National (U.S.)

"WASHINGTON, DC -- For decades, affluent families have flocked to Spring Valley, a quiet neighborhood hugging the northwestern boundary of the nation’s capital. True to its name, magnolias are blooming and daffodils carpet the yards. But during World War I, soldiers called it Death Valley. It was here that the Army cooked up chemical weapons, launched poison-packed mortar shells and sent gas clouds billowing over the fields."

"The memory and attention problems plaguing thousands of veterans from the first Gulf War might be caused by low-level exposure to insecticides and nerve gas, said researchers at Georgia Health Sciences University."

This year's mild winter in much of the U.S. has meant a longer tick season. That has meant more contact between ticks and mammals like humans and dogs -- and more tick bites. It is still too early to be sure what this will mean for tick populations or the prevalence of tick-borne disease in the coming year.

"CENTRAL POINT, Ore. --- Electric vehicle drivers can now cruise along the southern Oregon stretch of Interstate 5 without range anxiety. Officials from the Oregon Department of Transportation, along with charging station partner AeroVironment and the Oregon Department of Energy, opened the first phase of the West Coast Electric Highway in a ceremony on Friday. When complete, the highway will stretch along Interstate 5 from the Canadian to Mexican borders."

"

"What was killing all those honeybees in recent years?  New research shows a link between an increase in the death of bees and insecticides, specifically the chemicals used to coat corn seeds."

"The U.S. launched an international initiative aimed at reducing emissions of so-called short-lived global warming agents, such as soot and methane, in order to make near-term gains in fighting global warming and improving public health."

"As natural gas production in the United States hits an all-time high, a major unanswered question looms: What does growing hydraulic fracturing mean for climate change?"

Funds for the Centers for Disease Control to use in preventing lead poisoning have been cut by Congressional deficit hawks for fiscal 2012. That will mean serious and permanent harm to kids' health in some 35 of the states who get CDC grants under the program. Health advocates are trying to get the funds restored for fiscal 2013.

"Three states -- California, New York and Washington -- want to know how insurance companies are planning for weather extremes that come with climate change."

"Global warming is apparently behind an increase in storms delivering torrential rains resulting in contamination of drinking water -- so much so that there has been an increase in diseases caused by waterborne pathogens, according to a new report."