National (U.S.)

"Government researchers have confirmed the ideal testing ground for electric cars: the U.S. Postal Service. Now all they have to do is find the money to pay for it."

Island Press, which succeeded as a specialized publisher-of-record of environmental books for decades, faces hard times as philanthropies cut back.

The natural gas industry has been on a winning streak as the fuel has come into greater use, partly because of its advantage in fighting climate change. But raw political clout may help climate-warming coal steal gas' lunch money in the coming climate bill.

"Craftsmen who cut granite for kitchen countertops can be at risk of radiation exposure thousands of times above the federal safety limit, according to new research."

"At many discount toy stores in this country, products that test at dangerously high levels for lead are still on the shelves -- despite a new federal law to protect children."

"In a victory for Republicans and the Obama administration’s conservative critics, Van Jones resigned as the White House’s environmental jobs 'czar' on Saturday."

"One company has received more than half of $500 million in the first round of grants from a Recovery Act program that provides cash assistance to renewable energy production companies in place of earned tax credits."

Many kids and adults aren't getting enough Vitamin D. The solution may be as simple as spending more time in the sun.

"On New Year’s Day, 2009, in the tiny northeast Pennsylvania town of Dimock, a drinking-water well blew up because of a methane leak associated with natural-gas drilling nearby."

"Duke Energy’s departure from the star-crossed American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity seems to have less to do with the viability of clean coal than with the viability of the groups that promote it."