Not too long ago, the Indian capital of New Delhi was one of the most polluted cities in the world; now, you still might not want to run a marathon there, but the city is making serious strides toward cleaning up its air. Dilip Biswas, chair of the city's Central Pollution Control Board, says pollution has dropped 25 percent since 1995, as levels of sulfur dioxide and particulates in the air have fallen sharply. "Now you can see the stars at night," he says. Vehicles account for about 70 percent of the city's pollution, while power plants kick in an …

The head of the U.S. EPA's New England office has accused New Hampshire of failing to prepare for the environmental impact of the rapid population boom that is expected to follow the widening of Interstate 93, the main commuter highway connecting the state to Boston, Mass. New Hampshire plans to spend $18 million to ease the environmental impacts of the highway project, but Robert Varney said that's far too little to address a likely population boom in more than 20 New Hampshire communities that would tax existing services and threaten open spaces, drinking water supplies, and wildlife. Varney called for …

Hello, Umbra, I have been a firefighter for 23 years in Florida and have been reading Grist for the last couple of years. I am very environmentally conscious (probably why my nickname at the fire station is Captain Planet) and am starting to look for a place to move with mountains, small and friendly (preferably environmentally conscious) communities that still have reasonably clean air and water and a lack of huge malls, power plants, and environmentally damaging companies or toxic waste dump sites. Good schools for children would be a plus. I've been trying to find ways to research but …

Ever since the Communist Revolution of 1949, bicycles have been a seemingly indelible part of the Chinese landscape, as endemic as pandas. Now, though, as the pace of life picks up in China's major cities, urban planners and government authorities have begun treating bicycles as nuisances -- antiquated devices that impede the free flow of cars. So far, Shanghai has banned bikes on 54 major roads, and there is no way for cyclists to ride or carry their bikes across the Huangpu River into the city's new financial and industrial center. Large signs warn against biking in some areas of …

Long-term exposure to diesel exhaust probably triggers a wide range of respiratory illnesses and causes lung cancer, according to a study released yesterday by the U.S. EPA. Based on decades of research, the study found "persuasive" evidence that the diesel engines operating on highways, farms, and construction sites around the country are hazardous to human health. The same conclusions have been reached before by various world health organizations and California agencies, but still, the new study lends urgency and credibility to efforts by the EPA and others to improve emissions standards for large trucks and buses under the Clean Air …

Last month, 10 solar-powered race cars zipped around a 1.5-mile NASCAR track at the legendary Texas Motor Speedway, some of them reaching the dizzying speed of 35 miles per hour. With all its technological novelty and timely political implications, the Dell and Winston Solar Challenge (named for the computer and cigarette companies that sponsored it) might have been a grand public spectacle. But the entire 155,000-seat stadium was empty. Apparently, the sweeping historical significance of solar power was lost on the NASCAR and monster-truck crowd that normally flocks to this Fort Worth hotspot -- much as it still seems to …

A new culprit has been named in the drought that has plagued more than a third of the U.S. this summer: urban sprawl. A report released yesterday by American Rivers, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Smart Growth America found that the rapid expansion of pavement and developed land in metropolitan areas amounts to a one-two punch for the environment. The concrete eliminates fields and grasslands, which would have absorbed water and replenished underground aquifers; instead, water rushes off roads, roofs, driveways, and parking lots, picking up pollutants before flushing into rivers and streams. In Atlanta, Ga., just one of …

Tree-huggers, time-wasters, socialists, elitists, leftists, losers, homosexuals, Democrats -- those are just a few of the more printable epithets that have been directed at the members of Earth on Empty, an environmental organization dedicated to improving air quality and reversing global warming. What has Earth on Empty done to earn such malice? It has launched a campaign to "ticket" SUV owners for violating the environment. Volunteers with the organization distribute faux traffic tickets to parked SUVs; the text on the tickets describes the environmental consequences of owning the gas-guzzling, oversized vehicles. Earth on Empty's campaign is just one part of …