Check Today’s Wood-Burning Status (Modesto Bee) Want the latest information on the wood-burning status from the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District? Just click here. [News Source]

Calcutta 2009 (The Telegraph) We put this above all else, because this year will be our big battle in the war against air pollution. Calcutta High Court has banned all two-stroke autos from January 1. But the deadline has run into roadblocks galore, with politicians going into reverse gear and unions revving in revolt. [News Source]

Coalition of environmental groups challenge air permit for coal-fired SC power plant (Canadian Business) A coalition of environmental groups is challenging a state-issued air pollution permit for a coal-fired power plant in Florence County, the [News Source]

Environmentalists challenge permit for power plant (Spartanburg Herald-Journal) Published: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 3:55 p.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, December 31, 2008 at 3:55 p.m. COLUMBIA — A coalition of environmental groups is challenging an air pollution permit issued for a coal-fired power plant in Florence County. [News Source]

Environmentalists challenge SC power plant permit (AP via Yahoo! Finance) A coalition of environmental groups is challenging a state-issued air pollution permit for a coal-fired power plant in Florence County, the organization said Wednesday. [News Source]

These plans for tax hikes are just hot air. It's the kind of story you expect to see on April 1: "Farmers protest tax on bovine emissions." Methane is considered to have 23 times the atmospheric warming potential of carbon dioxide, which New Hampshire has begun regulating. [News Source]

Silent night: a tune-up for body, soul and car. If you didn’t keep your 2008 New Year's resolutions, maybe they didn’t satisfy a deeper connection with yourself, your friends, your planet, or your car. With that in mind, following are some tips for lightening your calorie, carbon and pollution loads in 2009. [News Source]

Dome must ensure its air is safe. People can argue all they want about the noise problem at Fort Gratiot's Extreme Sports Dome, but there can be no dispute about the necessity of ensuring the facility's air quality poses no health risk. [News Source]

Soot in the city. Soot conjures acrid, stifling images, from Dickensian London to smokestacks in China. In Houston, it's freeways thick with diesel exhaust and a thin brown haze that too often smears the skyline. [News Source]

Smokers have to take it outside. The few night-life establishments that haven't already banned smoking have to impose it as of midnight Thursday, when the Utah Indoor Clean Air Act becomes fully implemented, pushing the last vestige of unabashed indoor smokers outside. [News Source]

Town of Flower Mound, Lewisville Hospital smoking bans begin Thursday. Thursday marks the start of a new year and the beginning of some smoking restrictions in the area at the Medical Center of Lewisville which will be smoke-free. [News Source]