"On Monday in Geneva, representatives of the 143 countries belonging to United Nations-sponsored Rotterdam Convention, regulating hazardous chemicals, are to begin a meeting where chrysotile, the type of asbestos fibre mined in Quebec, will be on the top of the list of new products to be regulated."

"Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.), the newly minted White House contender, used Monday night’s GOP debate to call for clipping the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) wings."

"A former Republican congressman who is an advocate for action to address climate change plans to launch a new conservative coalition this fall made up of Republicans who, like him, believe that human emissions are triggering global warming and that steps should be taken to stop it."

"All around the world, women will cook meals for their families today, and as a result, in certain parts of the world, one of them will die every 16 seconds. That statistic is one of the reasons Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had planned a stop in Ethiopia on her current trip through Africa, to highlight an initiative she strongly supports: bringing cleaner cook stove technology to many parts of the developing world."

"Indian officials signed an agreement with the World Bank on Tuesday to use a $1 billion loan to finance the first major new effort in more than 20 years to cleanse the revered Ganges, one of the world’s dirtiest rivers."

"Nearly three-quarters of Japanese voters want to see a gradual phase-out of nuclear power, a newspaper poll showed on Tuesday, the latest sign of concerns about atomic safety as the country struggles with the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years."

"This year's record Mississippi River floods are forecast to create the biggest Gulf of Mexico 'dead zone' since systematic mapping began in 1985, U.S. scientists reported on Tuesday."

"Tighter limits on soot and smog provide a quick and easy way to fight global warming while protecting human health and raising crop output, a U.N. study said on Tuesday."

"After 33 years of consideration, the Food and Drug Administration took steps on Tuesday to sort out the confusing world of sunscreens, with new rules that specify which lotions provide the best protection against the sun and ending claims that they are truly waterproof."

"A Senate effort to take away ethanol subsidies came up short Tuesday but exposed weakened support for a $6 billion tax break, suggesting that the incentive could be eliminated."