"Chemicals derived from flowers may sound harmless, but new research raises concerns about compounds synthesized from chrysanthemums that are used in virtually every household pesticide. For at least a decade, pyrethroids have been the insecticide of choice for consumers, replacing organophosphate pesticides, which are far more toxic to people and wildlife. But evidence is mounting that the switch to pyrethroids has brought its own set of new ecological and human health concerns."

"Nearly a third of older-model cars stopped for roadside smog tests in Southern California failed them, despite having received a passing grade at inspection stations within a year, a state audit has found."

"Anti-whaling activists are returning to Australia after an engine problem forced them to end this season's Antarctic campaign against Japanese whalers."

"They ran for blocks when they saw the big truck with the Minnesota license plate roll by. Little girls and old women, little boys and young men, all chasing the shiny silver tanker down streets of Cite Soleil, one of the world’s worst slums. Past fly-infested garbage piles, by canals reeking of raw sewage, they carried buckets, pans, pots, tubs — anything that could hold what has become gold in the ruins of Haiti’s catastrophic earthquake: clean water."

A deliberately caused oil spill of some 660,000 gallons in Northern Italy snaked down the Po River and reached the province of Parma raising fears of contamination in a farm district that produces Italy's famed prosciutto and parmesan cheese.

The so-far unfounded fears of a few that President Obama will restrict gun sales are boosting sales as gun enthusiasts stockpile. One result: a boost in state funds for fish and wildlife restoration. Under the Pittman-Robertson Act of 1937, a federal tax on guns and ammo is set aside for this purpose.

A proposal to build Utah's first nuclear plant along the Green River is running into a host of skeptical questions -- among them: where it will find cooling water in the middle of a desert.

"The Teamsters union and environmental activists have formed an unlikely and outspoken alliance aiming to clear the air in American ports, and perhaps bolster the Teamsters’ ranks in the process."

"Wal-Mart Stores Inc plans to massively cut greenhouse gas emissions from its global supply chain within five years -- an effort the retailer said is equivalent to taking more than 3.8 million cars off the road for a year."

"An iceberg the size of Luxembourg knocked loose from the Antarctic continent earlier this month could disrupt the ocean currents driving weather patterns around the globe, researchers said Thursday."