"U.S. officials say the nation’s health system is ill-prepared to cope with a catastrophic release of radiation, despite years of focus on the possibility of a terrorist 'dirty bomb' or an improvised nuclear device attack."

"The 2011 Atlantic hurricane season will be above average in activity and there is a more than 70 percent chance of at least one major hurricane hitting the U.S. coastline, Colorado State University forecasters predicted on Wednesday."

"Faced with a lawsuit from environmentalists, U.S. EPA has changed course and rejected Alabama's plan to change how the state decides whether industrial plants are releasing too much soot from their smokestacks."

"A long-term Republican budget plan released this week by Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin calls for drastic cuts in federal spending on energy research and development and for the outright elimination of subsidies and tax breaks for wind, solar power and other alternative energy technologies."

"The first round of UN climate change talks since the Cancun summit in December is underway in Bangkok this week."

"Fast food chain KFC is to stop frying chicken in palm oil."

"An often-overlooked renewable energy source is gaining momentum as lawmakers on Capitol Hill struggle to find consensus in an increasingly partisan environment and the Obama administration is looking to decrease reliance on foreign oil."

"Each year, an ever larger portion of the world’s crops — cassava and corn, sugar and palm oil — is being diverted for biofuels as developed countries pass laws mandating greater use of nonfossil fuels and as emerging powerhouses like China seek new sources of energy to keep their cars and industries running."