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Studies the clean-air regulations proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in March 1997. Introduction of the tougher controls on PM2.5 and ozone; Trouble associated with the evidence linking both to various illnesses; Cost of the regulations proposed by the EPA; Reaction to the regulations.

This article reports on grass-roots efforts for environmental protection in the United States. Could the next grass-roots revolution in America be over climate change? George Bush stomped out of the UN's Kyoto treaty on global warming three years ago and did a U-turn on campaign pledges to regulate emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2). Since then, he has refused to come up with sensible domestic policies. Yet that very obstinacy has fomented a backlash in the states. Massachusetts led the way by imposing curbs on CO2 emissions from power plants. The New England states have also joined the eastern provinces of Canada in vowing to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 12% by the end of the decade. Not to be outdone by Yankees, California, Oregon and Washington have now banded together to tackle climate change. California has passed the country's first law regulating emissions of greenhouse gases from cars.