Public

A wildfire near Flagstaff, Arizona, has reached 10,000 acres in size and is threatening hundreds of homes.

"The Supreme Court ruled on Monday that a federal judge had erred in prohibiting the planting of Monsanto’s genetically modified alfalfa seed until a federal government agency completed a detailed environmental review."

"'Expert Credibility in Climate Change,' a new study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, finds that 97-98% of climate researchers examined who are most actively publishing in the field support the IPCC conclusions, i.e., are convinced by the evidence for human-caused climate change, and that the relative climate expertise and scientific prominence of researchers questioning the findings is significantly below that of convinced researchers."

The Superfund tax on oil and chemical companies that helped support cleanup of abandoned hazardous waste sites expired in 1995. Now the Obama administration plans an effort to revive it.

"U.S. environmental regulators said testing on higher ethanol blends in motor fuels will not be finished until September, a delay ethanol groups said would hurt jobs and worsen a supply glut."

Small-scale farmers who want to grow and sell meat locally have been hampered by federal regulation of slaughterhouses. Now mobile slaughterhouses are helping those farmers get back in the game.

"PORT SULPHUR, LA. -- It sounds like a bottomless gusher of money: a $20 billion fund to help make Gulf Coast residents and businesses whole. But here in the bayou, where rich oyster beds have provided livelihoods to many and brought wealth to a few, people worry just how far BP's handouts will go."

"A panel of federal judges in Washington, D.C., has set aside 17 challenges that seek to force U.S. EPA to review its scientific finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health and welfare."

As nations meet in Morocco to consider whether to ban or allow whaling under the International Whaling Commission, Japan's bid to continue whaling is a hot issue. Despite Japan's defiant insistence on whale-hunting, few if any Japanese have any desire for whale meat.

"At least a half-dozen homebuilders, installers and environmental consultants knew as early as 2006 that foul smells were coming from drywall imported from China – but they didn’t share their early concerns with the public, even when homeowners began complaining about the drywall in 2008."