"The farm bill is a favorite target of budget-cutters and those looking to reduce the size of government, particularly because about 80% of it encompasses food stamps and nutritional programs. However, it also contains some of the most successful conservation programs in our nation’s history, and those are now threatened with the ax, including the popular 1985 Conservation Reserve Program."

"Simple, inexpensive measures to cut emissions of two common pollutants will slow global warming, save millions of lives and boost crop production around the world, an international team of scientists reported Thursday."

"The Obama administration today released a new draft 'action plan' that directs agencies across the federal government to work together on ocean planning and conservation."

"The White House said on Thursday that finding an alternate route for the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas would take time and any effort to circumvent the approval process would be "counterproductive."

President Barack Obama faces a February 21 deadline set by Congress to either allow TransCanada's $7 billion pipeline to be built or determine the project is not in the national interest of the United States.

"The 'local' company Santorum brags about helping was a coal mining giant that gave him tens of thousands of dollars during and after his time in Congress."

"Competitive swimmers who train at indoor chlorinated swimming pools may have lung changes similar to those seen in people with mild asthma, a new study has found.

Researchers from France and Canada compared lung tissue and breathing tests from twenty-three elite Canadian swimmers, whose average age was 21, to ten mild asthmatics and 10 healthy, non-allergic people of the same age. Tissue samples and tests were taken during the off-season when swimmers were not competing."

"The company that inspected a Colorado cantaloupe farm at the center of a deadly listeriosis outbreak ignored federal regulators' 'best and most timely' advice on processing produce, a congressional committee has found."

"Food and Drug Administration advisers, in a recent vote, said the benefits of four popular Bayer AG birth-control pills outweigh the blood-clot risk. What the FDA didn't disclose is that three of the advisers have had ties to Bayer, serving as consultants, speakers or researchers."

"The U.S. has temporarily halted shipments of imported orange juice from all countries while they’re being tested, and said it will destroy or ban products containing even low levels from a banned fungicide."

"Federal officials have asked a biosecurity scientist panel to broadly review bird flu transmission research for public health concerns."