In Whiting, Indiana, and across the Midwest, old refineries are being expanded to process the crude oil expected from Canada's tar sands. Citizens near BP's century-old refinery in Whiting are concerned that it will harm their health.

California has found the tropical Asian tiger mosquito in the San Gabriel Valley, where it is not normally found. The species spreads various tropical diseases, and may be a symptom of climate change.

"A ruling on Thursday by the World Trade Organization could imperil 'dolphin safe' labeling on tuna in the United States."

"Excess exports from China's rare earth industry kept prices artificially low for years, and it was now 'unrealistic' to expect them to fall back to previous levels as Beijing reins in the sector, a senior industry official said on Thursday."

"In a class action lawsuit filed Thursday, Kennedy Krieger Institute is accused of exposing poor black children to 'dangerous levels' of lead as part of a housing experiment in the 1990s."

"If you think about it too hard, you might be bothered by the fact that many 'pro-life' members of Congress are the same ones that want to gut environmental regulations that protect expectant mothers and their unborn children. Take, for example, the bill a House subcommittee passed on Wednesday that would block the EPA from implementing rules on mercury from cement plant smokestacks, as well as other toxic emissions. The legislators behind it claim to be pro-life, which has prompted the Evangelical Environmental Network to launch a new campaign taking those lawmakers to task."

"The latest probe into last year's Gulf of Mexico blowout and oil spill -- a federal report that blames much of the disaster on poor management decisions by BP PLC -- has elicited strong but varied responses on Capitol Hill, but its chances of prompting immediate legislative action remain slim."

"As rising sea levels eat away at the California coastline over the next century, the advancing ocean could cause hundreds of millions of dollars in damage to beach communities as tourism and tax revenue is swept away, according to a state-commissioned study released Tuesday."

"The Environmental Protection Agency will miss an end-of-month target for proposing greenhouse gas regulations for power plants, the head of the EPA said on Wednesday."