"A worker caught on undercover video abusing turkeys at a Butterball factory farm in North Carolina pled guilty Tuesday to felonious cruelty to animals."

"The Obama administration announced strict new vehicle fuel-efficiency standards Tuesday, requiring that the U.S. auto fleet average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, an uncontroversial move that, unlike other administration energy policies, was endorsed by industry and environmentalists alike."

Hurricane Isaac made landfall near the mouth of the Mississippi River as a Category 1 storm, cutting power, overtopping levees, dumping massive rains, damaging buildings, and potentially stirring up oil left over from the BP oil spill.

"A crusading oil patch lawyer calls the American refinery industry an 'under-regulated cesspool.' A member of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board is more polite, describing a mismatch between well-heeled oil companies and under-qualified government regulators."

"TAMPA, Fla. -- 'Drill, baby, drill!' is over the hill. Four years ago, the slogan was chanted during the Republican convention and strengthened into a resounding chorus by the November election. Since then, the economy tanked, Sarah Palin lost her luster and the worst spill in the nation's history fouled the Gulf of Mexico."

"Tropical Storm Isaac gathered strength early Tuesday and was on the verge of becoming a Category 1 hurricane as it rumbled toward the Gulf Coast, though precisely where it will make landfall remains guesswork, forecasters said Tuesday."

"SAN FRANCISCO -- The Center for Biological Diversity filed a legal petition with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Wednesday that asks the agency to set plastic pollution limits for ocean waters under the Clean Water Act."

"Critics say manufacturers are too often making the call on their own products."

"Extreme weather is putting America’s power grid to the test, with a year-long run of violent storms and record heat battering a system built for fairer skies."

"The National Hurricane Center has placed the New Orleans area under a hurricane watch for Isaac, which is now forecast to make landfall at Gulfport on Wednesday at 7 a.m.  as a Category 2 hurricane with sustained winds of 105 mph. The new forecast extends the hurricane watch area westward to Morgan City.