While cruise ships can be a boon to local economies, they also produce huge amounts of waste and pollution.

"A federal judge has revoked the government's approval of genetically altered sugar beets until regulators complete a more thorough review of how the scientifically engineered crops affect other food."

"To ensure that oil rigs, tankers and other commercial ships are in safe operating condition, governments around the world, including the U.S. government, often rely on inspections by private firms that are hired and paid by the vessels' owners. But how much confidence should the world have in the maritime watchdogs?"

"Trains carrying deadly chemicals rumble through our backyards every day, but railroad companies hauling them refuse to publicly disclose exactly what those substances are, or how often they travel through the area."

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday proposed new rules to ensure factories and power plants will be able to obtain permits they will need to emit greenhouse gases starting next year."

"Delving into the gritty details of how offshore drilling is regulated, a National Academy of Engineering inquiry into the Deepwater Horizon well blowout found a big hole in oversight during a hearing on Thursday."

"Southern California is poised to become the world's solar power capital as the Obama administration continues to stamp its approval on large-scale renewable energy projects across the Mojave and Colorado deserts."

The market-based cap-and-trade approach to climate legislation was originally a product of a business coalition and Republican principles. Then some of the people who invented it began vilifying it.

"BP has agreed to pay a record $50.6 million fine to the federal government for safety violations found by regulators last year at its troubled refinery in Texas City, Tex., where 15 workers died in a 2005 explosion."

"Television and movie makers have no excuse for not jumping on the 'green' movement bandwagon. A new website with resources on everything from recycling sets to cruelty-free mascara makes it simple to do so."