"Republicans plotting their offensive against the Obama administration’s environmental policies are eyeing a powerful weapon that would force the Democratic-held Senate to schedule votes on nullifying controversial regulations."

"A federal judge on Tuesday ordered the destruction of plantings of genetically modified sugar beets developed by Monsanto Co after ruling previously the U.S. Agriculture Department illegally approved the biotech crop."

"Spurred by the Exxon Valdez oil spill, Goldman and his wife, Rhoda, started the prize in 1989 to recognize grass-roots environmental activists and organizers with an annual award that has grown to $150,000." He died Monday in San Francisco.

"Contractors working for Dow Chemical and Sasol North America, a chemical manufacturer, hired private investigators to conduct a two-year corporate espionage campaign against the environmental group Greenpeace, according to a lawsuit filed on Monday in federal district court in Washington."

"When the Department of Homeland Security wants advice on how to guard against terrorist attacks at chemical plants, it relies heavily on a special agency panel focused on the topic. There's just one problem, critics say: The committee is stacked with more than a dozen chemical corporation lobbyists and other industry representatives, who have worked to water down agency standards and oppose tougher security requirements."

The Senate cleared procedural hurdles on Monday and took up a House-passed bill to improve food safety. Final passages was expected Tuesday. House leaders have said they will accept the Senate version, sending it to President Obama for signature. The Senate version now includes controversial exemptions for small farmers.

Half a mile below the surface, the muddy bottom of the Gulf of Mexico is covered in a layer of oil.

Over the past decade, coal-burning electric power plants have been increasingly replaced by gas-burning plants. While this has helped the environment, the utility companies are motivated largely by the chance to save money. Meanwhile, 10,000 congregations in 38 states, joined through Interfaith Power & Light, are acting to shift the nation toward cleaner power because they think it is the moral thing to do.

Opponents of genetically engineered salmon are warning the Food and Drug Administration not to approve it because they fear fish could escape from aquaculture pens and interbreed with wild stocks or out-compete them.

"It took a little muscle flexing, tough talk and a few threats, but the Environmental Protection Agency got what it wanted Monday: Most states in the Chesapeake Bay region submitted detailed plans to reduce the bay's pollution diet as part of a more aggressive effort to nurse its sickly waters back to good health."