"The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change has received national pledges to cut and limit greenhouse gases by 2020 from 55 countries, including China and the United States that together account for 78 percent of global emissions from energy use."
"[Rajendra K.] Pachauri and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are now under intense scrutiny, facing accusations of scientific sloppiness and potential financial conflicts of interest from climate skeptics...."
"An advertising campaign that previously pushed the phrase 'clean coal' launches new spots this week focused on jobs and low-cost power, the latest offering in a three-year, nearly $120 million effort to sell Congress and the White House on coal's future. Increasingly, there are signs that it is working."
"Downtown Chicago has the highest peak levels of nitrogen dioxide in the country, and is the only site in violation of new stricter guidelines against the irritant, which inflames asthma and other lung conditions."
Toxic coal-tar liquids from ancient gas-manufacturing plants have been creeping through the soil of the mid-Hudson Valley for more than a century. Cleanup projects may cost some $3 billion.
"When the computer-age took off in the 1990s, lots of people thought we'd use a lot less paper. But that hasn't happened."
"Blue whales are updating their playlist, according to new research on the huge mammals."
"The Obama administration is proposing a grant program that could start zoning marine areas for offshore projects."
"Faced with stiff resistance from ranchers and farmers, the Obama administration has decided to scrap a national program intended to help authorities quickly identify and track livestock in the event of an animal disease outbreak."
"In this special Grist series, we’ll be looking at where synthetic nitrogen comes from and what our reliance on it is doing to our health and to the health of our waterways and climate. We’ll also be looking at ways in which synthetic nitrogen can be used more wisely—and, as much as possible, phased out."
