EPA, Clean Air Act under a microscope in court cases with far-reaching impact.

The federal Environmental Protection Agency and Clean Air Act are under closer scrutiny on two fronts: a federal court ruling related to smog and the U.S. Supreme Court’s first case related to global warming.

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Gas mileage. 'Actual mileage will vary." Now, there's an understatement. Stickers were based on road tests that failed to account for real-world driving: high speeds, quick acceleration, air-conditioning use, and cold temperatures. Estimates tended to be wildly optimistic. [News Source]

Children’s study left behind. For the past six years, hundreds of doctors and scientists have been preparing to launch a comprehensive study of children's health and the environment, but the administration's budget for the 2007 fiscal year omits a long-anticipated allocation of $69 million to begin collecting samples. [News Source]

Secondhand smoke gets in your eyes. A new report from the U.S. Surgeon General removes any uncertainty about the harmful effects of cigarette smoke: secondhand smoke causes premature death and disease in non-smokers who are exposed to it in homes, cars, workplaces and public settings. [News Source]

50,000 gallons of treated effluent spills near SSGID plant. Last Tuesday an air release valve broke causing 50,000 gallons of treated effluent to spill near the Silver Springs General Improvement District Wastewater Treatment Plant in Silver Springs, NV. [News Source]

Group calls for scrutiny of mercury emissions. For the first time, Nevada precious metal mines this year were required to measure and report mercury released from smokestacks to the Nevada DEP, the only state with such a requirement. [News Source]

Capitol to be environment hotbed. Iowa lawmakers face an unusually busy session when it comes to environmental issues; Ethanol incentives and local hog enclosure control are among the possibilities. [News Source]

Advocates seeking to adopt California emission standards. Environmental advocates, armed with a new study revealing the dangers in the air, are calling for Maryland to adopt California-style emission standards to reduce toxic pollution from automobiles and trucks. [News Source]

Clear air champion bows out. After a rough-and-tumble decade in perhaps the toughest environmental policy job in the Rocky Mountain West, the EPA's Richard Long is punching out. [News Source]

Sludge plant’s status up in the air. It looks as if it will be March at the earliest before the Ontario Ministry of the Environment decides whether to require a full assessment of a proposed Strathearne Avenue power plant fuelled by sewage sludge and wood waste. [News Source]

Diesel cleans up.

The air won’t be substantially cleared of diesel pollution until millions of older trucks and other diesel-fueled off-road equipment are either junked or retrofitted with pollution-control devices.

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