"State officials who lead California's war on global warming often travel abroad on trips supported by the major greenhouse gas polluters they regulate, a Bee investigation has found. Industry lobbyists and executives routinely join them."

Wood has been hailed as a renewable fuel and is being used in New England power plants. But it is not undergoing some serious scrutiny of its environmental consequences.

"For decades, one of the nation's most widely used dry cleaning solvents was billed as a marvel of modern chemistry that could safely remove dirt and stains from clothing. ...But over the years, with little if any notice to the public, the often sloppy use of perchloroethylene has poisoned hundreds of sites in Illinois."

"The Obama administration is close to a decision on filling two vacancies on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, according to industry and congressional sources."

"The Department of Homeland Security relied on a rushed, flawed study to justify its decision to locate a $700 million research facility for highly infectious pathogens in a tornado-prone section of Kansas, according to a government report."

"Everyday consumer products such as stain repellants and paper coatings may be a 'significant source' of the toxic chemical C8, according to a new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study."

"The fate of major climate legislation in Congress could rest with North Dakota."

"The Obama administration moved Wednesday to expand a national network of monitors to track lead emissions, a troublesome source of industrial air pollution."

"Sewage spills that have contributed to water pollution in San Francisco Bay will be reduced under two settlements reached last week between the nonprofit San Francisco Baykeeper and the Town of Hillsborough and the neighborhood of Burlingame Hills."

"The beloved icon remains the face of the longest-running public service campaign in U.S. history. But keeping him current has been a challenge."

"Electric utilities boosted lobbying in the second quarter of 2009, narrowing the gap with oil and gas companies that had dominated spending on persuasion by a wide margin earlier this year."

"The Obama administration is proposing to allow up to 318 snowmobiles per day into Yellowstone National Park for the next two winters, cutting by more than half the 720 allowed last winter by the Bush administration."

A massive sweep by drug enforcement agents in Fresno County offered new evidence of how illegal marijuana plantations on public lands are scarring the Sierra landscape.

Democrats trying to move two huge legislative initiaties -- on climate change and health care -- may be forced to choose which gets top priority. Meanwhile, Republicans focus on using both issues to damage Democrats politically. Are Democrats biting off more than they can chew?

"Whenever solar power is mentioned, critics are quick to note -- when there's no sun, there's no power. Lester Graham talked with the author of a report who says one type of solar power can store energy."