"A new smog standard that President Obama withdrew last fall would save thousands of lives each year if implemented, particularly in the Los Angeles region, New York City and Chicago, according to a new study led by Johns Hopkins University scientists."

"Environmental health experts, advocates and legislators convened at Yale University on Tuesday to discuss the use of man-made pesticides and the health risks they pose, especially to children. One of the main topics of conversation: pest control marketing campaigns that appear to target children."

"LAKEPORT, Mich. -- Diesel fuel from a barge that sank in stormy Lake Huron has reached the Michigan shoreline, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday evening."

"Amanda Sedgmer, mother of five and daughter of coal country, believes that in this presidential election, her way of life is at stake."

"The United States is posting rapid growth in the waste of natural gas in new oil fields where the fuel is either burned or vented into the atmosphere.  Experts say the process damages the environment and fails to maximize the return to investors."

"WASHINGTON — Climate change is sweeping indigenous villages into the sea in Alaska, flooding the taro fields of native Hawaiians and devastating the salmon population from which Washington state Indian tribes draw their livelihood, tribal leaders testified Thursday at a Senate hearing."

"Flares, leaking pipelines and tanks emitted 92,000 tons of toxic chemicals into the air during accidents, break-downs and maintenance at Texas oil and gas facilities, refineries and petrochemical plants over the past three years, finds a report released today by the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project, EIP."

"As record drought conditions continue to plague farmers and send corn prices higher, some lawmakers are pressing House leaders to bring the now-stalled farm bill to the floor."

"The most expansive drought in more than a half century intensified this week and stretched further into major farm areas of the western Midwest where crops had largely been shielded from the harsh conditions that decimated yields further east."

"WASHINGTON — With the growing conviction that the Assad family’s 42-year grip on power in Syria is coming to an end, Obama administration officials worked on contingency plans Wednesday for a collapse of the Syrian government, focusing particularly on the chemical weapons that Syria is thought to possess and that President Bashar al-Assad could try to use on opposition forces and civilians."