Region’s anti-pollution plan falls short, group says. The Charlotte region has more work to do to combat traffic-generated air pollution as it nears a 2010 cleanup deadline, an advocacy law firm said Thursday. [News Source]

Region’s anti-pollution plan falls short. The Charlotte region has more work to do to combat traffic-generated air pollution as it nears a 2010 cleanup deadline, an advocacy law firm said Thursday. [News Source]

Amendment ends clash over air quality bill. A dispute over an air quality bill ended Thursday when the House sponsor agreed to accept a colleague's amendment to regulate toxic pollution. [News Source]

Environment creeps onto Asia property agenda. The environment is creeping onto the agenda for property investment funds in Asia, thanks to pressure from tenants and investors, but also because turning buildings more energy efficient can lift profits. [News Source]

Air quality concerns Beijing Olympics. Factories belching pollution as they fuel breakneck economic growth and dust blowing from thousands of local work sites and western deserts frequently brown the sky over China's capital. [News Source]

Activists choke growth of European shipping. Supported by strict European Union environmental laws and a band of die-hard residents, squatters and Gypsies, Ms. Apers has sued to keep alive the 17th-century village of Doel, which was slated for destruction. [News Source]

Incinerator raises fertility fear. A retired GP has raised objections to a proposed incinerator in Cornwall, saying it could increase infertility, infant deaths, miscarriages and birth defects. [News Source]

Experts debate costs of curbing greenhouse gases.

The reality, top climate economists say, is that cutting U.S. emissions sufficiently to hold greenhouse gas concentrations at near-current levels could soon cost the United States twice as much per year as it is now spending on the war in Iraq.

[News Source]

Cardiovascular health linked to air pollution. Research at West Virginia University School of Medicine showed that diesel exhaust can compromise the arteries' abilities to regulate blood flow and that some people are more at risk than others. [News Source]

In India, a jaundiced pearl. Air pollution has given the Taj a slightly yellow tinge, and this week a report released by the Indian Parliament prescribed a $230,000 therapeutic mudpack. [News Source]

United Nations shelves action on indoor hazards. A United Nations meeting has failed to agree on an action plan to deal with indoor air pollution--the range of hazards related to cooking indoors that is thought to kill more people every year in poor countries than malaria. [News Source]