward Friday when local planners asked the state for a raft of cuts in pollution, including cement kiln and power plant emissions and the black smoke from big diesel trucks and trains. [News Source]

Ohio refines campfire rules for backyards. Ohio has new rules on backyard campfires. Recreational fires including campfires, outdoor kettles, portable pits and chimineas are permitted with two restrictions under the new rules approved by the Ohio EPA. [News Source]

New Inco plant will reduce SO2 emissions. Thanks to a new state-of-the-art $115-million plant, Inco Ltd.'s Greater Sudbury operations now emits 90 percent less sulphur dioxide (SO2) into the atmosphere than it did 30 years ago. [News Source]

Bob Rae blasts Tory clean air plan. One of the leading candidates in the Liberal race said the Prime Minister's proposed clean air act would reduce federal powers by moving some substances and greenhouse gases into a category of pollutants, instead of toxins, under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. [News Source]

Courting clean air cash. Canada’s two biggest provinces are upset that the Conservative clean air plan doesn’t mention multi-million-dollar promises made by the previous Liberal government to help curb air pollution. [News Source]

Clean-air plan omits earlier Grit promises, two provinces say. Canada's two biggest provinces are upset that the Conservative clean-air plan doesn't mention multimillion-dollar promises made by the previous Liberal government to help curb air pollution. [News Source]