San Francisco Chronicle

The Bay Area air quality district became the first in the nation on Wednesday to impose fees on businesses that pump some of the highest levels of carbon dioxide into the air each year.

The 15-1 vote by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District sets the stage for 2,500 companies and agencies – from supermarkets to gas stations to power plants – to pay 4.4 cents for every metric ton of carbon dioxide they expel, beginning July 1.

The Clean Air Act, studied by a special Commons committee, looks to have increase punishments for polluters. After the Easter break, the House of Commons will convene to vote on these amendments.

Environment Minister John Baird announces the federal government’s plan to fight climate change and air pollution. Canadians may soon have to pay up to $200 to $300 more for a car, and $20 for various appliances.

Alongside the launch of a new Air Quality Health Index is a right-to-know bylaw that forces Toronto businesses to reveal their polluting emissions.

This will make Toronto the first North American city that allows the public to know what they are breathing in and where the pollutants are coming from.

Cleanup from a punctured pipeline causing a crude oil contaminated neighbourhood in Burnaby, British Columbia continues. Officials warn that the cleanup efforts can take up to weeks. Even so, some question the air quality and health effects after that.

Air quality is one of the major issues facing China for the 2008 Olympics. Australian’s Olympic chief, John Coates, has already advised Australian athletes to delay their arrival because of this concern.

“Thousands of Ontario residents would get sick, and many would die, if the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency goes ahead with relaxed new emission rules for coal-fuelled generating stations, the province complained yesterday.”

“China’s top coal producing province has offered rewards of up to 2 million yuan ($263,800) to cities dropping off a list of the country’s 10 worst polluters, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday.”

Beijing has taken millions of cars off the road in an attempt to test if air quality can be improved in preparation for the 2008 Olympics. After the forth day of testing, the city reports that it has seen four “blue-sky days.” However, some are still skeptical.

“Opposition leader Stéphane Dion is challenging the Conservative government to ditch its “so-called clean air plan” and accept the re-drafted Clean Air and Climate Change Act that Opposition parties agreed to in the spring.”