California wants strict auto emission rules. Californian officials demanded that federal regulators allow the state to impose the strictest auto and light truck emissions rules in the nation. Global warming made the action necessary, they said, and threatened to sue if the government did not allow them to go forward. [News Source]

EPA urged to allow states to regulate emissions. Environmentalists and state officials from across the country called yesterday for federal approval of California’s bid to slow global warming by cracking down at the state level on certain automobile emissions. [News Source]

Maine joins call for EPA to let states cut emissions. Maine's environmental commissioner and a prominent Maine car dealer joined officials from California and other states on Tuesday as they demanded federal permission for states to set their own limits on greenhouse gases from cars and trucks. [News Source]

EPA officer can be ‘a hero or a villain,’ California AG says Saying the nation's top environmental officer will be “a hero or a villain” depending on how he rules, California Attorney General Jerry Brown yesterday laid out the state's case for getting federal approval to enforce its own greenhouse gas standards on vehicles. [News Source]

Dozen states try to reduce emissions. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal joined representatives of nearly a dozen states Tuesday who urged federal regulators to allow them to impose tougher carbon dioxide pollution standards on automobiles. [News Source]

Environmental Group to Sue FirstEnergy (AP via Yahoo! Finance) FirstEnergy Corp. violated federal and state air pollution laws at a western Pennsylvania coal-fired power plant, according an environmental group. [News Source]

New York’s yellow taxis go green (AFP via Yahoo! News) New York's signature yellow taxis will all run on hybrid gasoline-electric engines by 2012, reducing air pollution and helping to tackle climate change, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday. [News Source]

Mayor Bloomberg Orders Taxi Cabs to Be Hybrid by 2012 (Bloomberg via Yahoo! News) May 22 (Bloomberg) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg ordered all city taxis to operate on hybrid engines by 2012 as part of his drive to reduce air pollution. [News Source]

California urges EPA to approve waiver (AP via Yahoo! News) Backed by numerous environmental groups and about a dozen other states, California officials demanded federal permission Tuesday to impose their own greenhouse gas emission controls on cars and other vehicles. [News Source]

Mayor Bloomberg Orders Taxi Cabs to Be Hybrid by 2012 (Bloomberg via Yahoo! News) May 22 (Bloomberg) -- New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said he has ordered all city taxis to operate on hybrid engines by 2012 as part of his drive to reduce air pollution. [News Source]

Ottawa searching for home for banned mercury. The government has made it mandatory to remove mercury from old cars before they are recycled but hasn't figured out what should be done with the potent neurotoxin, once it is collected. [News Source]