"One of the most worrisome national security threats of climate change is the spread of disease, among both people and animals, U.S. intelligence and health officials say."
"The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear a request to reopen a lawsuit that charged energy companies with contributing to the effects of Hurricane Katrina by emitting greenhouse gases."
CIA intelligence analysts have focused more intensely in the past year on a threat to national security they find highly worrisome: geopolitical chaos caused by climate change. Speaking on background, they say the U.S. is frighteningly unprepared. The CIA analysts must stay anonymous, because the public is not supposed to know.
The Tuesday recommendations of the presidential oil spill commission may include one that could help the offshore oil industry dodge tighter government safety regulation -- creation of a self-policing program like the one the chemical industry launched after Bhopal.
Lobstermen and environmentalists are concerned about pesticides used by aquaculture operators in Passamaquoddy Bay to kill sea lice that infest salmon holding pens.
"A shutdown of the Trans Alaska Pipeline, which ships 12 percent of U.S. crude output, entered a third day on Monday, boosting prices and raising pressure on operators including BP to restore shipments."
"Members are linked by the spiritual connections between their local desert landscapes and the parched sacred grounds that have nurtured some of the world's great religions."
"President Obama's Environmental Protection Agency administrator has made good on something she calls a top priority: Testing chemicals used widely in the U.S. that have never been assessed for the risks they might pose to human health or the environment."
"The presidential commission examining the causes of the BP oil spill Wednesday laid blame for the disaster on corporate mismanagement, inadequate government regulation and ultimately a lack of political will to ensure proper oversight of the oil industry as it pushed drilling rigs into ever deeper waters."
