Kyodo news summary -2- (Kyodo via Yahoo! Asia News) _ ---------- Japan picks Kyoto, Osaka to host G-8 foreign, finance meetings [News Source]

Environmental report card issued.

Cities across San Mateo County are slowly taking stock of the impact their actions can have on climate change and taking the lead with local projects to reduce their impact on the Earth.

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LEAD: Diet enacts law to reduce air pollution in big cities (Kyodo via Yahoo! Asia News) _ (EDS: UPDATING WITH LAW ENACTED) [News Source]

Opinions vary on greenhouse gas action.

The national debate over energy and global warming may force Kentucky’s next governor to deal with the state’s reliance on mining and burning coal to produce electricity.

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Surge in carbon levels shows vegetation struggling to cope. Climate change may have passed a key tipping point that could mean temperatures rising more quickly than predicted and it being harder to tackle global warming, research suggests. [News Source]

Vegetation struggles as carbon level surges. Climate change may have passed a key tipping point that could mean temperatures rising more quickly than predicted and it being harder to tackle global warming, research suggests. [News Source]

Coarse particulate matter in outdoor air raises bad cholesterol. Breathing air containing coarse particulate matter such as road or construction dust may cause heart problems for asthma sufferers and other vulnerable populations, according to a new study led by the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health. [News Source]

Effort to ‘green’ U.S. Capitol complicated by coal. U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's plan to make the U.S. Capitol complex more environmentally friendly is being hampered by the reluctance of lawmakers from coal-producing states to implement changes at the complex's coal-burning power plant. [News Source]

A nuclear reactor reborn. The Tennessee Valley Authority plans to reopen its Browns Ferry 1 nuclear reactor this month — 22 years after it was shut for safety reasons and 5 years after extensive renovations began. [News Source]

Alleged document leaker describes arrest as ‘witch hunt’. The alleged leak under investigation involves a draft version of the government's new regulatory framework to crack down on pollution from large industries. [News Source]

Peruvian Group Suing Oxy Over Pollution (AP via Yahoo! Finance) Members of an indigenous group in Peru are suing Occidental Petroleum Corp., claiming the company's oil production operations in the Andean nation resulted in toxic levels of pollution that left many people sick or at risk of serious illness. [News Source]