Tough new EPA rules would force coal-fired power plants to capture emissions or shut down

WASHINGTON (AP) — Coal-fired power plants would be forced to capture smokestack emissions or shut down under a rule issued Thursday by the Environmental Protection Agency. New limits on greenhouse gas emissions from fossil fuel-fired electric plants are the Biden administration's...

New rules on coal power plants target pollution 'pushing our planet to the brink,' EPA Administrator Michael Regan says

Global plastic pollution treaty talks hit critical stage in Canada

Thousands of negotiators and observers representing most of the world’s nations are gathering in the Canadian city of Ottawa this week to craft a treaty to stop the rapidly escalating problem of plastic pollution. Each day, the equivalent of 2,000 garbage trucks full of plastic are...

A ban on single-use plastics takes effect in Hong Kong in a bid to reduce pollution

HONG KONG (AP) — Hong Kong has long been a major producer and consumer of great food, and a great amount of plastic and Styrofoam to go with it. That’s going to change as new legislation aiming to stop the sale and distribution of Styrofoam products and single-use plastic cutlery...

EPA designates 2 forever chemicals as hazardous substances, eligible for Superfund cleanup

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday designated two forever chemicals that have been used in cookware, carpets and firefighting foams as hazardous substances, an action intended to ensure quicker cleanup of the toxic compounds and require industries and others...

Earth Day: How a senator's idea more than 50 years ago got people fighting for their planet

Millions of people around the world will pause on Monday, at least for a moment, to mark Earth Day. It's an annual event founded by people who hoped to stir activism to clean up and preserve a planet that is now home to some 8 billion humans and assorted trillions of other organisms. ...

Greece plans 2 marine protected areas. But rival Turkey and environmental groups aren't impressed

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece aims to create two large marine parks as part of a 780-million-euro ($830 million) program to protect biodiversity and marine ecosystems that includes banning bottom trawling and tackling plastic and microplastic pollution, the prime minister announced during an...

Maine sues biochemical giant over contamination from PCB-tainted products

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Maine is suing biochemical giant Monsanto for allegedly knowingly selling products containing harmful chemicals that have contributed to contamination in the state. The latest lawsuit targeting the company over the manufacture and sale of products with...

Environmentalists protest as Biden administration approves huge oil export terminal off Texas coast

WASHINGTON (AP) — In a move that environmentalists called a betrayal, the Biden administration has approved the construction of a deepwater oil export terminal off the Texas coast that would be the largest of its kind in the United States. The Sea Port Oil Terminal being developed...

Court upholds California's authority to set nation-leading vehicle emission rules

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California can continue to set its own nation-leading vehicle emissions standards, a federal court ruled Tuesday — two years after the Biden administration restored the state’s authority to do so as part of its efforts to reverse Trump-era environmental rollbacks. ...