"The Interior Department tightened its rules on offshore oil  and gas operations on Thursday but left in place the moratorium on deepwater drilling that has left oil executives frustrated and Gulf Coast officials fuming."

"The National Oil Spill Commission continues its investigation into the Deepwater Horizon explosion and spill, but the president's panel remains hampered by its inability to compel key witnesses to testify and turn over documents. Senate Republicans blocked a bill to grant the commission subpoena power in July. Now the Senate has gone home once without moving the measure forward."

"The Federal Communications Commission has changed its guidance to cellphone users worried about the health effects of wireless devices, dropping a long-standing recommendation that concerned consumers purchase phones with lower levels of radiation emissions."

In Pakistan, "Floodwaters have receded but left small children, women and the elderly battling to survive on food handouts in refugee camps on roadsides, increasingly angry at a government they say has failed them." The inadequacy of flood relief is weakening the incumbent Pakistani government and strengthening Taliban for a takeover of that nuclear-armed country. This has sparked speculation about a possible coup by Pakistan's army against the current civilian government. It has also raised concerns about the viability of the U.S. military strategy in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Some analysts view the situation as an example of how climate change may threaten U.S. security in the future.

"The Environmental Protection Agency wants to regulate a toxic chemical used in rocket fuel that has contaminated drinking water supplies, reversing a decision made under the Bush administration."

"Senior financiers and the leaders of powerful energy companies on Thursday blamed subsidies to oil and natural gas  companies for damaging the ability of the clean-energy industry to recover from the economic slowdown and take advantage of growing power markets worldwide."

"A proposal to designate more than 300,000 acres of wilderness in central Idaho appears to be in a political tailspin, dashing hopes among wilderness advocates that the Gem State could soon resolve a decades-long debate over management of its public lands."

"BP has agreed to pay a record $15 million fine to the federal government for air pollution violations at its troubled Texas City refinery."

"University researchers said on Thursday they recently found alarming levels of cancer-causing toxins in an area of the Gulf of Mexico affected by BP's oil spill, raising the specter of long-lasting health concerns."