"BOISE, Idaho (AP) — After another dry winter across much of the West, fire officials are poised for a tough wildfire season that will be even more challenging because federal budget cuts mean fewer firefighters on the ground, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said Monday."
"Genetically engineered crops that could sharply increase the use of two powerful herbicides are now unlikely to reach the market until at least 2015 because the Department of Agriculture has decided to subject the crops to more stringent environmental reviews than it had originally intended."
"Lipstick can give your lips color, sheen and texture, but may also put you at risk of ingesting potentially toxic metals, University of California, Berkeley researchers say."
"A domestic natural gas boom already has lowered U.S. energy prices while stoking fears of environmental disaster. Now U.S. producers are poised to ship vast quantities of gas overseas as energy companies seek permits for proposed export projects that could set off a renewed frenzy of fracking."
"The tension between conservation and oil and gas drilling is evident in the White House's new Arctic strategy paper. Shifting economic, climatic, and regulatory realities have contributed to what is at least a temporary pause in Arctic oil and gas drilling."
"The habitats of many common plants and animals will shrink dramatically this century unless governments act quickly to cut rising greenhouse gas emissions, scientists said on Sunday after studying 50,000 species around the world."
"Farmers must pay Monsanto each time they plant the company’s genetically modified soybeans, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, rejecting an Indiana farmer’s argument that his unorthodox techniques did not violate the company’s patent."
"WARM SPRINGS, Ore. — The sky was not exactly dark in a blotting-out-the-sun sense, but the salmon flies were certainly thick above central Oregon’s Lower Deschutes River. Thousands of female specimens circled 30 feet above the water’s surface, preparing to descend and drop their eggs. Occasionally, a bug would spiral slowly down to the river, flutter awkwardly on the surface, then disappear in a sudden splash."
"HELENA, Mont. -- The world’s worrisome decline in biodiversity is well known. Some experts say we are well on our way toward the sixth great extinction and that by 2100 half of all the world’s plant and animal species may disappear. Yet one of the most important threats to biodiversity has received little attention — though it lies under our feet."
"For anyone anxious about toxic chemicals in the environment, Sunday marked a dubious milestone."
