1. AIR POLLUTION:
Senate preserves EPA mercury rule
The Senate today rejected a bid to kill the U.S. EPA rule that President Obama singled out as a signature environmental accomplishment during this year's State of the Union address. Forty-six senators voted for Sen. James Inhofe's (R-Okla.) resolution to scrap the new mercury rule for power plants, four short of the 50 needed to pass under the Congressional Review Act.
