"What Americans believe about climate change depends almost entirely on their political affiliation and not their scientific understanding, according to a new national study that found the same dynamic in two regions of Southeast Alaska."

The nation's largest advanced sewage treatement plant, Blue Plains in Washington, DC, is spending $400 million to upgrade its sludge-processing to produce "Class A" fertilizer. Critics say the cooked sludge may be free of pathogens, but the real issue may be nutrients like nitrogen or phosphorus, heavy metals like cadmium or lead, and toxic chemicals like PCBs and perfluorochemicals.

"The latest phase in the legal fight over offshore drilling permits that was kick-started by last year's Deepwater Horizon disaster begins this week with two back-to-back arguments in a federal appeals court in New Orleans."

"Texans pride themselves on being the heart of the nation’s oil and gas business. But even here, public concern about natural gas drilling is growing."

"Federal agencies turned in progress reports to the White House this week on their scientific integrity policies, but officials are saying little about how far along agencies have come in protecting scientists' work from political meddling."

"Alarmed by studies showing children are vulnerable to toxic chemicals found in scores of consumer products, the nation's largest pediatrician group is joining a growing campaign to overhaul how the U.S. regulates hazardous substances."

"Exactly one year after the immolated hulk of the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon sank in the Gulf of Mexico, the Coast Guard on Friday blasted the rig's owner, Transocean, for what it described as poor safety practices that exacerbated the disaster after BP's Macondo well blew out."

"A Georgia administrative law court has sided with two citizen groups opposed to the proposed Longleaf coal-fired power plant in Blakely, Georgia, designed to be the largest coal plant in the nation."

"A prototype car that achieved an amazing 2,564.8 miles per gallon won first place in the Shell Eco-marathon 2011 in Houston this past weekend."

"High levels of pesticide exposure in pregnant women have been linked to lower IQs in their children, according to three separate US studies."