"Republicans blocked President Barack Obama's pick for the No. 2 job at the Interior Department on Wednesday in a dispute over oil and gas development on federal lands, but Democrats vowed they would soon make a second attempt to win confirmation."

"A lawsuit against DuPont Co. claiming its nonstick Teflon cookware coating could pose health risks to users has been dropped."

"Chicago on Wednesday became the first U.S. city to adopt a ban on the sale of baby bottles and sippy cups containing the chemical BPA."

A landmark 8-part video documentary series on the environment from 1970, the dawn of the modern environmental movement, is rebroadcast (Web and broadcast) from THIRTEEN, New York City's flagship publid television station.

"President Barack Obama on Wednesday named a former adviser to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to head the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, giving opponents of a nuclear waste repository in Reid's home state of Nevada another well-placed ally."

President Obama issued an executive order empowering EPA to set a more demanding timetable for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay and to penalize states that fail to meet it.

A USGS expert says the solution to problems with mercury plaguing Great Salt Lake will require more than just eliminating local sources. Also key are how it turns into harmful methylmercury and spreads through the food web.

Texas researchers say tiny flies that turn fire ants into zombies by eathing their brains may aid pest management.

"An empty gasoline tank undergoing repairs exploded Tuesday at a fuel storage facility in rural north-central Arkansas, killing three workers, authorities said."

Marathon negotiations seem to have produced a deal on key points of climate-and-energy legislation among House Democrats. Energy Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA) announced late Tuesday that he though he had enough votes to pass the compromise. It reportedly gives away about half of the CO2 credits to utilities and other heavy industry -- instead of auctioning them.

EPA's takover of the cleanup of TVA's coal-ash spill in Tennessee came after revelations that TVA's effort to do the job by dredging threatened to become a "major toxic event."

A secret White House memo said a single federal agency complained about the cost of regulations that could result from an EPA finding that greenhouse emissions endanger health and the environment.

"The Senate confirmed Craig Fugate as administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday, hours after Sen. David Vitter, R-La., dropped his hold on the nominee."

"When it comes to food safety, state lawmakers around the country seem to believe in the adage, if you want something done, you have to do it yourself."

"Environmentalists fear that as many as a million acres of wetlands will fall victim to a confusing patchwork of local rules that will leave them vulnerable to destruction if money for Michigan's protection program dries up."