Public

"In a sign that a deal addressing California's longstanding water supply problems may be near, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger convened a special session of the Legislature on Monday to revisit a package of water bills."

Allegheny Energy's Hatfield's Ferry coal-burning electric power plant finally reduced its air pollution by installing scrubbers. But the scrubbers dump many tons of wastewater and pollutants into the Monongahela River, which provides drinking water for 350,000 people.

"Under rules to be proposed this week, the Department of Veterans Affairs plans to add Parkinson's disease, ischemic heart disease and hairy-cell leukemia to the growing list of illnesses presumed to have been caused by Agent Orange, the toxic defoliant used widely in Vietnam."

"The shape of a broader climate pact is clearer after marathon talks in the Thai capital, the United Nations said on Friday, as rich nations were urged not to ditch the Kyoto Protocol or dodge tough emissions cuts."

A bipartisan op-ed in the New York Times, penned by Sens. John Kerry and Lindsay Graham, set off a new round of speculation about the prospects for a climate bill. GOP support may be attracted by fast-tracking new nuclear plants, more offshore drilling, and subsidies for fossil fuels.

"The Obama administration’s new plan to show that salmon and hydroelectric dams can coexist along the Columbia and Snake Rivers is not all that different from the Bush administration’s old plan, according to critics who want a federal judge to rule against it."

"The Department of the Interior has frozen oil and gas development on 60 of 77 contested drilling sites in Utah, saying the process of leasing the land was rushed and badly flawed."

Cancer stories "are numbingly familiar to people who live in the vicinity of Tonawanda Coke Corp. The coke foundry recently was found by the state Department of Environmental Conservation to be emitting benzene, a carcinogen, up to 75 times higher than recommended guidelines. Those levels were up to 2ù times more than what the company reported to regulators."

New York "is asking local government agencies to regulate key aspects of the natural gas industry, raising yet more questions about who will pay for manpower to oversee multinational energy companies setting up shop in Southern Tier's backyards."

To get to the root of the obesity epidemic, one Canadian reporter went in search of a junk food farm. There were no fields of Dorito bags waving in the breeze. "What you do see are vast operations growing the raw materials for junk food: soybeans and corn."