National (U.S.)

"The Commerce Department unveiled the first 77 'smart grid' standards today aimed at removing a major barrier to the implementation of digital grid technologies."

"A 50 percent leap in the shares of lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems Inc on their first day of trading looks likely to jumpstart the market for clean-tech share offerings."

"After weeks of waiting, it now looks like the Senate will see a climate bill next week after all. At an event in Pittsburgh ahead of the G20 summit, bill cosponsor John Kerry (D-Mass.) announced that the bill will be released next Wednesday."

Environmentalists are criticizing paper companies for making ultra-soft toilet paper out of cut trees instead of recycled fiber.

Alan Carlin, a 72-year-old analyst and economist made a splash in June with his contrarian views on global warming. He -- and conservative commentators and Congressional Repuplicans -- claimed EPA had muzzled him. But documents disclosed in response to a FOIA request show that scientists challenged his views, that his scholarship was shoddy, that he had no academic qualifications on climate, and that he was free to talk to the press.

"Two top U.S. natural gas producers called on the industry to release data about the chemicals they use in the fast-growing Marcellus shale development to counter fears it was polluting water supplies."

"The Senate on Thursday approved big budget increases for the Interior Department and the Environmental Protection Agency as it passed a $32 billion spending measure for the budget year that starts next week."

"Imperial Sugar Co. and managers of its Georgia refinery ignored known dangers of explosive dust for decades before a chain of dust-fueled fireballs erupted at the plant last year and killed 14 people, investigators said in a report Thursday."

"The Senate declined Thursday to take up Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s effort to limit for a year the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, factories and other stationary sources of pollution."

"Over the last decade, the drinking water at thousands of schools across the country has been found to contain unsafe levels of lead, pesticides and dozens of other toxins."