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"The summer doldrums are certainly here. The Environmental Protection Agency must be on vacation. The Department of Energy is at the beach. The politicians have been in Iowa, though, and the candidates are bashing the EPA and doubting the scientific understanding of climate change. Outside of the corn belt, and inside the Beltway, environmental groups launched a massive campaign, highlighted by the arrests of protesters in Washington, D.C., designed to persuade the U.S. to reject an oil pipeline application that would carry petroleum from Canada&amp;#039;s Alberta tar sands to the U.S. Why? In a nutshell, extracting oil from tar sands creates far more pollution than drilling for oil in other locations. In other energy news, the U.S. Geological Survey sharply downsized the government&amp;#039;s estimate for how much natural gas can be extracted from shale in the so-called Marcellus formation in the eastern U.S. It&amp;#039;s a hot-button environmental issue because environmentalists believe the &amp;quot;fracking&amp;quot; technique used to extract the natural gas threatens to pollute water over a wide area. Both stories highlight how energy companies are going to greater lengths to find fossil fuels, and how extracting those fuels is coming at a steeper cost, measured both in dollars and environmental risks. When it comes to green consumer news, though, there&amp;#039;s not much to report...outside of some very extreme weather. Here are the most interesting and useful stories for green consumers:  Hurricane Irene Of course the big story of the moment is Hurricane Irene whose path will take her to a landfall in the U.S. this weekend, and her track up the East Coast is causing widespread concern, and for good reason. Strong winds, heavy rain and especially storm surge (the risk from which grows worse with climate change) can threaten life and property from storms like these, and the more people living near the coast, the greater the risk. (Ever wonder what would happen if a hurricane hit New York City? It&amp;#039;s happened before.) (Image: NASA) Backyard Chickens Linked to Salmonella Two related outbreaks of salmonella have been traced to mail-order poultry used by the growing legions of backyard chicken flock owners. The Daily Green found that many of the recent books that highlight the trend in keeping backyard chickens, and offer advice, fail to warn of the health risks. See the precautions you should take keep healthy.  2011: Year of Weather Disasters With all eyes on Hurricane Irene, already in 2011, there have been 9 billion-dollar weather disasters. Only 2088 has had as many tornadoes, droughts, floods and other episodes that cost us $1 billion or more. (No recent disaster rivals Hurricane Katrina, the cost of which was recently estimated at $100 billion.) And we&amp;#039;ve still got four-plus months, and the height of hurricane season, to get through before this year is done. While one can&amp;#039;t usually scientifically tie weather events to climate change, we can say that scientists have been warning us that a warmer climate will produce more extreme weather, like the record-breaking Texas drought and heat wave, and the repeated episodes of flooding in the Midwest. Weather disasters like Hurricane Irene are reminders that we need to be prepared: See what to stock in an emergency preparedness kit to keep your family safe. (Image: U.S. Drought Monitor)  Home Energy Tax Credits Expire Soon If you have a mind to replace your central air conditioning, furnace or hot water heater, install more insulation, replace windows or take on a number of other home energy efficiency projects, now&amp;#039;s the time. Eleven tax credits for home energy efficiency projects will expire Dec. 31. Whenever you&amp;#039;re making home improvements, remember to check which home and building products hold the Good Housekeeping Seal. (Photo: George Peters/ Istock) For more recent green consumer news, see the updates from August 12, July 22, July 15, July 8 and June 24. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/institute/a24451/green-news-august-22/>