U.S. environmental regulations were on several bloggers’ minds this week. Frank O’Donnell at Blog for Clean Air explains that EPA’s new rule on particle soot is terrible, while Mike Dunford at The Questionable Authority warns that Bush administration is about to release a set of administrative rules changes that would completely eviscerate the Endangered Species Act. At least The Olive Ridley Crawl has some good news: the National Marine Fisheries Service is proposing stronger regulations to reduce sea turtle bycatch.

Infectious diseases were a hot topic, too. Tara C. Smith at Aetiology observed World TB Day with a post on the global tuberculosis situation; Mike the Mad Biologist reminds us that annual flu deaths are preventable; and Revere at Effect Measure delves into a paper that uses a mathematical model to investigate the spread of antiviral resistance in the control of pandemic influenza (the first post at the series is here; find links to all of the previous installments at the end of the most recent post).

In fact, this week brought blog posts galore on environmental and medical topics, including:

Robert McClure at Dateline Earth takes note of EPA’s Toxics Release Inventory data dump.

Stefan at RealClimate explores the IPCC sea level numbers.

Jim Hoggan at DeSmogBlog checks out Senator Inhofe’s chart on “hundreds of scientists” who disagree with Al Gore (which Inhofe unveiled at Gore’s appearance before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works).

Corie Lok at Nature Network Boston reports that Bostonians are particularly concerned about proposed NIH funding cuts.

Marcy Bloom at RH Reality Check examines the global toll of obstetric fistula.

Dr. Charles at The Examining Room of Dr. Charles looks at the 14 most counterfeited medications.

Jessica Gottlieb at Global Health Policy wonders if healthcare access is tacking a backseat to quality.

Jake Young at Pure Pedantry reports that iPods can help medical students improve their listening skills.

 What else is worth a read this week? Leave suggestions in the comments.