National (U.S.)

"Its magnitude was ambitious and unprecedented: The National Children’s Study promised to follow 100,000 American children from before birth to the age of 21. Researchers sought a better understanding of autism, obesity and cancer by tracking links between children’s environments and their health outcomes. Since 2007, Congress has appropriated about $1.3 billion to fund planning and research; millions went to four research centers in the St. Louis region alone."

"A conservative energy group is comparing regulations to curb carbon pollution proposed by the Obama administration to CIA torture tactics recently detailed by a controversial Senate report."

"Amid the shouting on Capitol Hill, the wads of campaign cash and the activist careers shaped around the Keystone XL pipeline, the project at the flash point of America's energy debate now confronts a problem bigger than politics. It may no longer pencil out."

"A government-appointed group of top nutrition experts, assigned to lay the scientific groundwork for a new version of the nation's dietary guidelines, decided earlier this year to collect data on the environmental implication of different food choices."

Theo Colborn, who pioneered research on endocrine-disrupting chemicals, has died at age 87.

"It was the late 1970s and Theo Colborn was, like pretty much everyone else in the ’70s, getting divorced. She was in her 50s and already retired from a career as a pharmacist.

"Whale watchers have spotted a stunning number of humpback whales in New York waters recently, especially around the Rockaway peninsula, part of New York's borough of Queens. More than a hundred of the massive and majestic beasts have been sighted so far this year, marking what may be the largest resurgence of whales the region has ever seen."

"NEW YORK -- For the past 18 months, Americans from Albany to Oregon have voiced growing alarm over the rising number of oil-laden freight trains coursing through their cities, a trend they fear is endangering public safety."

"WASHINGTON –- The 1,000-page omnibus spending package released Tuesday night is reigniting a fight over rules for U.S. financing of coal plants abroad."

"Hotter days mean less cold cash for Americans, according to a new study matching 40 years of temperatures to economics."