"SALMON, Idaho -- The U.S. government is seeking to close caves in national forests in the Northern Rockies to stem the spread of white-nose bat syndrome, a disease that has killed an estimated 5.5 million bats in 19 states and is spreading westward, officials said on Wednesday."

"The number of extreme rainstorms -- deluges that dump 3 inches or more in a day -- doubled in the U.S. Midwest over the last half-century, causing billions of dollars in flood damage in a trend climate advocates link to a rise in greenhouse gas emissions."

"The proportion of Americans with asthma increased from 7.3% in 2001 to 8.4% in 2010, marking the highest level ever, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. In 2010, an estimated 18.7 million adults and 7 million children had the disease -- one in every 12 Americans."

"The international trade court has effectively outlawed the sale of dolphin-friendly canned tuna in American supermarkets, ruling such labels were unfair to Mexican fishermen."

"Quite a few of the 225 people who live in Dish, Texas, think the nation's natural gas boom is making them sick. They blame the chemicals used in gas production for health problems ranging from nosebleeds to cancer.
And the mayor of Dish, Bill Sciscoe, has a message for people who live in places where gas drilling is about to start: 'Run. Run as fast as you can. Grab up your family and your belongings, and get out.'"

"COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio senators approved new regulations for horizontal shale drilling known as fracking on Tuesday in a bipartisan vote punctuated by a spoken rendition of 'The Beverly Hillbillies' theme song."

The Environmental Working Group has released its 2012 Sunscreen Guide -- with information on the safety and efficacy of the lotions you slather on your kids before they go to camp or the beach. You may not want to rest easy after you do so. EWG's annual release comes as the outdoor season gets under way -- and barely a week after the FDA failed to finalize sunscreen safety standards. And, yes, EWG has an app for that.

"When writer Florence Williams was nursing her second child, she read a research study about toxins found in human breast milk. She decided to test her own breast milk and shipped a sample to a lab in Germany. What came back surprised her. Trace amounts of pesticides, dioxin and a jet fuel ingredient — as well as high to average levels of flame retardants — were all found in her breast milk. How could something like this happen?"

"The number of children considered at risk of lead poisoning jumped by more than five-fold on Wednesday, as the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lowered its threshold for the diagnosis. Children's health advocates applauded the decision, but also expressed concern that recent congressional budget cuts will drastically limit funds that could help affected kids and prevent further poisoning."

"Living in the middle of a natural gas boom can be pretty unsettling. The area around the town of Silt, Colo., used to be the kind of sleepy rural place where the tweet of birds was the most you would hear. Now it's hard to make out the birds because of the rumbling of natural gas drilling rigs." ...