"One afternoon last winter, Julie Ellis unfurled a long, white tarp under a stand of trees near Coes Pond where hundreds of crows roost. Her mission: to collect as much bird poop as possible. Back in the laboratory, Ellis’ colleagues combed through the feces. Testing its bacteria, they discovered something unusual -- genes that make the crows resistant to antibiotics."

"WASHINGTON -- Environmentalists are poised to become the second-biggest contributor to the effort to elect Democrat Terry McAuliffe as the next governor of Virginia, trailing only the Democratic Governors Association in spending on his campaign."

"OLYMPIA, Washington -- With one day before the election in Washington State, grassroots organization Food Democracy Now! is urging its 650,000 members and citizens everywhere to make calls urging voters to support Yes on 522, a ballot initiative that would require labeling of foods containing genetically modified organisms."

"Pity, for a moment, the poor Atlantic bluefin tuna. It’s not bad enough that its population has been decimated by diners’ seemingly insatiable appetite for sushi. Or that the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred at the height of its spawning season, in its only known Western spawning grounds."

"WASHINGTON -- Efforts to roll back renewable energy standards in the states this year have largely failed despite the best efforts of conservative groups, according to a new report."

"Tea Party Republicans succeeded in grinding the federal government to a halt, and they are the biggest holdouts in the face of overwhelming evidence that climate change is happening. Mainstream Republicans, however, are much less likely to reject the fact that the planet is getting hotter."

"President Barack Obama issued a series of steps Friday to help the nation combat global warming, an issue that may reignite partisan battle lines in Washington."

"Much of the world is turning hotter and dryer these days, and it's opening new doors for a water-saving cereal that's been called 'the camel of crops': sorghum. In an odd twist, this old-fashioned crop even seems to be catching on among consumers who are looking for 'ancient grains' that have been relatively untouched by modern agriculture."

"President Barack Obama will use his executive powers to protect more mountains, rivers and forests from development if Congress does not act to preserve such wild spaces, the U.S. Interior Secretary said on Thursday."

"The White House is expected to take new steps on Friday to help society adapt to global warming, an acknowledgment that worldwide efforts to control emissions will be inadequate to head off big climatic shifts."