Board to increase effort to fight smog.

Southern California’s smog-fighting agency on Friday announced plans to create a division to seek tougher vehicle-emissions rules from state and federal regulators in an effort to clean up the region’s major source of pollution.

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North Texans’ drive to reduce traffic, pollution. As part of a regional effort, Texas Instruments is just one company trying to reduce traffic in northern Texas by offering all employees a free DART pass annually. [News Source]

Environmentalists want to slow push for coal plants. Environmental groups said Thursday they will ask the Legislature to slow down plans for up to 19 new coal-fired power plants that they worry will pump millions of tons of pollution into the air every year. TXU Corp. plans to build 11 plants, and Gov. Rick Perry in October ordered state agencies to speed up consideration of permits. [News Source]

Cars pass factories as polluters. Forget the smoke billowing into the air from factories. The bigger pollutant in Middle Tennessee these days isn't smokestacks, but tailpipes. [News Source]

Raising a stink: Officials still fighting odor despite OEPA talk. Area officials are not giving up their fight against the stench from Countywide landfill despite an Ohio Environmental Protection Agency representative's comment that the odor has decreased. [News Source]

‘Clean car’ idea gains momentum. Maryland Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller threw his support yesterday behind legislation to require tougher emissions standards for new cars sold in the state, giving a major boost to a top goal of environmentalists. [News Source]

Planners give giant gas tanks belated approval. Citgo Petroleum Corp. hopes to begin producing 10 percent ethanol blend gasoline by the end of the month after the city's planning commission Thursday approved site plans for two 30,000-gallon tanks installed last fall without the required city approval. [News Source]

Florez pushes biofuels for state. State Sen. Dean Florez plans to announce seven air quality bills Wednesday in hopes of pushing more clean-burning biodiesel into California's marketplace and truckers' fuel tanks. [News Source]

China’s oil needs may fuel conflict. China's growing thirst for oil is one of the primary reasons the government of Sudan has been able to continue its support of the bloodthirsty Janjaweed militias' genocidal rampages in Darfur, according to a business professor at the UC, Irvine. [News Source]

Committee appointments open (Moorpark Acorn) The Moorpark City Council requests interested persons submit an application for consideration for appointment to the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District Advisory Committee. [News Source]

5,500 tons of sand tainted by diesel fuel left abandoned for 10 years.

Approximately 5,500 tons of sand tainted by diesel fuel that leaked from a Russian tanker 10 years ago remains abandoned at an open-air storage site owned by an industrial waste disposal company in Komastsu, Ishikawa.

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