Obama administration proposes strict new smog standards. The Obama administration proposed tough new smog standards today, scrapping a lax Bush-era regulation that had outraged both environmental groups and state governments. [News Source]

Stricter new smog limit would hit rural areas, too. Hundreds of communities far from congested highways and belching smokestacks could soon join big cities and industrial corridors in violation of stricter limits on lung-damaging smog proposed Thursday by the Obama administration. [News Source]

New smog rule could be a surprise to some counties. Parts of the country that haven't worried about air pollution may soon be in the fight California has faced for decades: cleaning up smog. Stricter rules proposed could more than double the number of counties across the country that are in violation of clean air standards. [News Source]

Proposed smog rules would require changes in Minnesota. The federal Environmental Protection Agency is proposing stricter health standards for smog, and Minnesota may have some work to do to meet the new standards. [News Source]

Wichita may exceed limit under new smog rules. Wichita would almost certainly be among hundreds of U.S. cities that couldn't meet new clean air standards outlined Thursday by the Obama administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. [News Source]

Beat poverty first, then tackle emissions. The climate change debacle at Copenhagen last month underlined the reality that any new global agreement will be on the terms set by developing countries. Leading commentators have written that China's leading role in this was a demonstration of its new influence as an economic power. [News Source]

Innovation in electric bicycles. Electric bicycles are the biggest selling form of transport in China, with 120 million whizzing up and down the thoroughfares. The electric bike is environmentally friendly, powered by batteries which don’t contribute to the haze of pollution casting a pall over most Chinese cities. [News Source]

Businesses oppose Wisconsin clean energy plan. Business groups are fighting Governor Jim Doyle's clean energy plan that calls for increasing the use of renewable fuels and opens the door to nuclear power, saying the new mandates will weaken Wisconsin's already struggling manufacturing sector. [News Source]

Ban new homes in bushfire areas: Curtin expert. A Curtin University bushfire expert has called on governments and local councils to cut urban sprawl in an age when climate change was increasing the likelihood of more devastating fires. [News Source]

Wind farms could power half of Britain’s homes, but jobs could go overseas. Nine giant new wind farms in the seas around Britain will be announced today, but few of the 6,000 turbines needed are likely to be built here. [News Source]

Southern winds help stash Earth’s carbon dioxide. Much of the carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere goes south, literally. Researchers using new supercomputer models have described for the first time how the Southern Ocean sucks the greenhouse gas out of the air and then shuttles it into the deep sea far from the Antarctic. [News Source]