Botanic Garden honored for green effort by reducing air pollution (Glencoe News) The Chicago Botanic Garden will be honored for its green efforts on two roadside billboards during the month July. Specifically, the CBG has reduced air pollution by nearly 2,000 lbs. over the past year. "Clean Air Counts" will feature The Chicago Botanic Garden employees on billboards located on Milwaukee Avenue, north of Willow Road in Wheeling, and on Milwaukee Avenue (Route 45) in Deerfield ... [News Source]

As mercury rises, so does pollution. With temperatures headed up faster than an Olympic high jumper, Puget Sound Clean Air Agency officials are keeping a nervous eye on air pollution monitors. [News Source]

Smog puts Seattle area at risk for pollution penalties. The Seattle area is on the verge of getting a brown smudge on its green reputation. A combination of thousands of tailpipes and factories, summer sunshine, and stricter pollution standards is putting the region on the brink of violating federal smog standards. [News Source]

Feds ink $400 million settlement with SRP over coal-fired plant pollution. The Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency secured a settlement with Salt River Project to control air pollution at its coal-fired power plant in eastern Arizona. [News Source]

Court backs Houston smog plan. A federal appeals court sided Wednesday with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over its approval of a smog-fighting plan for Houston that environmentalists claim will not result in healthy air. [News Source]

Neville Island brings in business, loses industrial image. The opening this week of a four-story hotel on Neville Island is a signal of changing times for a community long known for industrial pollution. [News Source]

Trash hauler caught idling pays $195G, agrees to new rules. A Bay State trash hauler agreed to pay $195,000 to avoid an air-pollution lawsuit and clean up its act yesterday for letting dozens of diesel-belching trucks idle in four cities, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced. [News Source]

Bad air expected to kill 300 in Essex county. Nearly 300 people in the Essex region will die prematurely this year from the effects of air pollution, according to data released Wednesday by the Canadian Medical Association. [News Source]

Bad air will kill 173 Albertans this year: report. Bad air in Alberta is expected to prematurely kill 173 Albertans this year. This startling figure is part of a national report by the Canadian Medical Association which, for the first time, attaches numbers to the health impacts of poor air quality in this province. [News Source]

The price of smog to cost $1 billion each year say Canada’s doctors. Smog this year will contribute to the premature deaths of 2, 700 Canadians and put 11,000 in hospitals, costing the economy and health-care system $1 billion, Canada's doctors say. [News Source]

Air pollution deaths mounting: CMA study. Northern Health's medical health officer for the Interior doesn't quite agree with a prediction that there will be 21,000 Canadian deaths this year, and a total death toll of 800,000 by 2031 due to air pollution. [News Source]