Public

"What a difference a year makes. Last year at this time, the Midwest was heading into one of the worst droughts in decades. Now much of the region is soggy. But the biggest loser from this year's heavy rains? The land itself."

"It’s difficult to talk about Louisiana seafood these days without the BP oil spill working its way into the conversation. It wasn’t that long ago, after all, that television screens were filled with high-def images of fouled coastal marsh and angry fishermen forlornly staring at their idled fleet."

"ATLANTA — Georgia Power must purchase more solar power for its energy system under a plan approved Thursday by state utility regulators, a move sought by solar developers and renewable energy proponents but denounced by a commissioner who argued it could raise costs."

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) filed a cloture motion July 11 for Gina McCarthy, President Obama's nominee for administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, setting up a confirmation vote that probably will occur July 16."

"Tokyo Electric Power Co. has started taking measures to contain highly radioactive groundwater at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant, but its strategy is based on a theory that is disputed by industry experts."

The incidence of autism has increased in recent decades, but scientists are still struggling to understand what causes the developmental disorder. Now they are starting to suspect "environmental epigenetics" may play a key role in its origin.

"An extensive new study confirms a long-suspected link between crippling birth defects and the nitrate contamination that threatens drinking water for 250,000 people in the San Joaquin Valley."

"AUGUSTA, Maine -- A steep decline in revenues from pipeline tariffs and a loophole that allowed companies shipping crude by rail to avoid payment have slashed Maine's oil-spill fund to levels experts say could hurt its ability to respond to an accident."

"The Food and Drug Administration has agreed to ban the use of a chemical linked to health problems in infant formula packaging."

"WASHINGTON -- Nearly two years after an outcry about arsenic in apple juice touched off by a segment on 'The Dr. Oz Show,' the federal Food and Drug Administration is proposing a new limit on acceptable levels."