National (U.S.)

"Federal officials have moved quickly to clamp down on the use of potent rodent-killing pesticides after one was linked to the deaths of two Utah girls earlier this year. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said aluminum and magnesium fumigants can no longer be used near homes."

"After almost two decades of delays, the Environmental Protection Agency said Thursday that it was on track to implement a regulation requiring the construction industry to help prevent cases of lead poisoning among children."

"Feb. 28, 2010, was a banner day for Texas wind to set the clouds -- and electrons -- flying. In the Panhandle, gusts reached 47 miles per hour and wind generators delivered a record 6,242 megawatts of power to Dallas, Austin and other population centers. At 1 p.m., 22 percent of all the electricity consumed in the Texas grid was coming from wind."

"Seventy-five years have passed since the worst of the Dust Bowl, a relentless series of dust storms that ravaged farms and livelihoods in the southern Great Plains that carried a layer of silt as far east as New York City. Today, the lessons learned during that era are more relevant than ever as impending water shortages and more severe droughts threaten broad swaths of the nation."

"In a landmark ruling on contaminated Chinese drywall, a federal judge in New Orleans awarded $2.6 million in damages Thursday to the owners of seven Virginia homes ruined by the tainted wallboard."

Parts or all of Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine were ordered closed more than 60 times in 2009 and 2010, and the mine was repeatedly cited in recent months for allowing potentially explosive coal dust to accumulate, according to newly released government documents."

In a major feature in the New York Times Magazine, Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman examines claims that controlling climate change will damage the economy.