California’s chemicals law gets tangled in toxic debate
With toxic chemicals regulations set to go into effect in January, manufacturers and advocacy groups are going head to head over how California should implement the landmark law, according to the Washington Post.

Advocates of the law say the regulations are too weak, while industry claims otherwise—a similar predicament that’s also found in New York, where Earthjustice litigation recently resulted in state legislators requiring household cleaner manufacturers to begin disclosing their products’ chemical ingredients and health risks.

Ladies take off their bras for the environment
For the next six weeks, Italian women in need of a new bra can recycle their old ones at Intimissimi stores, an Italian lingerie brand that began the program to raise awareness about environmental issues, reports the New York Times. The used bras are collected and made into insulated and soundproof panels used for construction. Meanwhile, consumers are given three euros ($4) towards the purchase of a new bra. So far the program is in the preliminary stages, but with any luck the bra-recycling effort will soon stretch beyond Italy all the way to the United States.

Chicago blows smoke over diesel engine idling law
Only 34 tickets have been written since Chicago passed its 2006 anti-idling law, according to a Chicago Tribune investigation. The law, which makes it illegal for drivers of diesel vehicles to idle excessively (more than three minutes), is meant to cut down on the city’s diesel pollution, which contains tiny soot particles that can lodge deep into the lungs and also contributes to smog. Advocates of the law say that lack of enforcement is resulting is diesel engine operators to assume that the law is full of hot air.

Climate skeptic’s report draws skepticism
Congressman Joe Barton (R – TX), the guy who infamously apologized to BP for a government "shakedown," is in the news again, this time because it turns out that the climate skeptic’s go-to report on the climate "hoax" was "plagiarized, pulled from Wikipedia, or taken out of context," reports Mother Jones. Barton’s office is also suspected of providing the report’s researchers with some of the information used in the report, a rather inconvenient truth for the supposedly truth-seeking politician.

Trees get zapped from Wi-Fi radiation
Researchers in the Netherlands suspect that radiation from Wi-Fi signals may be causing trees to bleed and lose their leaves, reports PC World. The study found that the trees closest to the Wi-Fi had a "lead-like shine" on their leaves. Though the study’s results are preliminary, the findings could solve the puzzle as to why trees found in urban areas have these health problems more frequently than trees growing in secluded forests.