In honor of the 4th of July, Joseph Romm at Gristmill rounds up news of places that have cancelled fireworks displays due to drought, and Janet Stemwedel at Adventures in Ethics and Science explains the chemistry behind firework colors.

As always, the U.S. Independence Day is an occasion for bringing up the “energy independence” idea; actions in this area often fall far short of the rhetoric, though, and this year was apparently no exception. Matt Madia at Reg Watch deems the House’s energy legislation a dud, and Angry Toxicologist reports that California’s governor is not so muscular when it comes to air quality regulations (follow-up here).

Elsewhere:

Tara C. Smith at Aetiology explores what we talk about when we talk about health.

Roy M Poses MD at Health Care Renewal compiles noteworthy statements from a Senate Special Committee on Aging hearing on financial relationships between pharmaceutical companies and doctors, and offers a response.

Nandini Oomman and Caeser Cheelo at Global Health Policy describe successes and challenges of PEPFAR funding and programs in Zambia.

Megan at From the Archives speculates about Cheney’s decision to get the Nastional Academy of Sciences to review the Klamath River Biological Opinion – did he have some additional goals beyond overturning the agency decision?  (Also see her earlier post on the consequences of Cheney’s actions.)

Gavin at RealClimate corrects some mistaken assumptions about meteorological station data and warming trends. 

Kevin Grandia at DeSmogBlog compares the way different news outlets report on the same poll about the public’s beliefs regarding climate change.

Janet Stemwedel’s review of Greg Crister’s new book, Generation Rx, is an excellent summary of pharma-related problems in the U.S. system.