"The world's water supply is being strained by climate change and the growing food, energy and sanitary needs of a fast-growing population, according to a United Nations study that calls for a radical rethink of policies to manage competing claims.

"Freshwater is not being used sustainably," UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said in a statement. "Accurate information remains disparate, and management is fragmented ... the future is increasingly uncertain and risks are set to deepen."

Contaminated fill, a little-noticed and largely unregulated health threat, is keeping some ball fields closed this spring in New Jersey ... and probably is a problem in many other areas.

"Dozens of conservation groups and nearly 100 scientists voiced opposition on Thursday to an Obama administration proposal they say would make it much harder for imperiled creatures to qualify for protection under the Endangered Species Act."

The Democrat-controlled Senate Energy Committee will hold a hearing today [Tuesday] which could turn the table on the House's highly politicized hearings condemning the Obama administration's administration of the Congress-passed energy loan program. Energy Sec. Steven Chu will testify.

"The White House scrambled Monday to contain the political damage from rising gas prices, which have emerged as a primary threat to President Obama’s reelection."

"The Senate [Tuesday] will likely vote on an amendment to approve construction of the Keystone XL pipeline and to vastly expand access to domestic oil and gas resources. But unlike similar votes last week, senators this time will vote on a much broader package that includes the extension of expiring tax incentives."

Phil Taylor reports for Greenwire (subscription only) March 12, 2012.
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"Ben Kessler, a student at the University of North Texas and an environmental activist, was more than a little surprised that an FBI agent questioned his philosophy professor and acquaintances about his whereabouts and his sign-waving activities aimed at influencing local gas drilling rules."

"F. Sherwood Rowland, the Nobel prize-winning chemist who sounded the alarm on the thinning of the Earth's ozone layer, has died at 84."

"A new study has documented the rapid growth in Canada of ticks that can cause Lyme disease, and global warming is thought to be a factor."

"The average amount of ice covering the Great Lakes declined 71 percent over the past 40 winters, with Lake Superior ice down 79 percent, according to a report published by the American Meteorological Society.

'There was a significant downward trend in ice coverage from 1973 to the present for all of the lakes,' states the study appearing in the society’s Journal of Climate.