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WASHINGTON - Twelve states and several cities sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Monday to try to block the Bush administration's changes to the Clean Air Act. EPA's new rule makes it easier to upgrade utilities, refineries and other industrial facilities without installing additional pollution controls. The rule, which was proposed last December and signed by EPA's administrator in August, was made final on Monday. It will take effect in two months, and states have up to three years to comply. EPA said in a statement it does not believe this rule will result in significant changes in emissions and...

<p>President Bush yesterday for the second day in a row called on Congress to reduce air pollution at a time when Democrats are stepping up their criticism of the president's environmental record.</p> <p>Mr. Bush met with utility officials in the White House, urging them to lobby lawmakers to pass his "Clear Skies" initiative, which he said would harness market forces to cut air pollution by 70 percent.</p>

<p>MONROE, Mich. - President Bush insisted yesterday that pollution regulations can be simplified without increasing emissions or slashing jobs - even at aging coal-fired power plants.</p> <p>"When we talk about environmental policy in this Bush administration, we not only talk about clean air, we talk about jobs," he told workers at the Detroit Edison Monroe Power Plant. "I believe we can do both."</p>

<p>In the latest volley in the escalating battle between California and the Bush Administration on environmental issues, Attorney General Bill Lockyer sued the EPA Thursday, claiming recent changes to the Clean Air Act would dramatically increase smog in the state.</p>

<p>The Bush administration Friday finalized a plan to ease clean air regulations to allow polluting power plants to get bigger without having to get cleaner -- a move environmentalists and Northeast officials say threatens public health.</p> <p>"This is bad news for anyone who breathes," said Carl Pope, the Sierra Club's executive director.</p>

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration will release new rules on Friday to give older coal-fired power plants more leeway to avoid costly maintenance to reduce emissions, congressional sources said on Thursday. The Environmental Protection Agency will release its long-awaited "new source review" guidelines on Friday, said Chris Miller, a staffer on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. EPA spokesman Joe Martyak declined to comment on the timing for the release of the new rules. Existing rules require U.S. utilities and refineries to invest in state-of-the-art pollution controls if a plant undergoes a major expansion or modification. But the...

Intended Consequences: Natural Process v. Environmental Arrogance By Sean FinneganPublished 08. 19. 02 at 18:58 Sierra Time Sean Finnegan, who reported regularly from Klamath Falls for The Sierra Times, will be providing exclusive coverage of the Sawgrass Rebellion - the convoy headed toward Florida. As expected, The Sierra Times will provide regular coverage of this event. Finnegan begins his series on the battles in the Western States.DISPATCHES:· In the early morning of October 18, 1998, fire destroyed five buildings and four ski lifts in Vail, Colorado. Two days later an underground terrorist group known as the Earth Liberation Front...