National (U.S.)

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is about to take over as stage manager in the uphill push to pass comprehensive climate and energy legislation."

"After a year of working with environmental groups, government regulators and the chemical industry, a leading advocate for chemical regulation has devised a plan to remake the nation's chemical laws -- a 34-year-old set of regulations that all players agree is outmoded and ineffective."

"Some soldiers and their families have had to live in deplorable conditions at Fort Bliss, dealing with black mold, lead paint and asbestos affecting the health of them and their children. Now there are allegations of threats and intimidation by top commanders if soldiers and their families spoke out about the problems."

Across the country, aging dams are reaching the end of their lifespan, and must be either removed or rebuilt -- at very significant cost. One dam in Minnesota raises issues of public tax dollars being spent to benefit the rich -- and puts a political problem squarely in the lap of aspiring GOP tea-bagger Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

"President Barack Obama will outline a revamped space policy on Thursday that will use $6 billion in new funding over five years to create 2,500 new jobs in Florida with the ultimate goal of going to Mars." "NASA's earth science team would receive an extra $2.4 billion -- a 62 percent increase -- through 2015 to study changing temperatures, ice coverage, ozone depletion, and atmospheric carbon dioxide."

"The Government Accountability Office concluded that the Energy Star program is susceptible to fraud and abuse, after investigators received certification for 15 phony appliances, including a gasoline-powered alarm clock."