"Paint with dangerously high lead levels is still being sold for household use worldwide, putting hundreds of millions of young children at risk of permanent brain damage," new research shows.

"The White House budget update released on Tuesday still reflects a controversial Obama administration plan to combat global warming by auctioning all permits to emit greenhouse gases even though Congress has said it will give away a substantial portion to industry."

The recent Los Padres fire exemplifies a growing trend: Mexican drug cartels setting up shop in California wilderness and parkland.

"In an age of angst about security and Arctic sovereignty, it's no mean feat piecing together an oceanographic expedition involving scientists from the United States, Russia and elsewhere and launching the whole affair from a northern U.S. port."

A July 19 fire at Citgo's Corpus Christi refinery released deadly hydrogen fluoride, maimed one worker, and threatened a poor, largely minority community at its fenceline. Now larger questions are being asked -- about how authorities responded to it and whether it could have been prevented.

A simple brass plaque in Tarusa, Russia, stands as a reminder of an epic tale of scores of nuclear disasters in the former Soviet Union that were hidden, or never completely reported.

Feuds and politics seem to have kept former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's state EPA from referring criminal pollution cases to Attorney General Lisa Madigan for at least 2 years.

"COLUMBIA, S.C. -- State-owned utility Santee Cooper decided Monday to drop plans for a controversial coal-fired power plant in South Carolina, a move lauded by environmental groups that had criticized the facility."

"Milk may have a wholesome commercial image, but the dairies that produce most of the nation's supply aren't always healthy places to work. Dairy workers are injured at a much higher rate than other workers in the U.S." Most of the West's 50,000 dairy workers are immigrants with families to feed, many undocumented. Government rules to protect them are as weak as skim milk.

"The U.S. Department of Energy said on Monday it has awarded $27.6 million of funding to evaluate the potential risks of storing carbon dioxide underground, which is seen as a way to control global warming."

"A mysterious disease that has reduced honeybee populations in Europe and the United States could be caused in part by a virus, according to research."

"The Environmental Protection Agency says it's putting the Chesapeake Bay on a pollution diet. The federal agency used the Twitter social networking site to 'tweet' the message Friday to its followers on the site."

"European police agency Europol expects further arrests in connection with suspected carbon credit tax fraud after Britain's tax office said two more people were arrested in London late on Wednesday, bringing the total to nine."

"An online encyclopedia aiming to describe every type of animal and plant on the planet has reached 170,000 entries and is helping research into aging, climate change and even the spread of insect pests."

"Drinking water containing a common herbicide could pose a greater public health risk than previously thought because regular municipal monitoring doesn't detect frequent spikes in the chemical's levels, according to a report released Monday by the Natural Resources Defense Council."