"White House changes to proposed rules for tobacco products significantly weakened language detailing health risks from cigars and deleted restrictions that might have prevented online sales of e-cigarettes, published documents show."

"In a shocking move, BP has decided to shut down its internal oil spill claims program, taking away an avenue for more than 10,000 claimants who have opted out of the oil giant’s controversial settlement agreement or others who are not covered by it."

"Neonicotinoid pesticides are causing significant damage to a wide range of beneficial species and are a key factor in the decline of bees, say scientists."

"Johnson County, Wyo., is the kind of remote, quiet Western community where life revolves around cattle—it was the site of an infamous 19th-century armed battle between cowboys and suspected cattle rustlers. The county ranks only 11th statewide for oil production, but it holds the number-one ranking nationwide for a more ignominious distinction: It has 249 new, high-risk oil and gas wells that the federal government has failed to inspect for compliance with safety and environmental standards."

"Average land and ocean surface temperature for May was highest ever, as 2014 shapes up to potentially be hottest year yet"

"The California drought is helping save the state's signature tree - the mighty oak - by slowing down the spread of the plague-like disease scientists call sudden oak death."

"Environmentalists on Monday protested at the headquarters of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, calling on the agency to stop approving liquefied natural gas export facilities until the climate change impacts of the projects are better understood."

"'The worry is that if you have reduced swimming performance you're going to be less effective at capturing prey, and less effective in avoiding (predators),' said Martin Grosell, a professor at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science."

"Duke Energy has signed an agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency to have it oversee the cleanup of toxic coal ash that spilled into a North Carolina river earlier this year. For days this February, tens of thousands of tons of coal ash flooded into the Dan River, which flows between North Carolina and Virginia, from a reservoir beside an old Duke power plant. Duke has been cleaning it up in the time since, with the EPA monitoring its progress, and it's now agreed to compensate the EPA for all past and ongoing oversight costs."