(NY) The New York Times - Columbia University’s dual masters program in environmental journalism has been suspended, according to the school’s Web site, which now includes the following “important note”.

(IL) Chicago Tribune – The Obama administration is cracking down on BP as the oil company overhauls its massive refinery in northwest Indiana, one of the largest sources of air pollution in the Chicago area.

(MI) Detroit Free Press - During a speech today in Detroit, retired U.S. Army General and former presidential candidate Wesley Clark cast the effort to develop electric vehicles as a critical national security need that is essential to help the United States reduce its dependence on foreign oil.

(MI) The Detroit News - Environmental officials have determined there is no dangerous fallout from an industrial fire that broke out in River Rouge this morning.

(MI) The Michigan News - Leading Michigan environmental groups today applauded the long-awaited finalization of state rules designed to reduce mercury pollution from power plants as much as 90 percent starting in 2015.

(IN) The Post-Tribune - BP could be forced to halt construction on its Whiting refinery if the company and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management lowballed air pollution as much as environmentalists allege.

(MI) Kalamazoo Gazette – Helen Taylor couldn’t have said it any better. Taylor, The Nature Conservancy’s state director, described the recent agreement to acquire 171 acres of dunes at Saugatuck as “a huge step forward in the marathon effort to protect this property in perpetuity for the people of Michigan.”

(NY) Rochester Democrat and Chronicle - Eight years after agreeing to clean up contamination at an old shipyard and military plant on Dewey Avenue in Greece, the property owner has given up, leaving New York state with the task of overseeing remediation of the heavily polluted site.

(ON) The Globe and Mail -  The United States has proved to be the biggest laggard, refusing to sign the 1997 Kyoto Protocol or to adopt any effective domestic emissions controls. As we head into the global summit in Copenhagen in December to negotiate a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, the U.S. is once again the focus of concern. Even now, American politics remain strongly divided over climate change – though President Barack Obama has new opportunities to break the logjam.

(MI) The Mudpuppy – It’s Year Two for the Clean Energy Prize competition and sponsors DTE Energy and the University of Michigan have changed the rules.