"More than 20,000 old oil and gas wells across [Alberta] have been sitting abandoned or inactive for more than a decade without being cleaned up, worrying landowners and environmentalists who say the sites unnecessarily eat up and possibly contaminate valuable farm land."

"More than two million people living on the banks of Lake Kivu in central Africa are at risk of being asphyxiated by gases building up beneath its surface, scientists have warned."

The indigenous Kamayura tribe in Brazil's rain forest are losing their traditional source of food. The fish are disappearing from their lake as the Amazon region region is made hotter and drier by deforestation -- and some say by climate change.

"It will be hot, dry and a bad fire year for much of the West, Forest Service researchers are predicting."

"The 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico, an area choked by low oxygen levels that threatens marine life, is smaller than expected this year but more deadly, the government said on Monday."

"A chemical [DEHP] used in many plastic products and already under scrutiny for potential health risks is suspected of raising the risk of liver problems in premature babies, according to a new study."

"Coal operators in Southern West Virginia are not restoring large strip-mining sites to their 'approximate original contour,' despite a state policy change meant to require such reclamation, according to a previously unpublished federal government report."

"An effort to improve the safety of fruits, vegetables and processed foods is running into objections from a broad collection of farm interests, including livestock producers, organic farmers and small-scale growers."

The nation's program to detect nuclear devices and materials being smugggled into the country by terrorists went "off the rails" during the Bush administration and left the nation unprotected.

"A growing interest in sustainable food is luring children back to their parents' farms."

"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."

"The Canadian Food Inspection Agency has quietly approved a new genetically engineered corn with eight different insect- and weed-fighting traits, but farmer and environmental groups in Canada say the approval was rushed and environmental risks ignored."

"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."

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.

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