National (U.S.)

"Entrepreneurs have been trying for years to get something valuable out of algae."

"A board member at a major Latino environmental group joined Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) head Gina McCarthy in promoting the agency’s rule to limit carbon emissions from power plants."

"WASHINGTON -- For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency may require oil refineries to regularly measure the air quality at their perimeters. These fence line measurements will give surrounding communities – largely low-income communities of color – data on the level of pollution they are exposed to each day."

"Since the 2001 anthrax letter attacks that killed five people and raised the specter of bioterrorism in the United States, the number of high-level biosafety labs operated by governments, universities and others to study potentially lethal pathogens has been expanding rapidly. According to a 2013 report to Congress, the number of these labs grew by almost 10 percent, from 1,362 to 1,495, between 2008 and 2010 alone."

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was hacked three times in the last three years, according to a new report, and two of the attacks were tied to a foreign government."

"Lisa Feldt wasn't the obvious candidate to replace Bob Perciasepe as U.S. EPA's second in command."

"U.S. EPA has denied a petition from environmentalists to name nearly 60 areas of the country out of compliance with the federal ozone standard."

Discovery Channel's Shark Week is able to draw as many as 53 million viewers. While the cable outlet has included some conservation information in recent years, it seems to be shifting back toward fear-mongering based on fantasy rather than fact. The productions include Photoshopped film of a "megalodon" that is extinct, "deadliest" sharks that haven't killed anyone, and scientists played by actors.

Bob Garfield interviews marine biologist David Shiffman for On the Media August 15, 2014.