"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."

A oil spill off the shore of Brazil may be larger than oil companies and Brazil are admitting, Skytruth reports.

"The climate change think tank formerly known as the Pew Center of Global Climate Change is no more, after the Pew Charitable Trusts pulled $3.5 million in yearly funding to the organization. That single donation, as the name of the think tank implied, formed the overwhelming majority of the group's funding, 80% (Economic Times)."

"China, the world's biggest carbon emitter, could nudge the United States into more action on climate change, rescuing the latest round of global talks and improving its international reputation."

President Obama is beating a retreat from some of his strong environmental promises as the campaign season begins.

Energy Secretary Chu faces a grilling on the Solyndra loan today from a hostile House committee.

"U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu has said it may take similar skills to navigate Washington politics as it does to make advances in physics research, a field in which he won a Nobel Prize in 1997.