"Federal regulators leaned on McDonald's to quickly recall 12 million 'Shrek'-themed drinking glasses this spring because they concluded that a typical 6-year-old could be exposed to hazardous levels of the metal cadmium by touching one of the glasses just eight times in a day, according to documents obtained under the federal Freedom of Information Act."
A second report from the Oil Spill Commission, "entitled 'Decision-Making in the Unified Command,' portrays the cleanup effort as confused, wasteful and often ineffective, and offers thinly veiled criticism of some of the key figures in the effort, including Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal.
"President Barack Obama issued an executive order today establishing the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force, aimed at coordinating planning and information exchange between the federal government and coastal interests as restoration efforts following the oil spill begin."
Sam Zell's takeover of the Tribune Company was built on the debt that drove it to bankruptcy. The monetization of one of the great American media companies also turned a temple of journalism into a frat house.
"The solar panels are coming back! A month after environmentalist Bill McKibben brought one of the original Carter-era solar panels to Washington, the White House said it is putting new panels on the White House residence."
"Even as they cheer U.S. EPA's first steps toward a drinking water standard for perchlorate, environmental and public health groups are warily predicting Pentagon and industry resistance to proposed limits on the rocket fuel chemical during a behind-the-scenes federal review process."
"The University of Virginia and an embattled climate scientist said Monday that it would continue to fight state Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II's efforts to obtain documents related to a climate scientist's work, just hours after Cuccinelli reissued a civil subpoena for the papers."
"Congress Friday unanimously passed and sent to the President the first authorization bill the U.S. Coast Guard has had since 2006. The measure strengthens oil spill protections, saves taxpayer dollars by overhauling a failed Coast Guard acquisitions program and sets new fishing vessel safety standards."
"Achieving greater efficiency and control requires hooking almost every aspect of the electricity grid up to the Internet, making it more vulnerable to cyber attacks."
"Sunday marks a calendrical coincidence sure to catch the eye of numerologists and anyone fond of binary code. But Oct. 10, 2010, or 10-10-10, also has taken on ecological significance as a stage for global events centered around climate change."
