"More than 100 million Americans believe that Judgment Day is just around the corner. It's no wonder then that a relatively long-term problem like climate change isn't a priority in the public's mind."

Fox "news" figures like commentator Glenn Beck have led the charge against the environmental movement. "The circus Roger Ailes created at Fox News made his network $900 million last year. But it may have lost him something more important: the next election."

The ugly truth in Massachusetts is this: after some three decades and $1 billion worth of Superfund cleamup work at scores of toxic sites, nobody knows whether they are still poisoning people.

"The operators of at least 70 facilities that store coal ash , the waste byproduct of coal-burning power plants, have crafted safety plans to better prevent the sort of catastrophic accident that flooded Tennessee properties with toxic sludge three years ago."

"KURCHATOV, Kazakhstan — Twenty years after the Soviet Union collapsed and tens of thousands of soldiers abandoned their posts at this remote site in northeastern Kazakhstan, the footprints of another great power — the United States — are increasingly visible."

"The Grimsvotn volcano under the Vatnajokull glacier in Iceland was erupting Saturday, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office." Some air travel disruptions are expected.

"The toll from a major tornado on Sunday in Joplin, Missouri has risen to 89 confirmed deaths, local officials said."

"A dire drought that has plagued Texas and parts of Oklahoma expanded across the key farming state of Kansas over the last week, adding to struggles of wheat farmers already dealing with weather-ravaged fields."

"Members of Congress are asking the Food and Drug Administration to issue a voluntary recall of two hair-straightening treatments sold in salons under the brand name Brazilian Blowout, citing concerns about unacceptably high levels of formaldehyde, a suspected carcinogen."

The oil industry's hold on Congress was illustrated by the Senate's rejection of a Democratic effort to repeal some taxpayer subsidies of the oil giants. A new chart makes clear the connection between oil-industry campaign donations and Senators' support of subsidies.