BUSINESS BRIEFS
Head of EPA calls for regulating emissions from ships, seaports
Advertiser News Services
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NEWARK, N.J. — The head of the Environmental Protection Agency wants to limit emissions along the nation's coastline and within its seaports, just as the agency does along highways, with tougher pollution standards on large commercial ships.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said yesterday that the United States and Canada have applied to the International Maritime Organization to create a 230-mile emissions control area around much of their coastline.
The move is intended to ensure the shipping industry does its part to improve the air quality of major seaport communities. Ships moving through the zone would be subject to the tougher emissions standards.
"This is an important and long overdue step to protect the air and water along our shores," Jackson said, speaking in front of a row of cranes at a press conference in Port Newark.
GOOGLE, MUSIC COMPANIES LAUNCH FREE SITE FOR CHINA
BEIJING — Google Inc. and major music companies launched a free Internet music download service for China yesterday in a bid to help turn a field dominated by pirates into a profitable, legitimate business.The advertising-supported service will offer 1.1 million tracks, including the full catalogs of Chinese and Western music for Warner Music Group Corp., EMI Group Ltd., Sony Music Entertainment and Universal Music and 14 independent labels. It will be limited to use by computers whose Internet protocol, or IP, addresses show they are in mainland China.
VACATION, INVESTMENT HOME SALES PLUNGED 22% LAST YEAR
WASHINGTON — Sales of vacation and investment homes slid 22 percent last year, a sign that tough economic conditions and tight lending requirements shut out buyers, the National Association of Realtors reported yesterday.Second home sales comprised 30 percent of the housing market, down from a peak of 40 percent in 2005 when financing was easier. Just 9 percent of sales last year were for vacation homes, down from 12 percent in 2007. Proportionally, investment properties held steady at 21 percent.
