A blanket of thick oil smothered Louisiana's life-giving wetlands as the BP oil spill finally moved ashore.

"The health hazards of bisphenol A are well documented, but now scientists report that the chemical used in the coating of cans to protect food from corrosion and bacteria is pervasive in the canned goods on our kitchen shelves."

"A proposal to drill for oil in the Arctic Ocean as early as this summer received initial permits from the Minerals Management Service office in Alaska at the same time federal auditors were questioning the office about its environmental review process."

The vast deposits of deepwater methane hydrates may have been a major factor in the Deepwater Horizon blowout and explosion. Methane hydrates expand 164 times in volume when destablilized by heat and reduction in pressure. Such conditions may have existed the night of the explosion, causing a quickly expanding bubble of methane gas to shoot up the drill column before exploding on the platform on the ocean's surface.

"The best way to curb global warming is to put a price on climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions, according to a trio of reports from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences released on Wednesday."

"As BP prepares to launch its latest effort to plug the oil leak in the gulf, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the agency will be split into three arms to oversee leasing, safety and royalties."

The Heartland Institute's fourth annual gathering of climate change deniers May 16-18 in Chicago, organized by groups funded by the oil and coal industries, drew little media attention.

"April 2010 was the hottest April ever recorded, with an average temperature of 14.5 degrees celsius (58.1 degrees  Fahrenheit), the UN weather agency said Tuesday."

"'NUMBY' -- Not Under My BackYard. That's what Greenville, Ohio, residents told the U.S. government when it wanted to bury global warming emissions under the town."

"The U.S. Minerals Management Service, which grants offshore drilling permits, set aside safety regulations for oil exploration in parts of the Gulf of Mexico, environmental groups alleged in a lawsuit on Tuesday."

Local officials in Carlsbad, Calif., see salvation for their water-starved community in a huge proposed desalination plant. Poseidon Resources, the company hoping to build it, says building it won't cost taxpayers and ratepayers a dime. But tough investigative reporting shows that southern Californians would pay at least $640 million over 30 years for the project.

"A whistleblower filed a lawsuit [Monday] to force the federal government to halt operations at another massive BP oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico, alleging that BP never reviewed critical engineering designs for the operation and is therefore risking another catastrophic accident...."

"Federal authorities on Tuesday expanded the no fishing zone associated with the BP oil spill to encompass 19% of the Gulf of Mexico."

"The Minerals Management Service did not adequately regulate safety devices and procedures for offshore drilling before the massive Gulf of Mexico disaster, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said [Tuesday]."

"The compromise climate change proposal unveiled last week in the Senate is in legislative limbo, its fate apparently uncertain until at least next month."