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Our longtime supporter, His Excellency John Dramani Mahama, President of the Republic of Ghana, assumed leadership of his great nation on Tuesday after the sudden death of President John Atta Mills.

The first annual Trash Free Seas Alliance meeting, hosted by the Ocean Conservancy, kicks off today in Laguna Niguel, California, USA, bringing together some of the most influential industry leaders representing McDonald’s, Coca-Cola, Dow Chemical, Starbucks, Wal-Mart, and The Walt Disney Company. For two days, leaders will talk strategy and solutions.

It's been a frustrating couple of weeks, to say the least. Two weeks ago, the United States Food and Drug Administration rejected a proposed ban on bisphenol A (BPA) in food containers and packaging, and since then, much of the plastic pollution-related news hasn't been very encouraging. Here's a quick recap:

The pressure is on the United States Food and Drug Administration this week and next as they prepare to issue a ruling regarding the use of bisphenol A (BPA) in food and drink containers and packaging.

By Sheikh Abdul Aziz bin Ali Al Nuaimi
As told to Brittany Shoot

I knew that before I was born, my family struggled in a challenging desert environment with fewer resources than today, and during my childhood between late ‘60s and ‘70s, I was not spoiled. I lived in moderation under my parents’ guidance. My father told me, “If you want to be happy, don’t wait for me to give you wealth. You may change to reduce your desires!”

This week, the United Nations announced that far ahead of their ambitious timetable, a critical 2015 Millennium Development Goal (MDG) has been met. Eighty-nine percent of the world's population (or 6.1 billion people) currently has access to clean drinking water. Safe, potable drinking water helps prevent disease in impoverished communities. Meeting these types of goals is also progress toward less plastic waste associated with bottled water.

This week, plastic pollution has been pulled out to sea and pulled from store shelves. As debris from last year's Japanese tsunami is on a collision course with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, regulators in France are pushing for a nationwide ban on BPA-laden plastic food packaging. Other news this week? A quick recap:

By Stiv Wilson, AlterNet

To receive a Ph.D in industrial chemistry in the United States, no American university requires candidates to take even a single toxicology class as part of their course work. We churn out new chemists with the divine power to manipulate the very structure of nature itself, without teaching them the divine wisdom of how to wield that power.