"Republicans blocked President Barack Obama's pick for the No. 2 job at the Interior Department on Wednesday in a dispute over oil and gas development on federal lands, but Democrats vowed they would soon make a second attempt to win confirmation."

"A lawsuit against DuPont Co. claiming its nonstick Teflon cookware coating could pose health risks to users has been dropped."

"Chicago on Wednesday became the first U.S. city to adopt a ban on the sale of baby bottles and sippy cups containing the chemical BPA."

A landmark 8-part video documentary series on the environment from 1970, the dawn of the modern environmental movement, is rebroadcast (Web and broadcast) from THIRTEEN, New York City's flagship publid television station.

"President Barack Obama on Wednesday named a former adviser to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to head the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, giving opponents of a nuclear waste repository in Reid's home state of Nevada another well-placed ally."

"The announcement by China-based Suntech reflects the value of federal and state incentives for renewable energy. It also counters a favorite argument on Capitol Hill that shifting to a clean energy future will send U.S. jobs overseas."

"A Senate panel has approved President Barack Obama's nominee to head the troubled Food and Drug Administration."

"Germany is moving quickly to develop alternative energy, allowing individual homes to sell excess power to electric companies. Also, Abu Dhabi goes green and an icon of the environmental movement."

"New research raises additional concerns about the harmful effects of formaldehyde, a common chemical found in everything from plywood to nail polish, car exhaust and cigarette smoke."

"An empty gasoline tank undergoing repairs exploded Tuesday at a fuel storage facility in rural north-central Arkansas, killing three workers, authorities said."

"A U.S. ban on the use of carbofuran in food won't affect production of the pesticide at the Institute chemical plant because most of the product is shipped overseas, officials said Tuesday."

EPA's takover of the cleanup of TVA's coal-ash spill in Tennessee came after revelations that TVA's effort to do the job by dredging threatened to become a "major toxic event."

A secret White House memo said a single federal agency complained about the cost of regulations that could result from an EPA finding that greenhouse emissions endanger health and the environment.

"The Senate confirmed Craig Fugate as administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency on Tuesday, hours after Sen. David Vitter, R-La., dropped his hold on the nominee."

President Obama issued an executive order empowering EPA to set a more demanding timetable for cleaning up the Chesapeake Bay and to penalize states that fail to meet it.