National (U.S.)

"The Bush administration acted illegally when it opened millions of acres (hectares) of U.S. national forests to road-building and logging, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday. The U.S. Appeals Court for the Ninth Circuit effectively reinstated a 2001 rule that bars development in recognized 'roadless' areas of national forests, except in Idaho and the Tongass National Forest in Alaska."

"The current recession has caused the price of oil to drop -- most think temporarily. James Woolsey was the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency -- the CIA -- during the Clinton Administration. ... Woolsey has been arguing that, no matter what the price, dependence on oil is a national security problem that we need to solve."

"The Nevada lawmaker has a long history of opposing attempts to reform an antiquated federal mining law."

"With the fight over health care reform absorbing all the bandwidth on Capitol Hill, Democrats fear a major climate change bill may be left on the cutting-room floor this year."

Both environmentalists and the chemical industry say they want Congress to overhaul the key law aimed at protecting Americans from toxic chemicals in the products they use.

"A judge says Juan Dominguez conspired with Nicaraguan workers, allegedly left sterile by exposure to DBCP on banana plantations, to file claims against Dole Food and Dow Chemical."

A new study finds that rural residents who drink water from private wells are much more likely to have Parkinson's disease, bolstering theories that farm pesticides may be partly to blame.

Lobbyists for the real estate industry convinced House leaders to remove from the recently passed climate bill a provision that would have indicated how much energy older houses use.

"One of the world's most common insect repellents [DEET] acts on the central nervous system in the same way as some insecticides and nerve gases, according to a study released on Wednesday."

"A total of 12 forged letters -- all appearing to come from local groups unhappy with a climate-change bill -- were sent to three congressional offices this summer by a Washington lobbying firm, according to the pro-coal group for which the firm was working."