AP

A new “good neighbor” rule issued by the Environmental Protection Agency will restrict smokestack emissions from power plants and other industrial sources that burden downwind areas with smog-causing pollution they can’t control. Nearly two dozen states will have to cut harmful industrial emissions of nitrogen oxide and other pollutants to improve air quality for millions of people living in downwind communities. EPA says the final rule, which was issued Wednesday, will save thousands of lives, keep tens of thousands of people out of the hospital and prevent millions of asthma attacks. But the National Mining Association blasted the rule as part of an ongoing effort by the EPA to force coal-fired power plants to close.

AP

U.S. safety regulators are turning up the heat on Tesla. They have announced investigations into steering wheels coming off some SUVs and a fatal crash involving a Tesla suspected of using an automated driving system when it hit a parked firetruck. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Wednesday it is launching a special crash-investigation team to probe a Feb. 18 crash involving a Tesla Model S and a ladder truck from the Contra Costa County, California, fire department. The probe is part of a larger investigation by the agency into multiple instances of Teslas using the automaker's Autopilot system crashing into parked emergency vehicles that are tending to other crashes. Messages were left Wednesday seeking comment from Texas-based Tesla.

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