"A Vernon parent is wondering why school playing fields are still being sprayed with pesticides as communities across the country have discontinued using chemicals to control weeds."

"SEATTLE - Leaders of this famously green city last year passed the nation's first grocery-bag fee, and other cities around the nation quickly followed. But the plastics industry has been fighting back, bringing lawsuits, aggressively lobbying lawmakers, and bankrolling a referendum in Seattle that aims to overturn the 20-cent charge. The measure goes before voters Tuesday."

Firefighters have largely contained many of the major fires that forced thousands of residents in various parts of California to flee their homes. Some are already returning.

"Coal's well-funded lobbying group today launched a television ad campaign featuring ordinary people talking about the importance of low-cost electricity, a message analysts described as coal's effort to rebrand itself before the Senate tackles climate legislation."

The redevelopment of a New Bedford waste dump raises toxic threats to homes, schools, and churches.

"The latest round of preparatory talks for the U.N. climate conference concluded today with negotiators lamenting that the languid pace of talks could mean there won't be a deal on emissions in Copenhagen this December."

"Despite regulations and laws to protect children, Fresno County authorities say school buses are still being exposed to pesticide clouds once or twice a year."

An aging fleet of coal-fired power plants continue to pollute many urban areas. They were exempted from pollution-control requirements of the 1977 Clean Air Act. Companies rebuild them over and over to avoid installing pollution-control equipment. "The clunkers of the power-plant world" may once again escape new rules and modern technology.