"Members of Congress are pushing to stop the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from approving genetically engineered salmon, saying not enough is known about a fish they say could harm fishery businesses in coastal states. It appeared last year that the FDA might approve the engineered salmon quickly. But the congressional pushback and a lack of action by the FDA could mean the fish won't be on the nation's dinner tables any time soon."

"U.S. inspectors on Monday started using more sensitive tests to detect antibiotics in pork, part of a stepped-up effort to ensure meat safety after a government report last year suggested consumers might be at risk from harmful drug residues."

"Five years after the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Al Gore returns to the world stage with an updated slide show. Can his message be any more successful this time around?"

"The White House is under pressure from two democratic senators to release a list of chemicals the Environmental Protection Agency says could endanger human health or the environment. This so-called chemicals of concern list would include eight phthalates, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, and bisphenol A."

"The chemical industry has attempted to block release of EPA’s proposed list over the past year.

"A divided Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Friday allowed the Obama administration to continue plans to close the controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in Nevada."

"SAN JOSE, Calif. — Federal agents searched Solyndra Inc.'s Fremont, Calif., headquarters Thursday, just days after the high-profile solar manufacturer filed for bankruptcy protection and a week before its top executives are expected to testify before Congress.

Solyndra, which manufactured tubular-shaped solar panels for commercial rooftops, stunned the clean-tech community when it abruptly announced last week that fierce competition from China had forced it to suspend operations and immediately lay off 1,100 employees.

"The little-known federal agency charged with monitoring the system and enforcing safety measures — the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration — is chronically short of inspectors and lacks the resources needed to hire more, leaving too much of the regulatory control in the hands of pipeline operators themselves, according to federal reports, an examination of agency data and interviews with safety experts."

"President Obama gave Congress a jobs package that was boiled down to practical provisions -- and clean energy didn't make the cut. ...

He didn't mention the word "energy" once. The bipartisan topic of energy efficiency was also absent in the speech."

Evan Lehmann and Saqib Rahim report for ClimateWire September 9, 2011. [32]

SEE ALSO:

After the 9/11 attacks, government and industry warned that chemical plants were a prime terrorist target that could kill thousands of Americans. They moved quickly to make it harder for the public to know how large a threat the plants posed to nearby communities. But a decade later, the nation has yet to adopt a comprehensive anti-terrorism program for chemical plants.

"Environmental groups and their critics are trading blows over the findings of a recent Government Accountability Office report on environmental litigation costs. In the face of Republican claims that environmentalists game the legal system to win attorneys' fees, GAO experts examined lawsuits filed against U.S. EPA and found 'no discernible trend' over the last 16 years."