<p>In the United Kingdom, anti-shale groups such as Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth are using property law to attempt to stop hydraulic drilling, a process that they believe pollutes water and increases greenhouse gas emissions. Citing trespass laws, anti-fracking campaigners argue that it is illegal for companies to drill under a person's property unless the landowner gives consent, and so far they have succeeded in pushing production back several years.

<p>Shanghai is considering imposing a traffic congestion charge in order to fight pollution. Singapore and London already charge motorists more for driving into the city center at peak hours, and Shanghai is poised to become the first city in China to adopt similar road pricing. Cities throughout China—the world’s biggest carbon emitter—are working on pollution control; last week Beijing announced rules to reduce the number of government and private vehicles on the roads and close schools when pollution is at its worst.

<p>On Wednesday, the European Commission halted a plan to cap the production of food for fuel. Though the Commission had initially encouraged the production of biofuels, seeing them as a means to reduce carbon emissions and cut Europe’s dependence on imported oil, concerns that using food for fuel would inflate global food prices caused EU lawmakers to propose a cap on biofuel growth. On Wednesday, however, the Commission again changed direction when it failed to give the go-ahead for the creation of a plan to implement the cap.