"Democrats in Congress wasted no time in taking up President Barack Obama’s challenge Tuesday night that lawmakers take a 'market-based' approach to addressing climate change, even if their effort has little hope of success."

"Donna Busche, a nuclear engineer and health physicist, files a suit alleging that executives tried to dissuade her from raising warnings about serious problems with the waste site's design."

"In 2007, when Deborah Rice was appointed chair of an Environmental Protection Agency panel assessing the safety levels of flame retardants, she arrived as a respected Maine toxicologist with no ties to industry."

"Two-thirds of Americans want President Barack Obama to act now on climate change, adding momentum to his state of the union promise to take up the challenge with or without Congress."

Some 48 prominent activists were arrested at the White House Wednesday when they protested the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which they say will worsen climate change. The Obama administration faces an upcoming decision on completing the pipeline.

"This year, the Commerce Department will investigate the feasibility of a bicycle share program. The Agriculture Department's Risk Management Agency will redraw planting zone maps for the purposes of insuring nursery-grown plants. And the Department of Defense will scale down its fleet of gas-guzzling Humvees. These are all examples of steps federal agencies will take in 2013 in an effort to deal with the risks of future climate change. The Obama administration released its first climate change adaptation plans Thursday, as part of the annual sustainability reports."

"The agricultural giant Monsanto has sued hundreds of small farmers in the United States in recent years in attempts to protect its patent rights on genetically engineered seeds that it produces and sells, a new report said on Tuesday."

EPA scientists in 2010 were ready to declare that even small amounts of hexavalent chromium -- found in the drinking water of some 70 million Americans -- may cause cancer. But the American Chemistry Council, the main industry lobby group, urged delay. EPA did delay, on the recommendation of a science panel that was supposed to be independent -- but was secretly stacked with panelists tied to the industry. In fact, they had helped industry oppose hexavalent chromium lawsuits instigated by Erin Brocovich.

"U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday gave Congress an ultimatum on climate change: craft a plan to slash greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the dangers of a warming world, or the White House will go it alone."

"A new federal advisory panel report makes a forceful case for more research into environmental causes of breast cancer, which was diagnosed in 227,000 women, killed 40,000 and cost more than $17 billion to treat in the United States last year."