"On some days, Russell Keith could simply look up at the sky to gauge how busy his day would be as a paramedic at the largest U.S. base in Iraq. Dark green smoke meant the contractor could count on a 30 to 40 percent spike in his patient load, he told the Senate Democratic Policy Committee last week during a hearing on contractor oversight."

"The brown pelican, listed as an endangered species even before the 1973 U.S. Endangered Species Act existed, is officially back from the brink of extinction, the Interior Department said on Wednesday."

"The Environmental Protection Agency has directed two of its lawyers to makes changes to a YouTube video they posted that is critical of the Obama administration's climate change policy."

An interesting new experiment in journalism "surfaced today in a Science Times article by  Lindsey Hoshaw, known on Twitter as  @thegarbagegirl. The feature is an up-close examination of the  Pacific Ocean's vast patch of plastic flotsam, reported with travel funds provided by readers of Spot.us."

"At an emotional meeting, a state panel imposes the landmark restrictions to help restore species, catches of which have dropped up to 95%. The plan was forged out of contentious negotiations."

"Nearly half of lakes and reservoirs nationwide contain fish with potentially harmful levels of the toxic metal mercury, according to a federal study released Tuesday."

"West Virginia political leaders promised Tuesday to speak "with one voice" to clarify the Obama administration's proposals to more strictly regulate mountaintop removal coal mining."

"Exposure to high levels of a controversial chemical found in thousands of everyday plastic products appears to cause erectile dysfunction and other sexual problems in men, according to a new study published Wednesday."

"Greenpeace is demanding that Newsweek disclose how much money it has made selling the oil industry's biggest lobbying group advertising deals that included the ability to co-host energy policy forums and seat the association's president as a panelist beside members of Congress."

"A report shows concentrations of several major pesticides mostly declined or remained the same in the U.S. 'Corn Belt' rivers and streams from 1996 to 2006."

"When you get right down to it, dust is pretty complicated. It also may be affecting your health."

"Wastewater from natural gas drilling in New York state is radioactive, as high as 267 times the limit safe for discharge into the environment and thousands of times the limit safe for people to drink."

"WEST UNION, W.Va. -- A spill upstream of the town of West Union during the summer has revealed a gap in the system for notifying drinking water systems of possible contamination."

"The Senate climate debate shifts into a higher gear this week as advocates look beyond the partisan gridlock that engulfed the Environment and Public Works Committee and onto the broader quest of finding 60 votes for floor passage."

"Next month, a new class of a dozen or more men and women will begin training in Long Island City, N.Y., to become home weatherization technicians. They are early recruits in a small army of workers being deployed in places around the country where there were only skeleton crews before."