"The toxic chemicals have caused many environmental emergencies linked to water and air pollution, " it said.

BBC: China acknowledges 'cancer villages'

Irresponsible industrial practices have wrought terrible environmental abuses in forms of air, land and water pollution.

FORBES: Chinese Checkmate: Beating Us At Our Own Game?

It is a future where we must strengthen our collaboration on critical environmental issues: cleaning up our air, land and water, fighting for environmental justice to relieve the burdens of pollution in poor and minority communities, protecting the planet we all call home and safeguarding the creation that has been given to us to steward.

WHITEHOUSE: EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson Delivers Keynote at the National Council of Churches' Centennial Gathering | The White House

Opponents warn that fracking is an environmental disaster waiting to happen, citing, among other risks, air and water pollution, the release of radiation and cancer-causing substances, and the acceleration of global climate change as methane and other greenhouse gases escape during fracking.

FORBES: Fracking: A Role for Universities

Environmental crises surround us: global warming, hazardous waste, resource depletion, air pollution and many more.

FORBES: Paper Or Plastic?

Assaulted by climate change, massive air pollution, and biologically dead rivers, the cities of the South are becoming environmental disaster areas.

BBC: NEWS | In Depth | Viewpoints: The urban world in 2050

The debate over air pollution and, more specifically, the regulation of air pollution, raged on this week as the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) watered down its cross-state pollution rule and House Republicans moved to delay new rules on toxic air pollution from cement plants, solid waste incinerators, and industrial boilers.

FORBES: Two New Reasons to Worry about Air Pollution: Obesity and Diabetes

Environmental groups, foundations, and major oil and gas companies came together to support stringent measures to protect air and water from pollution in the Appalachian region, and they invited other groups to join in and help limit pollution from fracking.

WSJ: Fracking coalition upsets both greens and drillers