National (U.S.)

"Free-market thinktank's conference opens in Chicago with president admitting defections are hurting group's finances."

"HELENA, Mont. -- A wildlife advocacy group is suing the U.S. Forest Service to seek the release of documents about how the agency plans to keep a disease that already has killed millions of bats in the U.S. and Canada from spreading to the Northern Rocky Mountains."

"A push by congressional leaders to fund an embattled uranium enrichment project in Ohio has triggered strong bipartisan backlash in the House and accusations that leading GOP figures are backing earmarks for a project with similarities to the bankrupt solar firm Solyndra."

"When Alfredo Figueroa stands on the banks of the Colorado River he is reverent out of respect for his tribal heritage yet troubled for future of this overused waterway, which is not only the lifeblood of the Chemehuevi people but also the primary drinking water source for tens of millions of people in the Southwest."

Budget and management problems have wracked the National Children's Study, once the most ambitious effort to document the effects of many factors -- including environmental ones -- on children's health during the entire time they are growing up.

"The troubled United States Enrichment Corp., on the brink of closing a Kentucky enrichment plant, has been bailed out in a complex Energy Department accord designed to keep that facility open one more year."

"Chicago commuters have all the fun. Two weeks ago, there was the Heartland Institute’s Unabomber billboard likening a belief in climate change to psychopathy. This week, those stuck in traffic missed out on one larger-than-life retort to the Heartland campaign but will get to view another."

"SALMON, Idaho -- The U.S. government is seeking to close caves in national forests in the Northern Rockies to stem the spread of white-nose bat syndrome, a disease that has killed an estimated 5.5 million bats in 19 states and is spreading westward, officials said on Wednesday."

"The number of extreme rainstorms -- deluges that dump 3 inches or more in a day -- doubled in the U.S. Midwest over the last half-century, causing billions of dollars in flood damage in a trend climate advocates link to a rise in greenhouse gas emissions."

"The proportion of Americans with asthma increased from 7.3% in 2001 to 8.4% in 2010, marking the highest level ever, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday. In 2010, an estimated 18.7 million adults and 7 million children had the disease -- one in every 12 Americans."