After promising Senators that he would conduct new studies of the health effects of airport X-ray scanners, TSA Administrator John Pistole seemed to say yesterday that the agency did not need to do the study.

"In a direct act of rebellion against Tokyo Electric Power Company, which owns the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant, the local government in Tokyo is moving swiftly to build a huge natural gas facility that would generate as much electricity as a nuclear reactor."

"The US State Department, tasked with deciding on a controversial giant pipeline between the United States and Canada, faced fresh charges Thursday of bias over the project."

"After deciding it isn't worth cleaning up one of the nation's dirtiest power plants, the owners of an aging coal-burner along the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan are shutting it down sooner than expected."

"The nation’s leading chemical manufacturers on Thursday bashed a Senate measure that would revamp the nation’s chemical safety law, as concerns mount that ingredients used in making everyday consumer products may lead to serious health problems. But another influential trade group — one that represents more than 200 companies that make those products — held its fire and acknowledged that it needs to provide federal regulators with more useful data about the chemicals that are used."

"WASHINGTON — In a politically charged hearing Thursday, Republicans in the House of Representatives accused Energy Secretary Steven Chu of breaking the law in how he handled the restructuring of a loan for the California solar-energy company Solyndra. Chu said he did nothing illegal but instead made a tough decision that gave him the best shot at getting taxpayer money back that had been loaned to the company. Chu said his department's top lawyer said his plan was legal."

"Climate change is likely to cause more storms, floods, droughts, heatwaves and other extreme weather events, according to the most authoritative review yet of the effects of global warming. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will publish on Friday its first special report on extreme weather, and its relationship to rising greenhouse gas emissions."

"A settlement outlined Wednesday between a major manufacturer of Chinese-made drywall and homebuilders who used the tainted product in Florida, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi could affect anywhere from 800 to 1,500 homes, attorneys said."

"The European Union on Monday prohibited the use of X-ray body scanners in European airports, parting ways with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration, which has deployed hundreds of the scanners as a way to screen millions of airline passengers for explosives hidden under clothing."

"The U.S. has begun to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants—quietly, with little fanfare and starting in Texas."