"A federal jury on Friday awarded more than $100 million to 10 workers who claimed they were injured in 2007 when a toxic substance was released at BP’s Texas City plant."

"In Yonkers last week, Mayor Philip A. Amicone announced he would veto new legislation requiring that developers of residential and commercial buildings hew to 'green' construction practices -- not because he opposes sustainable development, the mayor said, but because of legal, technical and political issues."

"It's the holidays... which for some of us means time to deck the halls with boughs of holly and, oh yeah, pick out a Christmas tree.  ... Which tree is greener -- real or artificial."

"The fight to keep invasive Asian carp from the Great Lakes reached the nation's highest court Monday as Michigan's attorney general sued Illinois, asking for the closing of two shipping locks near Chicago in perhaps a last-ditch effort to save the region's $7 billion fishing industry."

"COPENHAGEN -- President Obama may have improved his chances for passing global warming legislation in the Senate by forging an interim international agreement here that puts both rich and poor countries on a path to curtail greenhouse gas emissions."

"The two U.S. producers of the toxic flame retardant decabromodiphenyl ether (decaBDE) ... and the largest U.S. importer of this chemical ... today announced commitments to phase out the chemical in the United States."

"One in 110 American children are considered to fall somewhere along the autism spectrum, according to the latest report released by the federal government. The new figure, which was released initially in October, comes from the most comprehensive set of data yet on the developmental health of eight-year-olds."

"Today, as the anniversary of the Kingston mess approaches, the battle over potential new rules to protect coalfield communities and the environment from the dangers of toxic coal ash is just getting started."

"It was the slap heard 'round the coalfields: Cordelia Ruth Tucker, wearing the fluorescent-striped shirt of a miner, strode past West Virginia state troopers and into a stream of marchers protesting mountaintop removal mining to deliver an audible smack."

"Facing antitrust scrutiny over its practices in the biotechnology seed business, Monsanto has said it will not stand in the way of farmers eventually using lower cost alternatives to its genetically modified soybeans."