Battling for India’s environment. As India's economy surges – it's estimated to grow by 7.5 percent in 2010-11, compared to growth of 2.6 percent in Canada – it faces some of the world's most high-stakes environmental hurdles. [News Source]

EPA’s voluntary programs under scrutiny as regulatory obligations rise. As U.S. EPA ramps up regulatory activities in climate change and other arenas, the agency may cut back some of its many voluntary programs in an effort to funnel resources toward regulations, a top official said this week. [News Source]

Gasp! Big Bend on smog list? City folks go to Big Bend National Park for the majestic vistas and fresh air, but sometimes the milky haze and lung-burning smog above the vast West Texas upheaval are reminiscent of home. [News Source]

The solidarity of street smokers. Huddles of street smokers outside office doorways could be extinguished under new public health plans. But it could also be the end to the comradeship of pavement puffers. [News Source]

Recycled condos: More than the sum of its parts. It looks new. It smells fresh. It has a new home warranty. Yet, some of the parts of its sum have been around at least once before. Recycled materials are beginning to be used in the construction of new condos, not to save money but to save the planet. [News Source]

Behind ‘green’ buzzwords, which energies work best. Wind, solar, and tidal powers are only a fraction of a broad array of alternative energies, many of which are often overlooked. Their efficiency, precise advantages and drawbacks are still unknown to many people obsessed with clean energy. [News Source]

U.S. renewable credit market may pass before carbon, group says. U.S. lawmakers who are struggling to win support for a cap-and-trade emissions market will probably settle this year on a smaller proposal that forces more electricity to be produced by wind farms, solar panels and other low-carbon sources, an emissions trading group said. [News Source]

Brick kilns responsible for 30pc air pollution, speakers tell seminar. Use of firewood and low-quality coal in brick kilns is causing massive air pollution, environmentalists said at a seminar yesterday, urging the government to take steps to protect the forest as well as the environment. [News Source]

Weather system brings snow, traps pollution. The weather system that brought Friday’s snowfall also helped to trap pollution particles in the air, bringing air quality measurements in St. Cloud into the range deemed unhealthy for the very young, very old and people with heart or lung problems. [News Source]

What’s the price of clean air? New federal ozone standards may improve air quality and public health - at a price. [News Source]

DMR faces air-quality accusations. San Juan County officials have accused Durango Mountain Resort of failing to comply with air-quality measures imposed as part of the resort's development agreement. [News Source]