"Tropical Storm Isaac swirled over the Caribbean on Wednesday and was forecast to become a hurricane as it moved on a track that would put it off the coast of Florida on Monday, the opening day of the Republican National Convention in Tampa."

"HOUSTON -- Mitt Romney plans to unveil an energy plan Thursday morning in Hobbs, N.M., that would allow states more control over the development of energy resources on federal lands within their borders, as well as aggressively expand offshore oil and gas drilling -- including along the coasts of Virginia and the Carolinas -- as part of a broader effort to reach energy independence."

"The Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs is often called the 'black hole' of federal rules, a White House office where proposed regulations can enter in one form and exit months later in another."

"The problem isn’t the public’s reasoning capacity; it’s the polluted science-communication environment that drives people apart, says Dan Kahan."

It is remotely possible that a tropical storm forming far out in the Atlantic will turn into a hurricane named Isaac and track over Tampa as Republicans gather their for their presidential nominating convention. The odds of this happening are long, but stormwatchers are paying attention. So are ironists.

"WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Tuesday overturned a federal rule that laid out how much air pollution states would have to clean up to avoid incurring violations in downwind states.

 The decision sends the Environmental Protection Agency, and perhaps even Congress, back to the drawing board in what has become a long and paralyzing argument over how to mesh a system of state-by-state regulation with the problem of industrial smokestacks pumping pollutants into a single atmosphere.

Lawyers who won hundreds of millions suing tobacco companies have now set their sights on a big payday from food manufacturers. They are filing suits alleging that food companies are "misleading consumers and violating federal regulations by wrongly labeling products."

"The nuclear power industry has made behind-the-scenes payments to the tune of at least 3.18 billion yen ($40 million) to six local governments hosting nuclear-power related facilities since the Fukushima disaster last year."

"What do the energy and environment policies of President Obama and presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney bode for the country?"