"As [Maine] Gov. Paul LePage continued to weather national fallout for recently saying women could develop 'little beards' if exposed to bisphenol-A, or BPA, questions continue to mount about the motives behind the governor's proposal to reverse a ban on the substance."

Greenwire sorts through the dust storm of counterclaims on the accuracy of "Gasland," an Oscar-nominated documentary about the impacts of gas drilling and production methods known as "fracking."

"A pair of environmental groups are complaining to federal officials that the shipyard executive Gov. Rick Scott picked to lead the Department of Environment Protection cannot oversee a program that regulates how much industrial pollution can be dumped into the state’s waters. The reason: Herschel Vinyard’s previous employer, a Jacksonville shipyard, held just such a pollution permit."

"U.S. officials on Thursday cleared scientists of charges that they manipulated data about climate change in e-mails that were stolen from a British university in 2009, triggering a climate scandal."

In Wisconsin and other embattled states, environmental groups have joined labor unions in mass protests against conservative attacks which threaten 'green jobs' as well as bargaining rights.

"The pesticide industry is applying extra doses of lobbying in an effort to eradicate federal requirements it considers harmful."

"As lawmakers struggle to pass a spending bill before current federal funding runs out next week, observers warn that a government shutdown could severely hamper land management agencies and the people and businesses they support."

The debate in Maine and the US at large over BPA, an estrogen-disrupting chemical common in plastics, may be shaped by a comment of Maine's newly elected, Tea Party-backed GOP governor, Paul LePage. "The worst case is some women may have little beards," he said.

"The Obama administration scaled back toxic air rules on heavy industrial boilers, a sign it may be willing to compromise with businesses and Republicans on future air pollution rules."

"Miami-Dade, amid a changing regulatory environment and slower growth, is looking for cheaper ways to meet future water needs."