"Thousands of Santa Barbara residents are being allowed to return home as low winds and dramatically cooler temperatures have given firefighters the upper hand in their assault on the 6-day-old Jesusita fire, which stretches for five miles."

Nine dangerous chemicals used in farming and industry will be added to a list of banned substances whose presence in the environment causes serious health risks, more than 160 government agreed on Saturday."

"Cars powered by hydrogen fuel cells, once hailed by President George W. Bush as a pollution-free solution for reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil, will not be practical over the next 10 to 20 years, the energy secretary said Thursday, and the government will cut off funds for the vehicles’ development."

"President Barack Obama's $3.55 trillion budget, released on Thursday, retains his plan to cut climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions by auctioning off 100 percent of emission permits to industries."

"The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection announced yesterday that it would appeal a court ruling that the owner of the Kiddie Kollege building in Franklin Township, Gloucester County, is not responsible for its $1 million cleanup."

"Victims of the 1984 gas leak that killed thousands of people in Bhopal, India took their battle Thursday to the US Congress, seeking pressure on Dow Chemicals."

With Sabbath candles burning, 14 guests eat a "sustainable" Sabbath dinner with "food that was locally grown, mostly organic and intended to elevate their practice of Judaism."

"SAN FRANCISCO -- A Bay Area oyster cannery in an estuary slated to become a federal wilderness area is at the heart of a battle pitting proponents of fishing and local food production against environmental advocates."

The natural gas industry yesterday launched a campaign against rules to control a drilling technology called 'hydraulic fracturing.'

"Biodiesel producers are chafing at the Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed methods of calculating their fuel’s greenhouse gas emissions."

"The Bush administration kept secret for nearly five years data that showed increased cancer risks from drinking water polluted by coal-ash impoundments...."

EPA may regulate runoff from the coal ash and sludge from air-pollution-control that power plants store in ponds and piles.

"The Canadian Food Inspection Agency often finds problems with bottled water, but doesn't tell the public about them. Canada's federal food watchdog issued 29 recall notices for bottled water products between 2000 and early 2008, citing deficiencies such as contamination by bacteria, moulds, glass chips and trace amounts of arsenic. Of the recalls, affecting 49 different products, it issued a public warning in only seven cases, two of which came after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made public its recall orders.

"A former W.R. Grace & Co. executive testified he warned his superiors more than 30 years ago about asbestos contamination in vermiculite from a Montana mine and feared it might lead to criminal prosecution.

"The ethanol industry must be wondering where the bottom is. Profits are slim or non-existent and about 20 percent of all U.S. plants are shut down. In addition, ethanol's main by-product, which is sold as livestock feed, has raised potential food safety concerns.