"Environmental degradation and waning natural resources threaten U.S. security in the 21st century, in a shift from 'kinetic' security threats, defense experts told a Capitol Hill briefing Wednesday."

"Several Asian countries in addition to China could soon challenge the United States in the race to build a renewable energy industry if Washington doesn't provide more incentives for its domestic business, venture capitalists and others told a Congressional hearing on Wednesday."

"Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) will remain the ranking Republican on the Senate energy committee despite her running as a write-in candidate for reelection against GOP leadership wishes."

Despite some bad wildfires, the 2010 fire season overall has been less severe than many recent years.

At a White House meeting Wednesday, several federal agencies renewed environmental justice pledges, reviving an interagency working group that had not met since the middle of the Clinton administration.

"The Obama administration's bid to strengthen federal pipeline oversight is raising questions from environmental groups as well as industry, suggesting that safety reforms could fail to reach a legislative fast track despite three recent high-profile ruptures along the 2.3 million miles of U.S. oil and gas lines."

"A Colorado grandmother hospitalized for five days after eating an appetizer made with salmonella-tainted eggs urged Congress to pass food safety laws that might have prevented her suffering."

"A number of the playful marine mammals are being poisoned by an ancient microbe that appears to be on an upsurge in warmer, polluted waters around the world."

"Six months after the BP oil spill, it’s clear that in the age of social media, a company can’t spin and rebrand its way out of a mess like it used to."

"The world's most deadly form of human malaria, a parasite known as Plasmodium falciparum, is of gorilla origin, and not chimpanzee, bonobo or ancient human origin as scientists previously thought."