National (U.S.)

"The problem isn’t the public’s reasoning capacity; it’s the polluted science-communication environment that drives people apart, says Dan Kahan."

It is remotely possible that a tropical storm forming far out in the Atlantic will turn into a hurricane named Isaac and track over Tampa as Republicans gather their for their presidential nominating convention. The odds of this happening are long, but stormwatchers are paying attention. So are ironists.

"While many cities around the country grapple with drought and excessive heat this year, city planners in Boston have something else on their minds: the prospect of rising water."

"WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court on Tuesday overturned a federal rule that laid out how much air pollution states would have to clean up to avoid incurring violations in downwind states.

 The decision sends the Environmental Protection Agency, and perhaps even Congress, back to the drawing board in what has become a long and paralyzing argument over how to mesh a system of state-by-state regulation with the problem of industrial smokestacks pumping pollutants into a single atmosphere.

Lawyers who won hundreds of millions suing tobacco companies have now set their sights on a big payday from food manufacturers. They are filing suits alleging that food companies are "misleading consumers and violating federal regulations by wrongly labeling products."

"MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Nearly 100 boats and barges were waiting for passage Monday along an 11-mile stretch of the Mississippi River that has been closed due to low water levels, the U.S. Coast Guard said."

"Southern California Edison announced plans to cut nearly one-third of its workforce at the troubled San Onofre nuclear plant, raising new questions about whether the plant will ever return to full operations."

"What do the energy and environment policies of President Obama and presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney bode for the country?"

"RICHMOND -- The chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board toured the scene of the Chevron refinery fire Monday and released photos of the gigantic vapor cloud that loomed over Richmond before it caught fire."

"MANTON, Calif. — Aided by a shift in wind direction, firefighters made a stand against a huge lightning-sparked wildfire burning on the edge of three small Northern California towns."