NATIONAL
December 14, 2012 | By Neela Banerjee, Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration announced a new air pollution standard Friday that would bring about a 20% reduction in microscopic particles of soot emitted by coal-fired power plants and diesel vehicles that contribute to haze and respiratory ailments. The new limit, fought by industry and welcomed by environmentalists, marks the first time the Environmental Protection Agency tightened the soot standard since it was established 15 years ago. "These standards are fulfilling the promise of the Clean Air Act," said EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson.
HOME & GARDEN
March 24, 2012 | By Mona Shadia, Los Angeles Times
I met him at a Persian New Year celebration in Irvine four years ago. His goatee lay perfectly around his lips, as if it had been painted by an artist. His eyes were kind. There was a story behind them I wanted to know. But I could glance at him only when he wasn't looking. I felt shy - unusual for me, but the feeling persisted even as time went by. He's Persian. I'm Egyptian. Persian men don't usually go for Arab girls. I didn't really think he would be that shallow, but I was aware of the possibility, and I wasn't about to risk finding out. I admired him from afar.
NATIONAL
October 21, 2011 | By Neela Banerjee, Washington Bureau
The Environmental Protection Agency said it planned to regulate wastewater discharged by companies producing natural gas from shale formations, including chemically laced water used in a controversial extraction process known as hydraulic fracturing. The EPA's initiative comes as water-intensive natural gas production has spread around the country, raising concerns about the effects on drinking-water supplies. The practice, also known as fracking, involves shooting water infused with chemicals and sand at high pressure into shale formations to unlock reservoirs of natural gas. The EPA will try to determine what to do with water used during fracking, as well as water that is already underground and flows back up the well.
NEWS
April 8, 2011 | By Michael A. Memoli, James Oliphant, Lisa Mascaro and Kathleen Hennessey, Washington Bureau
Congressional negotiators struck a last-minute deal to fund the government for the rest of the fiscal year, congressional leaders and the White House said late Friday, averting a threatened shutdown. The House and Senate are expected to approve a seven-day stopgap measure to keep the government running until the final details of the agreement can be worked out. Talks continued deep into the evening until, finally, House Speaker John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) met with his caucus to outline the details of the proposed compromise, one in which Republicans succeeded in securing nearly $38 billion in cuts from current spending levels.
NATIONAL
April 7, 2011 | By Neela Banerjee, Washington Bureau
The Obama administration and its Senate allies beat back a months-long drive by congressional Republicans to strip the Environmental Protection Agency of its ability to regulate greenhouse gases, the heat-trapping emissions that most scientists believe are the main contributor to global climate change. The Republican effort has focused on limiting the EPA's regulatory powers and its program to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from vehicles, power plants and oil refineries, the biggest emitters of greenhouse gases.
OPINION
March 26, 2011
The damage caused by mercury in our air and water is no secret. The neurotoxin is especially dangerous to young children and developing fetuses, and is so pervasive that pregnant women are warned to limit the amount of swordfish and albacore tuna they eat. (The mercury levels in these and certain other fish are particularly high.) It's also no secret where most of the mercury released into the environment comes from: coal-fired power plants. Yet this country has been waiting nearly two decades for the Environmental Protection Agency to propose regulations for reducing mercury emissions.