"ELLSWORTH, Maine — New research by a Blue Hill scientist shows that during a fire, firefighters are exposed to dangerous levels of toxic, cancer-causing chemicals created when commercial flame retardants burn."

"Behold the tiny oyster. No, not on the half-shell, with a squirt of lemon, but in its watery habitat, the Choptank River. Out there on a reef with many other oysters, the bivalve is awesome, a janitor that helps remove pollution with incredible efficiency."

"The resilient longhorn, able to survive on sparse foliage and water, has endured in Texas for more than 100 years. But the recent sale of about 100 longhorns by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department has spurred debate about the breed’s future in the state."

"WASHINGTON, DC -- Multiple factors are responsible for the steep decline in honey bees across the United States, including parasites and disease, genetics, poor nutrition and pesticide exposure, federal government officials reported today, releasing a new scientific consensus on honey bee health."

"Winds that weather experts said normally arrive in force in the late fall fueled flames in the Springs fire that quickly chewed through 6,500 of acres of dry brush."

"Tesla joins Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt in the race for electric car sales. After a recording-breaking March for the Nissan Leaf, sales of electric cars dipped in April."

"The founders never expected to live in the desert; the Constitution's primary mechanism for divvying up shared water doesn't work."

"By taking sophisticated instrument readings of the snow depth and reflected sunlight, researchers hope to improve the accuracy of runoff forecasts."

"Research has proven that infants and toddlers, who spend more time on the floor and experience the world with their hands and mouths, are not merely in closer contact with many indoor pollutants2 but also more sensitive to them. Yet environmental health standards in child care settings nationwide—which can include not just centers but also private homes, workplaces, universities, and places of worship—still lag behind those of schools, where children are older, larger, and somewhat less susceptible to environmental exposures. Unlike with more uniformly regulated schools, child care licensing, permitting, and oversight occur on a variety of levels, resulting in a fractured regulatory landscape."

"It's a chemical that's been in U.S. households for more than 40 years, from the body wash in your bathroom shower to the knives on your kitchen counter to the bedding in your baby's basinet. But federal health regulators are just now deciding whether triclosan -- the germ-killing ingredient found in an estimated 75 percent of antibacterial liquid soaps and body washes sold in the U.S. -- is ineffective, or worse, harmful."

"The United States has failed to take action to mitigate climate change thanks in part to the large number of religious Americans who believe the world has a set expiration date."

"Europe and Australia long ago recognized the benefits of a fertilizer formula that doesn’t blow up. Here, the chemical industry fought back."

"Exxon Mobil Corp's near 70-year-old Pegasus oil pipeline leaked a small amount of crude into a residential yard in Ripley County, Missouri on Tuesday, a month after the same pipe spewed thousands of barrels of crude in Arkansas."

"An independent study co-published by the Faulkner County Citizens Advisory Group and Global Community Monitor reveals that, in the aftermath of ExxonMobil's Pegasus tar sands pipeline spill of over 500,000 gallons of diluted bitumen (dilbit) into Mayflower, AR, air quality in the area surrounding the spill has been affected by high levels of cancer-causing chemicals."

A new analysis says federal crop insurance not only allowed corn and soybean farmers to survive last summer's drought, it also allowed them to make higher profits than in a normal year -- at taxpayer expense.