Public

A little Louisiana town named Mossville, founded in the 1790s, was one of the first communities of free African-Americans in the South. Today it is surrounded by petrochemical plants. Its residents are often sick -- many say it is because of toxic emissions from the plants. They have gotten little or no help from the government. Now the company that owns the nearby plant wants to buy up all of the houses, which would consign Mossville to oblivion.

"A study of men from the Faroe Islands finds that high DDT and PCB exposure during adolescence and adulthood is associated with abnormal chromosomes in sperm".

"House Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) [Thursday] proposed comprehensive reforms to the Land and Water Conservation Fund in a bill that would send significantly more money to states and greatly curtail the purchase of new federal lands."

"A proposed coal terminal and affiliated railway for Cherry Point, Wash., has sparked concern about treaty violations and environmental degradation for many Pacific Northwest tribal leaders, 10 of whom rallied together in Washington, D.C., on Thursday morning against what they said is government disregard for their treaties."

"Portland's city council voted unanimously on Wednesday for a resolution opposing new projects that would increase oil train traffic near Oregon's capital and in the neighboring city of Vancouver, Wash."

"Casualties from a collapsed dam at a Brazilian mine owned by Vale and BHP Billiton mounted on Friday after rescue teams worked through the night to find the dozens missing in mudslides that devastated a nearby village."

"Did climate change cause that heat wave? That hurricane? That drought? A new collection of studies examined extreme weather events last year, including drought, floods and storms, to look for signs that climate change was a cause or contributor — and found mixed results."

"Details of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal were released Thursday, potentially setting off another round of debate on the controversial agreement involving one dozen nations."

"Federal authorities said on Thursday they were investigating the deaths of two California common bottlenose dolphins that stranded and died on beaches just a few miles apart in San Diego a day after the U.S. Navy conducted a brief exercise with sonar."

"The opening of an investigation of Exxon Mobil by the New York attorney general’s office into the company’s record on climate change may well spur legal inquiries into other oil companies, according to legal and climate experts, although successful prosecutions are far from assured."