Environmental Politics

"A major fruit company's lawsuit against the Food and Drug Administration could have a chilling effect on regulators' efforts to get tainted food off the market. Florida-based Del Monte Fresh Produce is striking back at the FDA with a lawsuit after the agency halted imports of its Guatemalan cantaloupes, saying they may be contaminated with salmonella. Such a lawsuit is extremely rare, and the threat of litigation could make officials more reluctant to tell the public about the possibility of contamination in food."

"The world's largest tobacco company is attempting to gain access to confidential information about British teenagers' smoking habits."

"In late July, the Blackhawk School District, 40 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, joined a handful of other school districts in Pennsylvania looking to cash in on the state’s natural gas boom."

"A record rise in global greenhouse emissions and ever tighter economic constraints make it crucial for United Nations climate talks in South Africa in November to overcome years of deadlock and deliver a solution, the U.N.'s climate chief told Reuters."

"Daryl Hannah: The star of 'Splash' and the 'Kill Bill' movies was arrested outside the White House in an oil pipeline protest. Daryl Hannah is a longtime environmentalist who has previously been arrested for green causes."

"The Fremont, Calif., company, which had received a $535-million Energy Department loan guarantee and hosted a tour by President Obama, plans to seek bankruptcy protection."

"California’s former top pesticide regulatory official dismissed safety guidelines suggested by her own staff scientists on the grounds that they were 'excessive' and too onerous for the pesticide manufacturer, recently released internal documents show."

"The state of Alaska filed notice on Friday that it will appeal a federal judge's ruling upholding the listing of polar bears as a threatened species."

"The State Department gave a crucial green light on Friday to a proposed 1,711-mile pipeline that would carry heavy oil from oil sands in Canada across the Great Plains to terminals in Oklahoma and the Gulf Coast."

"A Senate bill that would allow energy-saving retrofits to be factors in mortgage underwriting has quickly attracted a diverse set of enthusiastic supporters that range from the conservative U.S. Chamber of Commerce to the liberal Center for American Progress.