"The White House is engaged in an intense debate over how much it should tighten national smog standards, an issue that has sparked a battle between business and public health groups.
"A Chinese petrochemical plant was operating normally on Monday despite a local government order to close it down due to a toxic spill scare, an industry source said."
NASA is arguing that it doesn't have to come up with any changes in its scientific integrity policy -- including rules limiting how its scientists can talk to reporters. Most federal agencies are under White House orders to come up with new policies, although not all of them have made their draft policies public. Some of the policies for achieving the Obama administration's pledge of scientific openness are still secret.
Kate Sheppard reports for Mother Jones August 15, 2011.
"Royal Dutch Shell said an oil leak from a ruptured pipeline into the North Sea was slowing but refused to say how much oil has already leaked into the sea."
"BILOXI -- NOAA Fisheries has data that shows Gulf shrimpers are now using their turtle-protection devices. Partly because of this, the agency has decided not to impose emergency measures on the shrimping industry in order to stop the unusually high number of sea-turtle deaths in the northern Gulf since the BP oil spill in 2010."
"A report blasting Georgia’s environmental oversight of large livestock farms has raised concerns about potential contamination of Georgia waterways with chemicals from manure."
"Every summer, hordes of beach-goers seeking California sunshine are attracted to the Central Coast. Clad in bikinis and swim shorts, they hit the beach only to be greeted with a sobering surprise: a dense layer of coastal fog rolling off the bay."
"China will double its solar capacity to around 2 gigawatts (GW) by the end of the year as the world's largest solar-panel maker ramps up domestic installation, a local paper said on Saturday citing a government-linked think tank."
"As mussel numbers explode and fish vanish from Lake Michigan, the last in a long line of Milwaukee commercial fishermen sets course for Alaska."
Dan Egan reports for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel August 13, 2011.
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