Fuel

Leaders of the Group of Eight nations endorsed cutting global emissions of greenhouse gases in half by 2050, but stopped short of more short-term targets, the Associated Press reported Tuesday.

California clean-air regulators propose to force all older highway trucks running within state boundaries to be retrofitted first with diesel particulate filters, costing $8,000 to $20,000 and more, and then with equipment that reduces output of nitrogen oxides, in a complicated, staggered schedule in effect from 2010 through 2022.

The average price of a gallon of retail diesel dipped 0.3 cent last week, to $4.645, making June only the second month so far in 2008 during which the average did not rise, the Department of Energy reported.

Two federal lawmakers joined the head of the Motor Transport Association of Connecticut in calling for action to help relieve soaring fuel prices that are driving trucking companies out of business, the Connecticut Post reported Thursday.

High fuel prices are dampening demand for diesel and gasoline, and more Americans will stay home this Fourth of July holiday than last year, a truck stop trade group said Thursday.

Truckers protested high fuel prices in London and in India Wednesday, blocking streets and parking rigs, Bloomberg reported.

Oil closed at a record just short of $141 a barrel on Tuesday, following an International Energy Agency report said supplies may lag behind demand for the next five years, Bloomberg reported.