"WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration is bringing a new trade case against China that seeks to pressure the rising economic power to end its export restrictions on key materials used to manufacture hybrid car batteries, flat-screen televisions and other high-tech goods."

"FRESNO, Calif. -- Nitrate contamination of drinking water is a pervasive problem in California's agricultural heartland and is bound to intensify in the coming years, according to a University of California, Davis study released Tuesday."

"A team of Australian scientists has bred salt tolerance into a variety of durum wheat that shows improved grain yield by 25% on salty soils. Using 'non-GM' crop breeding techniques, scientists from CSIRO Plant Industry have introduced a salt-tolerant gene into a commercial durum wheat, with spectacular results shown in field tests."

"It's a sunny morning in the Poconos. As residents prepare to head to work or school, some begin to feel dizzy or light-headed."

"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.