Fumes from long-ago industrial activity are still seeping into the homes of some Baltimore-area residents. Those fumes include cancer-causing chemicals like trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene. The site was one of the first Superfund cleanups, but the cleanup was not thorough enough.

"The $28 billion styrene industry has filed a lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Court to block California environmental officials from listing the product as a cause of cancer and birth defects."

Fuel barges on the Columbia River are having more accidents, although none so far has resulted in a known spill. The Coast Guard refuses to disclose information about the incidents, citing investigations which it has not completed in periods of up to 16 months.

The Food and Drug Administration tested electronic cigarettes -- whose makers (most Chinese) tout them as safer than ordinary cigarettes. The FDA found that some e-cigarettes contained cancer-causing chemicals.

The online environmental magazine Grist combed the Web sites of 99 senators and graded them on how well they explained the Senators' positions on climate change and energy. "The results aren’t pretty. We found a distinct lack of information among Democrats and Republicans alike, senators with and without strong environmental voting records, and from all regions of the country," Grist told parents.

Democrats trying to move two huge legislative initiaties -- on climate change and health care -- may be forced to choose which gets top priority. Meanwhile, Republicans focus on using both issues to damage Democrats politically. Are Democrats biting off more than they can chew?

"U.S. farmers and foresters could earn more money from carbon contracts than they pay in higher costs from legislation to control greenhouse gases, the Agriculture Department estimated on Wednesday."

Policies that allow small producers of alternative energy to sell it to utilities at or above market rates art catching on in the U.S. They could help revolutionize energy production.

"Back in the 1980s and 90s, dozens of communities across the US built incinerators to get rid of their trash. Many of them financed the massive furnaces with bonds they're just now paying off. And now that those debts are off their books, some cities are re-thinking whether burning trash makes environmental and economic sense."

"The environmental damage caused by mountaintop removal mining across Appalachia has been well documented. But scientists are now beginning to understand that the mining operations’ most lasting damage may be caused by the massive amounts of debris dumped into valley streams."