"Drop by drop by drop, historic rainfall across a 150-mile expanse of Colorado's Front Range turned neighborhood streams into rampaging torrents that claimed at least three lives and continued to flood homes and destroy roads into the night."

"The Senate on Wednesday plunged into its biggest debate on energy policy in years, by taking up a modest, bipartisan bill that aims to boost the efficiency of buildings nationwide."

"Prodded by health and environmental advocates, Wal-Mart Stores announced Thursday that it will require suppliers to disclose and eventually phase out nearly 10 hazardous chemicals from the fragrances, cosmetics, household cleaners and personal care products at its stores."

"Mosquito-borne disease once contained to metro areas in tropics gaining foothold in US, possibly due to climate change."

"FRESNO, Calif. -- The annual rate of hospitalizations for valley fever, a potentially lethal but often misdiagnosed disease, has doubled over the past 12 years in California, according to a study published on Wednesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

"Something peculiar is happening to rivers and streams in large parts of the United States — the water's chemistry is changing. Scientists have found dozens of waterways that are becoming more alkaline. Alkaline is the opposite of acidic — think baking soda or Rolaids."

"Encounters between bears and humans are likely to increase in Yellowstone National Park this fall as a scarce supply of nuts forces hungry grizzlies to seek food closer to the U.S. park's popular tourist areas, officials warned on Wednesday."

"DETROIT — Automakers are making slow but steady progress improving fuel efficiency, as the industry hit a high for the average miles per gallon of new vehicles sold in August in the United States."

"California legislation that orders the first-ever state oversight of hydraulic fracturing neared final passage yesterday, even after nearly all environmental groups dropped their support."

"A tropical depression in the southern Gulf of Mexico is strengthening, prompting the closure of two top oil export terminals, and could unleash life-threatening flooding, the U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said on Thursday."

"The depression, called Ten, was expected to strengthen over the next 24 hours into a tropical storm, the center said.

[Mexico's] two biggest oil export terminals, Dos Bocas and Cayo Arcas, were closed, the government said, although the port of Coatzacoalcos remained open."

"WASHINGTON, DC -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientist who first revealed the dangers of toxic dust at the World Trade Center disaster site has received a second notice of proposed removal from her job more than a year after a federal civil service court ordered her returned to work."

"Reggie Hilaire was a rookie cop on September 11, 2001. He worked at ground zero for 11 days beside his colleagues -- many of them, including Hilaire, not wearing a mask. He was later assigned to a landfill in Staten Island, where debris from the World Trade Center was dumped."

"WASHINGTON -- Newly obtained government documents are prompting concern among critics that Environmental Protection Agency officials are seeking to use the organization’s new guide for nuclear-incident response to relax public health standards, but the agency is denying the claim."

"Twelve years ago, terrorism seemed to be the biggest safety threat to the D.C. region. Now many area emergency management officials think a bigger threat has emerged: natural disasters."

"The death threat itself didn’t bother Mike Ehlebracht. He’d been threatened plenty of times before."