"Tourists on a North Carolina vacation destination island were preparing to board the ferries and head for the mainland early Wednesday and more evacuations could be on the way as powerful Hurricane Earl threatened to sideswipe the East Coast."

"Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) conceded her primary race Tuesday night after she failed to close the gap on attorney Joe Miller in the ongoing vote-counting process." That means Murkowski will be replaced as ranking Republican member of the Senate Energy Committee.

"The Department of Interior issued a new draft policy on scientific integrity on Tuesday, a long overdue addition to the agency's manual outlining the rules and regulations for employees when it comes to ensuring that their decisions are based on sound science."

"California lawmakers have rejected a bill seeking to ban plastic shopping bags, after a contentious debate over whether the state was going too far in trying to regulate personal choice."

"They say the ballot initiative to suspend the state's climate change law would hurt low-income communities already suffering the most from pollution."

"The company that runs the trans-Alaska pipeline remains under federal investigation and is in the middle of major changes after an internal probe this summer raised serious concerns about how it handled a major pipeline leak and emergency shutdown in May."

"KABUL, Afghanistan — Blood tests have confirmed that a mysterious series of cases of mass sickness at girls’ schools across the country over the last two years were caused by a powerful poison gas, an Afghan official said Tuesday."

"India's supreme court has reopened the Bhopal  toxic gas leak case in response to a government petition seeking harsher punishment for officials from Union Carbide, the chemical company responsible."

"An Albemarle County [Va.] Circuit Court judge has set aside  a subpoena issued by Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to the University of Virginia seeking documents related to the work of climate scientist and former university professor Michael Mann."