The Associated Press reports on the strict refinery pollution controls and community environmental benefits that ConocoPhillips has agreed to implement when expanding the Roxana refinery; Ann Alexander emphasizes that the agreement has set the bar for what national standards should be, and should lead to around a 500-ton-per-year reduction of pollutant emissions… Josh Mogerman talks about the ConocoPhillips agreement in more detail in the Gary Post Tribune… Ecogeek.com excitedly recounts the details of NRDC’s green jobs report focusing in on the blog’s hope that politicians and leaders will listen to the data…

Aaron Colangelo chides EPA for not feeling any urgency in updating decades old beach water testing standards; Delaware News Journal reports that due to an NRDC lawsuit EPA has now agreed to test for more pathogens and faster—cutting testing time down from 24hrs to two; Nancy Stoner calls the monitoring improvements a major victory for anyone that swims… Karen Wayland is quoted in both Grist and the Kansas City Infozine criticizing politicians for bending to the whims of oil conglomerates and failing to protect American citizens from oil addiction and high oil prices.