National (U.S.)

Dust is everywhere, is likely to increase, and will cause unknown environmental impacts.

"The federal Environmental Protection Agency told New York State on Wednesday that it had major concerns about how proposed hydraulic drilling for natural gas would affect public health and the environment, and urged it to undertake a broader study of the potential impact."

"As much as 100 million bushels of U.S. corn could be lost after heavy snowstorms in recent days likely delayed until spring the final stages of an already historically slow harvest, analysts and meteorologists said on Monday."

"A controversial roundup of 2,500 wild horses from public and private lands in Nevada began on Monday amid protests from activists who call it needless and inhumane."

"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration will miss its third self-imposed deadline on letting consumers know whether it is safe to use products made with bisphenol A, a chemical ingredient in the lining of most food and beverage cans."

"A beef industry group has challenged a ruling by U.S. environmental regulators that greenhouse gas emissions endanger human health, saying the move would hurt agriculture."

This season marks the 110th year for the Audubon Society's Christmas bird count, which has been the basis of hundreds of scientific publications about changing bird ranges linked to global warming and habitat change.

"EPA Administrator Lisa Perez Jackson and Sen. David Vitter, R-La., reached a Christmas Eve accord that will give the National Academy of Sciences a role in the EPA's review of the risks of formaldehyde, and allowed the Senate to confirm Paul Anastas as the EPA's director of research and development."

Chemical company executives withheld from the Illinois EPA detailed information about a 1978 chemical spill as plans were being made to clean it up.

"If the victims of contaminated Chinese drywall have a hope of relief, it is likely U.S. District Court Judge Eldon E. Fallon."