Poll: Most short on emergency savings

Poll: Most short on emergency savings

CHICAGO

Even after the jolt of the Great Recession, a new study finds that most Americans are not financially prepared for an emergency.

A survey released today by financial data publisher Bankrate.com found that only 24 percent of consumers have the recommended cushion of at least six months’ expenses set aside. The vast majority aren’t ready for contingencies; another 24 percent don’t have any emergency savings at all.

With 6.2 million people out of work for half a year or longer, the results underscore just how unprepared many are at a time when both job security and the economy pose concerns.

Deal would speed cuts in coal pollution

BILLINGS, Mont.

Aging coal-fired power plants across the West could be forced to install costly pollution control equipment under an agreement between federal regulators and environmentalists aimed at jump-starting a delayed clean air initiative.

Many utilities already cut air pollution emissions sharply over the last decade to meet federal health standards. Next up are even deeper cuts, to improve visibility in 156 national parks and wilderness areas by clearing the air of pollutants that cause haze.

The reductions are required under the Clean Air Act. First announced more than a decade ago, they have yet to be widely enacted.

Now, a deal reached between the Environmental Protection Agency and three groups would require the agency to adopt plans by 2012 to reduce haze-causing pollution from plants in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota and Wyoming. The agreement is subject to approval from a federal judge in Colorado following a 30-day comment period that ends July 15.

Mexico applauds new flight routes

MEXICO CITY

Mexico’s tourism ministry on Sunday announced new flight routes from Europe and Latin America it said will boost tourism and nudge the country away from its reliance on U.S. visitors.

Airlines including Aeromexico, British carrier Virgin Atlantic, Spanish airline Air Europa, Brazil’s TAM and Chile’s LAN are initiating new routes in Mexico this summer.

The additional routes include Gatwick, Britain- Cancun; Lima, Peru-Cancun; Sao Paulo, Brazil-Mexico City; and Madrid, Spain-Mexico City.

G-7 ministers discuss Greek situation

LUXEMBOURG

A European official says that finance ministers from the Group of Seven rich countries were discussing Greece’s debt crisis on a conference call early today.

The official said that the call was designed to update the finance ministers of United States, Canada, Japan and the U.K. on discussions taking place in parallel among the eurozone’s top financial officials.

The official said the ministers — who were joined in Luxembourg by the heads of the IMF and the European Central Bank — were also working on a statement on Greece. He was speaking on condition of anonymity because discussions were still ongoing.

Associated Press