"As the worst drought in more than 50 years withers the Midwest corn crop, 25 senators urged the Environmental Protection Agency to cut the mandate that requires fuel blenders to add grain-based ethanol to gasoline."

"Investigators were looking at how a small, seemingly insignificant leak at one of the country's biggest oil refineries quickly unraveled into an intense fire that sent acrid black smoke into the sky and hundreds of people to hospitals with health complaints."

"An eight-year environmental pact to reduce air, water and chemical pollution along the U.S.-Mexico border will be signed by dignitaries from both countries, Environmental Protection Agency officials said Tuesday."

"The European Union and small island states criticized the United States on Tuesday for backing away from a U.N. goal of limiting global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 F)."

"WASHINGTON -- Regulators should take a fresh look at 15-year-old standards on radiofrequency energy from mobile phones, an investigative arm of the Congress said on Tuesday amid lingering concerns the devices may cause brain tumors."

"The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission suspended final decisions on licenses for power plants until it completes a reassessment of risks related to storing spent atomic fuel ordered by a federal court in June."

"RALEIGH, N.C. -- President Barack Obama signed a bill Monday promising health benefits for Marines and families who were exposed to contaminated water at a North Carolina Marine base for decades."

"Baltimore's public housing agency announced Monday it has paid $3.7 million to a former public housing resident who suffered lead-paint poisoning as a young child in the 1980s."

"Tropical Storm Ernesto picked up speed in the western Caribbean on Monday as it moved toward Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, dousing Honduras and Belize on its way."