States limit access to information. Since 9/11, state legislatures have passed more than 1,000 laws changing access to information, approving more than twice as many measures that restrict information as laws that open government books.
Burlington Free Press
Agony of 9/11 toxic tots. Babies born to women living near the World Trade Center who were pregnant on 9/11 suffered more genetic damage than other city infants - and could be at higher risk for cancer later in life, New York researchers say. New York Post
Pollution soaring to crisis levels in Arctic. Researchers have uncovered compelling evidence that indicates Earth's most vulnerable regions - the North and South Poles - are poised on the brink of a climatic disaster. London Observer
Residents rip Rx-$$ snub. Downtown residents are fuming that they have been shut out of new funding to treat those sickened by toxic air and dust at Ground Zero.
New York Post
Space: the final junkyard. Outer space is fast filling up with human-generated junk, from exploded satellites to leaky nuclear reactors, and the debris threatens the safety of cosmic exploration. San Francisco Chronicle
Death of the world's rivers. The world's great rivers are drying up at an alarming rate, with devastating consequences for humanity, animals and the future of the planet. London Independent, The Independent
Hosepipe ban as UK water crisis deepens. Millions of Thames Water customers will be banned from using hosepipes and sprinklers, and 'non-essential uses' from fountains to the cleaning of trains could be next. Lond Observer
What's draining two Great Lakes? The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is disputing some key findings of a controversial report that claims the levels of lakes Michigan and Huron have been on a permanent decline for at least 44 years. Detroit News
Rutgers microbiologist criticizes security measures at U.S. labs. Security measures at U.S. labs are failing to keep pace with the fast-growing number of biodefense research projects, according to a Rutgers University microbiologist. Newsday
Regulator warns on China environment woes. China must sharply improve environmental protection or it could face disaster following two decades of breakneck growth that have poisoned its air, water and soil, the country's top environmental official warned Saturday. The Guardian
Add to Bush's follies the rape of his own country. The despoilment of the Appalachians is typical of the President's bankrupt environmental policies. The Guardian
The assault on the public's right to know. As we take stock during the second annual "Sunshine Week," we confront the disturbing reality that the foundations of our open government are under direct assault from the first White House in modern times that is openly hostile to the public's right to know. Burlington Free Press
House was wrong to protect industrial food. The uniformity bill is openly a sop to the national food marketing giants, who don't want to deal with the expense of labeling their heavily processed food-like products to accommodate the individual requirements of 50 states. Poor babies. Salt Lake Tribune