Chevron said Friday that it had no intention of apologizing for the environmental damage to the Amazon rain forest for which an Ecuadorean court ruled it responsible. Attorneys for both sides have said that if Chevron apologized, its legal liability of $18 billion would have been cut to $9.5 billion. Ecuador’s judiciary had set Friday as the deadline for an apology. James Craig, a Chevron spokesman, said an apology would be “a false admission of responsibility.” Chevron has no assets in Ecuador, so the plaintiffs must to try to collect the award abroad.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is selling its second Water Bond to Japanese investors to help finance its work in the water sector.

The Water Bond, denominated in Turkish lira, will be issued in February. ADB will provide assistance in an amount at least equal to the net proceeds of the bond to water-related projects in the region, such as new water supply systems in urban areas, major rehabilitation of existing irrigation systems, and investment in wastewater management.

Reopening the waste treatment plant at Villappilsala at the earliest, entrusting its running to competent agencies, and rescheduling door-to-door waste collection to the evenings. These are some of the proposals in a 10-point agenda chalked out by the State unit of the WWF- India to resolve the issue of solid waste management (SWM) in the city Corporation limits.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association today designated the Atlantic sturgeon an endangered species, providing it greater legal protections, following a petition the Natural Resources Defense Council submitted in September 2009.

The National Green Tribunal has sought the stand of the ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) on a plea to ban setting up of new industrial units in "critically polluted" Noida till its environment quality is improved through a "remedial action plan". A bench of justices A Suryanarayan Naidu and GK Pandey has also issued notices to pollution control boards of Uttar Pradesh and the Centre, besides the UP State Industrial Development Corporation, and sought their responses by February 23.

Owners of zip, button and accessories dyeing/bleaching units observed fast here on Wednesday to condemn the sealing of many such units by Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) over the past few months on the charges of creating pollution.

The agitators were of the view that closure/sealing of about 150 zip, button and accessories dyeing units by TNPCB could not be justified as sludge generation was very minimal when compared to the normal dyeing operations carried out by the fabric dyers.

Located on the banks of the Ami river, this constituency in eastern Uttar Pradesh is witnessing a rather unusual election campaign by a nominee of Rahul Gandhi — one centred around pollution and environment with economic, cultural and political overtones. Vishwa Vijay Singh, 39, has launched many agitations under the banner of the Ami Bachao Manch over the past three years to save the river from industrial effluents that threaten the local flora and fauna besides posing health hazards.

The Congress will formally express its opposition to a European law aimed at reducing pollution from jetliners, a thorny diplomatic issue that has threatened to escalate transatlantic trade tensions.

House and Senate negotiators have agreed to a provision in sweeping aviation legislation that would put Europe on notice over its mandate for airlines worldwide to pay for carbon emissions from their planes while flying in Europe.

The bill is expected to be passed by Congress in the coming weeks.

Sterlite Industries has completed taking 23 out of the 30 environment protection measures mandated by the Supreme Court for its copper smelter plant at Tuticorin, officials of the company told visiting journalists on Saturday.

The plant has come under focus lights after the Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board had ordered it shut citing grounds of pollution, which was subsequently stayed by the Supreme Court on the condition that the company would undertake specific environment protection measures.

CHENNAI: A group from IIT-Madras is working towards developing a completely indigenous bio-degradable sanitary napkin, to curb the pollution caused by the burning of regular ‘pads’ that are used today. According to S Gopalakrishnan, project consultant of the Rural Technology Action Group (RuTAG) attached to the IC&SR in IIT-M, “These days the sanitary napkins that are used by women are disposed off by incineration. While this has been accepted as the best disposal technique in practice, we are against this as the burning of plastic is harmful to the environment.”