Blunt: State, not local government, should decide rules for farms (Jefferson City News Tribune) The state could have the last word in deciding the number and types of plants and animals Missouri farmers can raise. Those types of issues now often are decided at the local level, while the state oversight focuses more on water and air pollution. [News Source]

Mayor won’t play ‘blame game’ Just wants Randle Reef cleaned up.

Political scientist and environmentalist Mark Sproule-Jones believes Stelco’s Hamilton Steel subsidiary should be required to pay at least part of the estimated $90 million it will cost to clean up Randle Reef.

[News Source]

Beijingers to be warned of harmful haze (China Economic Net) Beijingers are to be warned of "haze" in daily weather forecasts so they can take measures to avoid air pollution. The municipal meteorological authorities are to include haze levels on hazy days when the humidity is under or at 80 percent from February 1. [News Source]

Environment trumps health as No. 1 issue. Unusual weather patterns and events have brought the issue of climate change close to home for many Canadians. [News Source]

China fails to make progess on environment . China has failed to make any progress in protecting the environment in the past three years, despite government pledges to put the issue at the top of its agenda. [News Source]

WA Legislature to push for biofuels production. The Washington state Legislature this session will consider a bill that would provide incentives to increase the production and use of biofuels in Washington. [News Source]

Drive to produce ethanol steers energy firm to Peru. The domain of snakes, scorpions and scrub brush since time immemorial, a stretch of desert in northwest Peru could soon become an unlikely generator of jobs and local well-being, thanks to the booming U.S. market for ethanol. [News Source]

Supporters say coal should be included in energy plan. Coal advocates argue that the nation's most plentiful fossil fuel should be part of any effort to lead the nation to energy independence. [News Source]

TVA plans to add reactors to its nuclear power program. The Tennessee Valley Authority will submit applications to build two new nuclear reactors under the government's streamlined licensing process and restart its oldest reactor after a 22-year shutdown at Browns Ferry, TVA officials told The Chattanooga Times Free Press. [News Source]

Branching out. Palm trees in Plano? New climate map makes it a possibility. [News Source]

Climate still hot topic in Gem State. Idaho Republican Sen. Larry Craig, a longtime opponent of higher fuel efficiency standards that would decrease the amount of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere, softened his position on Wednesday, after Bush endorsed tougher standards. [News Source]