Democrats charge EPA with weakening pollution safeguards.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., summoned the head of the Environmental Protection Agency before her committee Tuesday and accused him of rolling back pollution safeguards to help oil companies and other industries.

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Air Pollution Control Says It WIll Need Until 2024 to Clean Up (KFSN-TV Fresno) The Valley's pollution problem will only worsen with the area's projected growth. The Air Pollution Control District says it can meet air quality standards, but might need an extension to 2024. A new study funded by the Hewlett-Packard foundation claims it can be done even sooner. [News Source]

Air Pollution Board Eyeing Ordinance Changes (The Chattanoogan) City Council members have been notified that the Chattanooga-Hamilton County Air Pollution Control Board will hold a public hearing on Monday, March 5, to receive comments on proposed revisions in local ordinances and regulations -- including raising asbestos, permit and emission fees. [News Source]

EPA fines Ohio company $750,000 for air pollution violation (WFMJ Youngstown) NORTH BEND, Ohio The U-S Environmental Protection Agency is fining a company that makes nitric acid 750-thousand dollars for illegal emissions of smog-causing pollutants at a plant near Cincinnati. [News Source]

Boxer grills EPA administrator. Sen. Barbara Boxer, the new head of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, lambasted the head of the Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday over "environmental rollbacks" in a hearing that was equal parts political theater and substance. [News Source]

EPA fines Ohio company for air pollution violation (Zanesville Times Recorder) NORTH BEND (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it is fining a company that makes nitric acid $750,000 for illegal emissions of smog-causing pollutants at a plant near Cincinnati. [News Source]

EPA fines Ohio company $750,000 for air pollution violation (FOX 45 Dayton) NORTH BEND, Ohio (AP) -- The U-S Environmental Protection Agency is fining a company that makes nitric acid 750-thousand dollars for illegal emissions of smog-causing pollutants at a plant near Cincinnati. [News Source]

EPA fines Ohio company $750,000 for air pollution violation (Springfield News-Sun) NORTH BEND, Ohio — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Tuesday it is fining a company that makes nitric acid $750,000 for illegal emissions of smog-causing pollutants at a plant near Cincinnati. [News Source]

EPA chief denies rolling back safeguards. The head of the Environmental Protection Agency faced down hostile critics yesterday in his first committee appearance before the Democratic-led Congress, denying accusations that agency decisions last year rolled back environmental safeguards. [News Source]

Auto industry, Alberta warn Kyoto dangerous for business. The minority Tory government in Canada got a boost for its environmental agenda on Tuesday as officials from the auto industry and Alberta warned Kyoto targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions could cripple their bottom line. [News Source]

A breath of fresh air? Could canned oxygen be the next bottled water? They say the best things in life are free. And for most of us, we'd like to think we can put the air we breathe on that list. But with pollution on the rise, companies across the globe are popping up, expelling the benefits of breathing pure oxygen. [News Source]