Rhode Island AG accepted campaign donations from lead defendant. Attorney General Lynch accepted campaign contributions from DuPont lawyers and lobbyists before and after reaching a $12-million settlement with the company in the state's lead-paint case.
Providence Journal
Ford abandons pledge on hybrid production. Ford Motor Co. has dropped a pledge to build 250,000 gas-electric hybrid cars per year by the end of the decade, saying it will expand into other fuel-saving technologies. Washington Post.
Toxic transport. Thousands of tons of hazardous chemicals are transported throughout the US each day by trucks, trains and barges. National security experts say these transports are largely unguarded and very vulnerable to a terrorist attack. Now
House offers states incentives for offshore oil, gas drilling. Spurred in part by higher energy prices, the House of Representatives voted Thursday to in effect rescind a decades-old federal moratorium on offshore drilling for oil and gas.
Los Angeles Times
The GOP's Clorox bombshell. House Republicans are trumpeting a WMD "discovery." But experts say Saddam's dusty weapons are less toxic than the pesticides under your sink. Salon.com
China rolls out the big guns, aiming for a dry Olympics. 37,000 peasants have been enlisted by the Chinese government to help produce rain in parched areas. USA Today
Plastics get fruity - Sugar can provide the raw materials for polystyrene. Apple juice and corn, rather than petroleum, could be the raw materials for some of the plastics and pharmaceuticals of the future, thanks to a new chemical process devised by Wisconsin researchers. Nature
Global warming may lead to colder winters in Britain. Greenland's melting glaciers have the power to change Britain's climate because of the way they can interfere with the Gulf Stream of the North Atlantic, which keeps winters relatively mild. London Independent
West's watchdog urges switching off to save energy. Switching off lights when leaving a room, adopting energy-efficient lighting and making full use of daylight could prevent energy lighting soaring by 80 percent by 2030, the West's Energy watchdog said on Thursday. Reuters
Remembering the Marshall Islands. As a result of nuclear testing on the Marshall Islands 60 years ago, many of the Marshallese Islanders still suffer today. Yet, few Americans know about this shameful chapter of history. San Francisco Chronicle, California. Opinion
Lost connection to animate Earth. Re-connecting with the natural world and the true place of humans in the cosmos is the best route to sustainable societies and economies. BBC