Awards recognize ‘green’ efforts (Queens Courier) Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan of the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) recognized 11 New York City companies that have earned Regional Commuter Choice Awards for making a commitment to providing benefits that help reduce traffic and air pollution and improve the quality of life for employees. [News Source]

Time to flip a different light switch. Besides the loss of thousands of vertical feet of mountain, the loss of all animal and plant life sustained by the soil of that mountain, the loss of whole valleys filled with unstable and leaching rubble and the loss of clean air from burning this coal, another outcome of this process is the slurry pond. [News Source]

Most local establishments comply with clean indoor air act. Two years ago, Nevada's proposed indoor smoking ban was front-page news; dozens of establishments across the Las Vegas area now ignore the ban, known as the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act. [News Source]

Johns Hopkins’ pollution study includes Valley. The air pollution in Maricopa County apparently is bad enough to draw the attention of a prestigious medical school. [News Source]

Flooding, gasoline fuel higher food costs. The recent flooding in the Midwest is contributing to higher food costs, but not as much as one might expect, given the pictures of washed-out cornfields. [News Source]

China to suspend some heavy industry as Games near. With Beijing struggling to clear polluted skies before the Olympics in August, the nearby industrial port of Tianjin has ordered 40 factories to suspend some operations for two months as part of a broader effort to improve air quality during the Games. [News Source]

Betting on a bonanza. Energy companies are leasing more land in Pa. for natural gas and environmentalists are worried about the consequences. [News Source]

Are contaminants contributing to underweight births in Chattanooga area? Hamilton County newborns have some of the worst odds in the country of getting a healthy start in life, with more than one in nine born below what is considered a healthy weight. Now scientists are asking about pollutants. [News Source]

The answer to climate change is research. The bitter arguments in the Senate over the Lieberman-Warner climate change bill proved that climate change caused by humans has come to the fore of U.S. policy debates. [News Source]

Air shouldn’t kill. With each passing year, the number of premature deaths linked to exposure to our polluted air grows more staggering. [News Source]

Rosemont mine may be hard to block. Both Tucson Congress members, many legislators and local governments and the majority of residents involved with the issue clearly don't want it. [News Source]