GOP's Graham steps out on a limb on climate change

U.S. Sen. Lindesy Graham, a South Carolina Republican, is working with Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to craft a climate change bill. He faces the dual challenge of overcoming widespread GOP opposition and withstanding relentless attacks by Big Oil and allied energy interests. | 11/07/09 16:11:00 By - James Rosen

Couple's book tackles evangelicals' questions on climate change

As an evangelical Christian living in Texas, climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe found that many conservatives had questions about climate change based on things they'd heard on talk radio. So Hayhoe and her husband decided to answer the questions in a new book from religious publisher FaithWords, "A Climate for Change: Global Warming Facts for Faith-based Decisions." | 11/06/09 14:31:00 By - Renee Schoof

Coal ash from U.S. blamed for Dominican town's birth defects

A small town in the northern Dominican Republic is seeing an epidemic of birth defects which local residents blame on coal ash from a Virginia power company that was dumped at a nearby port six years ago. The situation highlights the debate over coal ash, an unregulated byproduct of coal energy, which when processed and recycled is used in everything from cement to the foundation for golf courses. | 11/06/09 09:03:38 By - Frances Robles

N.C. regulators refuse to halt coal power plant expansion

The North Carolina Utilities Commission has denied an environmental bid to stop the expansion of a Duke Energy coal-fired power plant near Charlotte. | 11/05/09 15:35:47 By - Bruce Henderson

Idaho reservoirs brimming but what about six months from now?

Southern Idaho reservoirs are heading into the winter with more water than average, but Paul Deveau doesn't want you to read too much into it. | 11/05/09 15:10:04 By - Rocky Barker

Shell Oil debates Arctic drilling plans because of lawsuits

Shell, the giant oil company that hopes to open a new petroleum frontier for Alaska, says it will decide within months whether to risk sending a large fleet of vessels to drill for oil and gas in the Beaufort and Chukchi seas next summer. Shell spent more than $2 billion to obtain leases in the two seas and mobilized hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of equipment to Alaska. However, environmentalists and North Slope governments sounded the alarm about potential impacts on bowhead whales and the possibility of oil spills. Both sued successfully to block the drilling during the past two summers and more litigation to block next summer's drilling is likely. | 11/05/09 06:39:58 By - Elizabeth Bluemink

Warren Buffett places big stake in railroads

Warren Buffett leads a simple life. But when the revered business legend buys a train set, it's a $34 billion mega-deal. Coming along just as the economy has begun to recover, Buffett's bid on Tuesday to buy the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. amounts to an "all-in wager on the economic future of the United States," the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said in an announcement. | 11/04/09 12:46:16 By - Mark Davis and Randolph Heaster

California's Energy Commission to set TV power standards

California's energy officials are nearing a decision on a ban on new energy-hogging televisions. The first-in-the-nation regulations would phase in starting in 2011 and would set a cap on the amount of power a TV can draw. | 11/04/09 06:50:02 By - Jim Downing

Tear down mental walls on climate, German chancellor says

German Chancellor Angela Merkel made an impassioned plea Tuesday to a joint session of Congress to work together on efforts to curb global warming and to help forge a binding climate-change deal at an international meeting next month. | 11/03/09 18:02:00 By - William Douglas

U.S. Forest Service cited for water violations at five projects near Lake Tahoe

The U.S. Forest Service has been cited for water quality violations in logging and other work near Lake Tahoe. | 11/03/09 17:21:25 By - Matt Weiser

California's San Joaquin Valley lawmakers again introduce water legislation

San Joaquin Valley lawmakers on Tuesday again voiced their discontent over the region's dry spell, this time by introducing a new bill to review several key water-delivery decisions. | 11/03/09 16:43:00 By - Michael Doyle

Competing gas pipeline project plans are ready for unveiling in Alaska

Energy industry giants are winding up their pitches for a North Slope gas pipeline next year, but Alaska and its critics remain at war over whether any of the hundreds of millions being spent now will result in a successful project. | 11/03/09 06:41:11 By - Elizabeth Bluemink

Self defense: Calif. ski resort takes action on global warming

Ski resorts have taken up the fight against global warming. In California, one study shows that the Sierra snowpack could be just 20 percent of what it is today by the end of the century. | 11/02/09 11:05:37 By -

Sea level rise threatens Atlantic coast, but building goes on

Many scientists say sea level could rise a meter or more if greenhouse gas emissions continue at the current trends. Continuing development of low-lying Atlantic coastal areas will require wild areas to be abandoned and urban areas to be protected with expensive engineering projects. | 11/02/09 10:34:43 By - Curtis Morgan

EIA: a tiny agency with a big role in energy debate

As energy increasingly dominates the economy, a quiet little agency in Washington holds the responsibility for tracking the particles that conduct, fuse, blow, heat, combust and convert the earth, wind and water into the energy that makes our society run. | 11/01/09 06:00:00 By - Barbara Barrett

EPA gets OK to buyout, relocate residents of contaminated Treece, Kan.

People living in a Kansas town contaminated for decades by abandoned lead and zinc mines could finally be getting a break. Both chambers of Congress on Thursday approved legislation to give the Environmental Protection Agency the authority to buy out Treece, Kan., and relocate its residents. | 10/30/09 07:24:36 By - Meredith Rodriguez

Will U.S. go empty-handed to world climate talks?

Without a new law requiring cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, the U.S. could end up going empty-handed to the international climate talks in December. | 10/29/09 18:36:00 By - Renee Schoof

Farmers fight climate bill, but warming spells trouble for them

Farm state senators and others soon will get a taste of what their colleagues from Missouri already have piled high on their desks: thousands of letters from farmers urging them to vote against the climate and energy bill. | 10/29/09 14:45:00 By - Renee Schoof and David Goldstein

Commentary: Government must release full slurry spill report

It's been six months since Attorney General Eric Holder was applauded for loosening the Bush-era clamp on government information and telling federal agencies that their records should be presumed public. So why is a report about a coal-waste spill that happened nine years ago in Eastern Kentucky still top secret? | 10/29/09 17:12:49 By -

Rarely seen bobcats pay visit to couple's back patio

Every day millions of people turn on their televisions to watch seldom-seen wildlife. Sunday afternoon Perry and Shari McCabe of Hutchinson only had to look out their back door to enjoy the up-close antics of four bobcats. Though plentiful in Kansas, bobcats are rarely seen. | 10/29/09 14:25:33 By - Michael Pearce

Obama touts solar energy in Florida

President Barack Obama visited central Florida and commissioned the largest photovoltaic solar array in the United States. | 10/28/09 09:56:00 By - James A. Jones Jr.

Energy secretary: Science demands action on climate

WASHINGTON -- Energy Secretary Steven Chu on Tuesday laid out the scientific risks of inaction on global warming and went straight to his main point — the climate and energy bill starting its way through the Senate could help drive what he called "energy opportunity." | 10/27/09 18:19:00 By - Renee Schoof

San Joaquin restoration fight spills over into politics

A bitter feud over San Joaquin River restoration has cost the advocacy group Families Protecting the Valley its executive director, former Fresno Mayor Alan Autry, who resigned his position over the group's targeting of GOP Rep. George Radanovich. Autry says the largely Republican farmers who founded the group seem primarily intent on undermining the lawmaker. | 10/27/09 16:29:00 By - Michael Doyle and John Ellis

Miami gets 'smart grid' for their stimulus money

Florida is getting $200 million in stimulus money to create a ``smart grid'' for utility customers that should result in lower electric usage, government officials announced Tuesday morning. | 10/27/09 13:24:03 By - John Dorschner

California Republican leaders balk at latest water plan

Two influential water districts and several environmental groups said Monday they support key elements of water legislation under negotiation in California's Capitol. But the compromise is not good enough for Republican leaders, who said they still have "grave concerns" that the proposals would "create new layers of bureaucracy." | 10/27/09 06:59:42 By - E.J. Schultz

Big flat TV sales could lead to big stress on power grid

In a culture that resists carbon-emitting power plants but covets the latest gadgetry, televisions are stirring the most concern among energy conservationists. | 10/26/09 19:04:15 By - Rick Montgomery

Controversial study suggests vast magma pool under Washington state

A vast pool of molten rock in the continental crust that underlies southwestern Washington state could supply magma to three active volcanoes in the Cascade Mountains -- Mount St. Helens, Mount Rainier and Mount Adams -- according to a new study that's causing a stir among scientists. | 10/26/09 06:00:00 By - Les Blumenthal

Donors want 'coal' in name of University of Kentucky dorm

A group of donors who have put up $7 million for a new residence for the University of Kentucky men's basketball team have required that "coal" be its middle name. About 20 students have signed a petition opposing the name, however, and they're expected to make their views known at a board of trustees meeting. | 10/24/09 19:56:25 By - Andy Mead

Obama seeks changes in Alaska hunting, fishing oversight

The Obama administration is launching a rapid, sweeping review of the way the federal government manages subsistence hunting and fishing in Alaska, Interior Department officials said Friday. State and federal rules create a confounding, overlapping system. | 10/24/09 18:14:47 By - Kyle Hopkins

EPA to limit mercury emissions from power plants by 2011

The Environmental Protection Agency will put controls on the emissions of hazardous pollutants such as mercury from coal-fired power plants for the first time by November 2011, according to an agreement announced Friday to settle a lawsuit against the agency. | 10/23/09 18:27:00 By - Renee Schoof

Kansas area to invest in electric car pumping stations, alternative fuels

You're driving around Kansas City in an electric car and notice its battery is nearly out of power. No problem. You head for the nearest public charging station for a fill-up. The scenario is closer to reality than you realize. With electric cars soon to hit the market, Kansas City Power & Light plans to have 10 charging stations in place by next summer. | 10/23/09 13:00:28 By - Steve Everly and Lynn Horsley

California tops on energy efficiency

The nonprofit Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy rated the 50 states for energy efficiency. California was No. 1. The five doing the least on efficiency were Nebraska, Alabama, Mississippi, North Dakota and Wyoming. | 10/23/09 12:09:51 By - Jim Downing

Industry group's ads target Graham over cap-and-trade

A Washington advocacy group with close ties to oil and natural gas companies started running ads Thursday on South Carolina radio stations, targeting Sen. Lindsey Graham for supporting taxes on carbon emissions. | 10/22/09 18:12:00 By - James Rosen

Wilderness Society wants permanent protection for the nation's oldest forests

President Obama needs only a stroke of his pen to set an example for the world on climate change by establishing federal forested reserves to store carbon in perpetuity, a national environmentalist said Tuesday in Boise. | 10/21/09 15:01:05 By - Rocky Barker

Everglades deal's supporters, sugar grower clash over poll

The latest volley in the battle over Florida Gov. Charlie Crist's $536 million land deal with the U.S. Sugar Corp. was fired Tuesday in the form of a poll bankrolled by its strongest supporters. Commissioned by the Everglades Foundation, the poll took dead aim at the Florida Crystals Corp., a rival grower and leading critic of the deal. | 10/21/09 19:31:58 By - Curtis Morgan

A mountain lion in Kansas? Wildlife biologists say yes

After more than a century of rumors of mountain lions in Kansas, state wildlife biologists confirmed this week that a live mountain lion has been found in Kansas. A hunter snapped photos of what this week became the first verified, live mountain lion in the state since 1904. | 10/21/09 21:16:37 By - Courtney Looney

Alaska's oil risk assessment study depends heavily on industry cooperation

A panel of national scientific experts is raising serious concerns about the state-led, $5 million project to evaluate risks posed by Alaska's aging oil and gas infrastructure. The study, initiated by former Gov. Sarah Palin, was triggered by recent spills, leaks and corrosion on the North Slope. | 10/21/09 06:36:41 By - Elizabeth Bluemink

Oil-drilling interests target Florida state senate

After failing once before, proponents of coastal oil drilling will target the Florida's state senate. | 10/20/09 09:58:54 By - Steve Bousquet and Shannon Colavecchio

A Walmart experiment: No free bags, but cheap reusables for sale

A Walmart in California started an experiment: It won't provide free plastic bags anymore, and will sell reusable bags for 15 cents of 50 cents. | 10/20/09 09:51:39 By - Jim Downing

Report looks at hidden health costs of energy production

Generating electricity by burning coal is responsible for about half of an estimated $120 billion in yearly costs from early deaths and health damages to thousands of Americans from the use of fossil fuels, a federal advisory group said Monday. | 10/19/09 18:43:00 By - Renee Schoof

Alaska indigenous people's convention expected to push for more hunting, fishing rights

Alaska this week holds its lragest gathering of the state's indigenous people. They're expected to call for more subsistence hunting and fishing rights. | 10/19/09 10:27:37 By - Kyle Hopkins and Sean Cockerham

California State dean predicts major fiscal impact from climate law

Sanjay Varshney, dean of the business school at California State University, Sacramento, has emerged as the leading source of dark forecasts in a recession-fueled debate over whether California's war on global warming will hurt or help its economy. | 10/19/09 06:59:14 By - Jim Downing

Program aims to encourage weatherization of homes

The White House Monday will release a plan to remove some of the obstacles that prevent middle-class Americans from getting energy audits and making their homes more energy-efficient. | 10/19/09 06:00:00 By - Renee Schoof

Former N.C. governor's club took mulligan on drought rules

Then-Gov. Mike Easley urged people to save water and he imposed stiff restrictions, but his exclusive Old Chatham Golf Club kept pumping millions of gallons from a creek after the governor's office got involved. | 10/18/09 19:06:25 By - J. Andrew Curliss

Little reclaimed surface mining land is being developed

The coal industry defends mountaintop-removal mining in Appalachia by saying reclaimed areas provide flat land for development, but there are plans to develop less than 3 percent of the land covered by surface-mining permits in Kentucky over the last decade. | 10/18/09 16:28:25 By - Bill Estep and Linda J. Johnson

Nunes' take-no-prisoners tactics attract spotlight, criticism

Rep. Devin Nunes rallies troops while he burns bridges with incendiary rhetoric and energetic maneuvering. Looking in the mirror, the 36-year-old Visalia Republican sees a congressman standing up for his constituents. | 10/18/09 06:00:00 By - Michael Doyle

Washington state project could charge electric car corridors

A year from now, roughly 1,000 all-electric vehicles will be whispering around Washington state's Puget Sound as part of a federally funded project that eventually may lead to an electronic corridor stretching from Eugene, Ore., to Vancouver, B.C., where drivers could swipe a credit card and receive a 15-minute charge to speed them on their way. | 10/18/09 06:00:00 By - Les Blumenthal

Pilot details Alaska crash that killed famed wildlife biologist

The death of Gordon Haber, who spent 40 years studying Denali National Park's wolves, was a blow to conservation groups that sought to expand protection for Alaska's wolves outside the park. | 10/17/09 15:53:23 By - Richard Mauer

Minivans buffets for bears in Yosemite area

There are plenty of luxury cars and shiny SUVs parked in Yosemite National Park, but it's no surprise to federal officials that the humble minivan is the vehicle of choice for bears who want a midnight snack. | 10/16/09 17:56:04 By - Mark Grossi

Over local griping, House approves Bay Area water funds

The House on Thursday approved a bill to boost San Francisco Bay Area water recycling, but only after lawmakers vented once more their unhappiness about San Joaquin Valley irrigation shortages. | 10/15/09 16:50:00 By - Michael Doyle

Donor objection prompts Cal Poly to change lecture by agriculture critic Michael Pollan

A beef industry executive and potential donor to Cal Poly forced the school to change a lecture by agriculture critic Michael Pollan, raising questions about academic freedom. | 10/15/09 11:43:42 By - Nick Wilson

Alaska ports protest rules on cruise ship emissions

Some Alaska ports of call have asked the Environmental Protection Agency to rethink -- or at least slow down -- its plans to impose stricter air quality requirements for cruise ships and other large oceangoing vessels. | 10/14/09 19:26:00 By - Erika Bolstad

House panel rejects local lawmakers' efforts to amend Bay Area water bill

San Joaquin Valley lawmakers failed Wednesday in efforts to turn a San Francisco Bay Area water recycling bill toward the Valley's advantage. | 10/14/09 18:54:00 By - Michael Doyle

Large crowd gathers for Kentucky hearing on mountaintop mining

More than 4,500 people gathered in Kentucky for a public hearing on proposed chnges to regulations that allow valleys to be filled in with debris from mountaintop mining. | 10/14/09 10:08:52 By - Dori Hjalmarson

Report assesses risks from South Florida's big snakes

There are a few upbeat findings in a new federal study of the assorted threats posed to the nation by Burmese pythons and eight other large exotic constrictors. South Florida ranks as ground zero for potential ecological damage from giant invasive snakes, according to the new risk assessment. | 10/14/09 07:15:14 By - Curtis Morgan

California Legislature to discuss water bills in public hearings

California legislative leaders say they intend to hold hearings on controversial water bills next week, a move that should appease complaints that the process has been too secret. A special legislative session on the subject is technically under way now, after being called Sunday by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. | 10/14/09 07:01:11 By - Matt Weiser

Solar panel project of Duke Energy selects first four sites

Duke Energy has picked the first four sites for its $50 million solar rooftops program, which will install enough solar panels to power about 1,300 homes. | 10/13/09 19:39:14 By - Bruce Henderson

Supreme Court justices active in Carolinas water fight

The nation's most powerful judges Tuesday plowed into a bitter dispute over water use between South Carolina and North Carolina, asking pointed questions of lawyers for both states. | 10/13/09 18:44:00 By - James Rosen

Tensions shroud Kentucky hearing on mountaintop mining

Crowds are expected and tensions are high in the Eastern Kentucky coal field surrounding a public hearing on changes to a 1982 federal regulation allowing streams to be filled with dirt and rock leftover from mountaintop mining. | 10/13/09 18:43:29 By - Dori Hjalmarson

A farm sprouts in downtown Rosewood, S. C.

Tucked away in a three-acre former vacant lot in Rosewood between an empty warehouse and an industrial laundry is an odd sight: an organic farm and fish hatchery. | 10/13/09 16:23:46 By - Jeff Wilkinson

Economics Nobel Prize winner Elinor Ostrom influenced Alaska, resources

The first woman to win a Nobel Prize in economics also has bolstered the credibility of Alaskans who worked for decades to instill the concept of public ownership of the state's natural resources. | 10/13/09 14:06:35 By - Elizabeth Bluemink

Proposed Everglades ATV park causes concern

ATV owners across South Florida have clamored for years for open land to ride without a hassle. Now, Miami-Dade Parks Department planners, in a joint proposal with Collier County, believe they've found just the spot. It's in the middle of the Everglades, on a site where Miami-Dade County decades ago envisioned a massive jetport before public and political outrage scuttled the project. Environmentalists and regulators are dubious. | 10/12/09 07:09:21 By - Curtis Morgan

Tests confirm higher lead levels in Treece, Kansas residents

Residents of the mine-waste polluted town of Treece, Kansas have about 60 percent more lead in their bloodstream than the average Kansan, according to the results of medical tests performed last month. | 10/09/09 07:08:25 By - Dion Lefler

Alaska's Murkowski rips EPA over proposed emissions rules

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, is firing back at the Environmental Protection Agency, which opposed her move last month to limit its ability to move forward with the regulation of some greenhouse gas emissions. | 10/08/09 19:31:16 By - Erika Bolstad

Contradictions abound in Washington's North Cascades National Park

North Cascades National Park is a contradiction. To begin with, it's more than a singular park. It's part of a complex – spread out over 1,069 square miles from Lake Chelan to the Canadian border – that includes the Ross Lake and Lake Chelan national recreation areas. | 10/08/09 16:28:02 By - Jeffrey P. Mayor

Senators seek job creation, protection in climate bill

A Senate Democrat who's been worried about the impact of impending climate and energy legislation on manufacturing said Wednesday that he'd back the historic legislation if it contains enough investment incentives and protection for American businesses. | 10/07/09 19:46:00 By - Renee Schoof

Panel calls for new approach to federal ocean management

The Obama administration's Ocean Policy Council is calling for a coordinated approach to restoring fragile ocean areas, many of which have been damaged by decades of piecemeal management decisions by the federal government. | 10/07/09 16:30:00 By - Bridget Macdonald

Fall brings out spiders seeking warmth

These are the lazy, hazy spider days of autumn. Walk through the garden at night or early morning, and their webs cling to your face and clothes. Some creep into our houses and garages. | 10/07/09 16:21:23 By - Beccy Tanner

Tainted water found near N.C. coal ash ponds

An analysis of data Progress Energy and Duke Energy submitted to state regulators shows all 13 coal-ash impoundments at coal-fired power plants in North Carolina have contaminated nearby groundwater. | 10/07/09 12:42:31 By - Bruce Henderson

Obama orders feds to cut energy use, emissions

President Barack Obama on Monday ordered the federal government -- the nation's largest energy user -- to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and to reduce its impact on the environment. Obama's edict is the first time a president is requiring the federal agencies to reduce their overall greenhouse gas emissions. | 10/05/09 19:32:00 By - Renee Schoof

Coal industry steps up fight against environmentalists in Kentucky

The coal industry has started to take a more aggressive approach to protecting its interests in Kentucky and other states. It's starting a new public relations campaign to try to make people see coal in a positive light. | 10/05/09 10:47:27 By - Dori Hjalmarson

Some in Sacramento want second look at plans for water bottling plant

Some people in Sacramento think the city should take a closer look at plans to have a water bottling company start a plant that would draw water at a time when the city is in the third year of a drought. | 10/05/09 10:28:03 By - Jim Downing and Ryan Lillis

Surge in deer leads to more wreckage in North Carolina

A new study shows deer-related crashes reported to police hit a high last year across North Carolina, as new residents and increasing development gobble up habitat. | 10/05/09 13:00:43 By - Christopher D. Kirkpatrick

Texas wind farm largest in the world

The world's largest wind farm officially got up and running Thursday, with all 627 towering wind turbines churning out electricity across 100,000 acres of West Texas farmland. | 10/02/09 14:54:56 By - John McFarland

Dams broken, salt water returns to Washington's Nisqually estuary

This week marks a milestone in a 12-year effort to restore a large estuary on the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge. Man-made dikes built al century ago have been removed, and the salt water of Puget Sound once again creates a watery landscape. | 10/02/09 12:04:59 By - John Dodge

Breakthrough reached in long-delayed Everglades restoration

Superintendent of Everglades National Park says contract to break open a dam and release water is an ilmportant step towards everglades restoration. | 10/02/09 11:51:30 By - Curtis Morgan

Ex-Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens calls for fight with environmentalists over Alaskan fossil fuels

Former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens on Thursday broke the public silence he has maintained since his election defeat in November, delivering a vintage pro-development speech to the Alaska Industry Support Alliance that steered clear of the issues that cost him his job. | 10/02/09 06:44:55 By - Richard Mauer

The Gulf Coast's brown pelicans may come off endangered list

Ungainly in takeoff and landing, but graceful in flight, the brown pelican is familiar to Gulf Coast residents. And now it may be soaring to a point where it no longer perches on the endangered species list. | 10/01/09 19:54:33 By - J. R. Welsh

Report: climate change threatens national parks

America's national parks are at risk of disappearing or being fundamentally changed as seas rise, glaciers melt, trees die and animal habitat changes as a result of climate change, according to a report Thursday from two environmental groups. | 10/01/09 17:16:00 By - Renee Schoof

Restoration: Nisqually estuary takes shape in Washington state

Blocked more than 100 years by man-made dikes, the waters of Puget Sound returned to the Nisqually River estuary Wednesday, creating a watery landscape few if any people alive today have ever seen. | 10/01/09 16:56:32 By - John Dodge

House passes Valley water provisions; is a big Delta bill next?

The House on Thursday gave final approval to a $33.5 billion energy and water bill, a snap compared to a future Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta package some lawmakers now envision. | 10/01/09 16:42:00 By - Michael Doyle

Starting from scratch: Merced starts new plans for Yosemite

Ending a decade of litigation over development plans for Yosemite Valley, federal officials gave up on Wednesday, agreeing to start from scratch. | 10/01/09 15:12:25 By - John Ellis

Lumber giant Sierra Pacific, Schwarzenegger announce carbon-offsets project

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and timber giant Sierra Pacific Industries on Wednesday evening announced the nation's largest forest carbon-offset project, meant to keep millions of tons of climate-warming gases out of the atmosphere over the next century. Some environmental advocates said it's a sign that the timber industry is poised to capitalize on a provision that allows clear-cutting on land enrolled in carbon-offset programs. | 10/01/09 07:02:29 By - Jim Downing

Alaska's Measure 4 opponents face penalties for campaign law violations

Both sides in last year's ballot box ruckus over mining — the most expensive election battle waged in Alaska history — may have to pay state regulators major penalties for campaign law violations. After months of investigation, state regulators are wrapping up their cases against the groups and individuals involved in the $12.5 million fight over Ballot Measure 4, which sought new limits on water pollution from large mines. | 10/01/09 06:48:31 By - Elizabeth Bluemink

Senate's climate bill emphasizes jobs, security, protecting planet

Backed by a giant American flag and rows of young veterans and business executives, a group of Democratic senators unveiled an energy and climate bill Wednesday that they say will increase jobs and cut the billions spent on foreign oil. | 09/30/09 18:42:00 By - Renee Schoof

Kansas group sues over EPA's plan to poison prairie dogs

Audubon of Kansas, along with another group, Defenders of Wildlife, allege that the EPA ignored the concerns of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when it approved a plan to kill prairie dogs by using pesticides that are also dangerous to other wildlife. | 09/30/09 18:38:06 By - David Goldstein

Boxer celebrates as she launches Senate fight over global warming

Wearing sunglasses, California's junior Democratic senator, Barbara Boxer, made her way to a stage on the east lawn of the Capitol, then stood in front of a huge U.S. flag and waved to a throng of supporters as U2's "It's a Beautiful Day" roared through the loudspeakers. | 09/30/09 16:04:00 By - Rob Hotakainen

Activists: Florida nuclear plant's expansion 'water heavy'

Florida Power & Light plans to build two more nuclear reactors at the Turkey Point nuclear power station east of Homestead. Environmentalists worry that the water that's required to cool the new reactors would overtax the local supply, and should be a bigger concern to residents than plans for new overhead power lines. | 09/30/09 15:29:52 By - Tania Valdemoro and Laura Morales

Senators unveil new climate change bill

On a stage in front of the Capitol with a giant American flag behind them, a group of senators Wednesday unveiled a new climate bill that they say will increase jobs and reduce the billions spent on foreign oil. | 09/30/09 14:43:37 By - Renee Schoof

Obama officials vow new study of California water measures

In a nod to residents of California's Central Valley and their increasingly angry congressional allies, the administration has agreed to seek an independent review by the National Academy of Sciences of the controversial measures now protecting fish species in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta. | 09/30/09 14:21:00 By - Michael Doyle

Mountaintop removal mining concerns Kentucky residents, according to survey

Mountaintop removal coal mining is moving up on the list of what Kentuckians identify as an environmental problem in the state, according to a new survey. | 09/30/09 13:25:36 By - Andy Mead

EPA sued over pesticides used to kill prairie dogs

A Kansas conservation group has sued the Environmental Protection Agency over a plan to kill prairie dogs by using pesticides that are also dangerous to other wildlife. | 09/30/09 18:19:39 By - David Goldstein

California city pays rebates for converting to drought-resistant gardens

Hoping to encourage residents to save water and help local businesses, Grover Beach, California, city leaders are offering rebates for residents who replace their grass lawns with drought-resistant gardens. | 09/29/09 16:44:31 By - Sona Patel

Line break spills 3 million gallons of sewage in Kansas City

A sewer line in south Kansas City has spilled at least 3 million gallons of raw sewage into a tributary of the Blue River, state officials said Tuesday. | 09/29/09 14:55:58 By - Karen Dillon

Not enough rain, not enough food in Guatemala

A record-breaking drought in Guatemala, plus higher food prices and a drop in remittances, is raising concerns that malnutrition could spread throughout the country. | 09/29/09 10:27:37 By - Trenton Daniel

Schwarzenegger hosts global climate conference

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will host an international climate summit this week in Los Angeles. | 09/29/09 10:06:14 By - Kevin Yamamura

Opponents of Alaska wilderness road enlist ex-secretary Babbitt

Opponents of a proposed road through Alaska's Izembek Wildlife Refuge have enlisted the help of an environmental heavyweight: former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt. If the department agrees to the road, it would the first authorized in a wilderness area in the 45-year history of the Wilderness Act, Babbitt warned, setting a "dangerous precedent." | 09/28/09 20:45:29 By - Erika Bolstad

Utilities quit group over its opposition to climate change bill

Exelon, the nation's biggest operator of nuclear power plants, said Monday that it's quitting the U.S. Chamber of Commerce because of the business group's lobbying against climate and energy legislation. Last week, two other large energy companies, Pacific Gas and Electric and PNM Resources, also quit the Chamber over objections to its stance on climate change. | 09/28/09 18:49:00 By - Renee Schoof

Miami's new science museum planned as a natural wonder in itself

New plans show a striking new home for the Miami Science Museum. The downtown building will have an energy-efficient design with a series of layered outdoor terraces, a Gulf Stream aquarium and a clear canopy that would let natural light flow in. | 09/28/09 12:46:11 By - Andres Viglucci

Ink cartridge recycling fails to cut costs, pollution in Calif.

An investigation by the Sacramento Bee finds that California's ink cartridge recycling program hasn't delivered on climate benefits. | 09/28/09 12:40:37 By - Tom Knudson

North Carolina banning plastic bottles in landfills come Oct 1.

Public service announcements, fliers, and corporate-gift cards are all aimed at getting N.C. households to comply with a state law kicking in Thursday that bans plastic bottles from landfills. | 09/28/09 12:36:28 By - Lynn Bonner

Alaska hunters kill six bowhead whales as fall season starts

Arctic coastal communities have begun their seasonal hunt of bowhead whales. | 09/28/09 12:35:44 By - Kyle Hopkins

Canal built for rockets stands in path of Everglades renewal

Of the many engineering atrocities inflicted on the Everglades, the C-111 ranks high on the list. The canal was built in the 1960s for the Aerojet Corp., which was then building moon rocket engines so big they had to be barged. The rocket plant closed decades ago. Now, after years of delay, the South Florida Water Management District is poised to begin healing the unnatural wound with $25 million in projects. | 09/27/09 14:46:24 By - Curtis Morgan

Gutter no more: California's San Joaquin river to flow again

In a nine-year effort that could cost up to $1.2 billion, California's long-neglected 350-mile San Joaquin River will be reconnected with the Pacific Ocean. Salmon, which once teemed in its waters, may again migrate from near Fresno to the ocean. | 09/27/09 12:49:31 By - Mark Grossi

North Carolina ready to join coastal wind-power bandwagon

After lagging behind other East Coast states in developing wind as an energy source, North Carolina is preparing to plunge in with a test program with one to three wind towers. Residents and business leaders, though, expressed concern about what large wind turbines might do to the ocean views sought by tourists. | 09/26/09 18:44:22 By - Lynn Bonner

Electric, hybrid cars run quiet: That's bad for blind people

The auto industry for decades worked to make cars as quiet as possible. With electric cars the near ultimate has been achieved — virtually no noise at all. But we may have a problem. To be more specific, pedestrians may have a problem. And if you're a blind pedestrian used to hearing cars coming, there may really be a problem. | 09/26/09 14:58:32 By - Steve Everly

Administration mulls new science review of California water

The Obama administration must now figure out whether to let scientists second-guess some key California water delivery decisions. Potential problems await, whichever way the administration moves. | 09/25/09 16:48:00 By - Michael Doyle

EPA gets OK to move Treece, Kansas residents from polluted town

Residents of Treece, Kansas moved a step closer to being moved out of their lead-polluted town Thursday when the U.S. Senate approved an amendment to allow the Environmental Protection Agency to buy out and shut down the community. | 09/25/09 07:09:42 By - Dion Lefler

California fires spark calls for national arsonists registry

The hunt is on again for a California firebug, whose handiwork ripped through Los Angeles County over the past 30 days. The flames have reignited the passion of California lawmakers for a national registry of convicted arsonists — much like that for sex offenders. | 09/25/09 06:46:36 By - Marjie Lundstrom

Alaska senator's effort to block EPA on carbon emissions fails

Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, wanted to limit for a year the Environmental Protection Agency's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, factories and other stationary sources of pollution. Murkowski objected to the agency's using the Clean Air Act to limit emissions, as required by a 2007 Supreme Court ruling. | 09/24/09 17:58:12 By - Erika Bolstad

Answer to U.S. search for clean coal may lie in China

As the United States begins spending $3.4 billion in stimulus money to seek a commercially viable way to capture carbon dioxide from coal burning and bury it underground, some energy experts say that doing some of the work as a joint project in China would cut costs and time. | 09/24/09 16:39:00 By - Renee Schoof

Polluted Lake Okeechobee in Florida getting dirtier

After decades of talk about cleaning up Florida's Lake Okeechobee, pollution has gotten much worse. | 09/24/09 15:35:32 By - Curtis Morgan

Conservationist ranchers can get help from Uncle Sam

Farmers and ranchers who want to be good land stewards can get a little monetary help from Uncle Sam. | 09/24/09 14:15:37 By - Carol Reiter

Romantic proposal leads to death of 60 protected turtles

A romantic marriage proposal on a Hilton Head Island beach Tuesday night had an unintended consequence -- the death of about 60 federally protected loggerhead sea turtle hatchlings. | 09/24/09 13:47:45 By - Daniel Brownstein

Surprise amendment divides Feinstein, some California farm groups

A Central Valley water amendment that failed Tuesday night in the Senate nonetheless succeeded in driving a wedge between Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein and some key California farmers. Not to mention between Feinstein and Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Visalia. | 09/23/09 17:11:00 By - Michael Doyle

Raleigh recycles; it's the law come October 1

Public service announcements, fliers, and in Raleigh's case, corporate-sponsored gift cards, are all aimed at getting North Carolina households to do their part in complying with a state law kicking in Oct. 1 that bans plastic bottles from landfills. | 09/23/09 15:17:20 By - Lynn Bonner

Drought disaster area in Merced

The feds confirmed what a lot of farm folks already knew. This is a disaster area. A declaration of disaster by the U.S. Department of Agriculture has opened the doors for Merced County farmers and ranchers to get low-cost loans because of drought losses. | 09/23/09 14:47:07 By - Carol Reiter

From boaters to vineyards climate change affects all in Idaho

Boise's average temperature has risen nearly one degree in the last century, triggering a series of changes inIdaho rivers, forests, range and farmland. You don't have to believe - as most of the world's scientists do - that the change is caused by increased levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere brought on by human activities - to realize something is happening. | 09/23/09 14:17:40 By - Rocky Barker

EPA calls on Kentucky to take another look at power plant permit

The EPA says Kentucky regulators granted a permit for a new coal-fired power plant that lacks air pollution limits required by law. | 09/23/09 11:35:48 By - Andy Mead

Line in the sand: Removal of old pines in Miami stirs anger

Officials in Miami have started bulldozing dozens of stately old Australian pines along one of Miami's most scenic stetches. Many people are upset. | 09/23/09 11:32:29 By - By Curtis Morgan

Billions of plastic bags: what's the social cost?

Some quick facts about where plastic grocery bags come from, and where they go. And how they use energy: producing one standard plastic grocery bag consumes as much energy as running a 100-watt light bulb for one to two hours. | 09/23/09 11:25:42 By -

Bellingham gets federal stimulus money to 'green' some housing

The Bellingham Housing Authority has been awarded a little over $9.9 million in federal stimulus money, which will be used to make three of its senior high-rise buildings in the city more energy- and water-efficient | 09/22/09 13:20:08 By - Kie Relyea

BP pays Alaska $1.7 million over spill protection violations

BP Exploration Inc. has paid $1.7 million to the state due to inadequate oil spill protection measures at Prudhoe Bay and other North Slope oil fields, state officials announced Tuesday. BP said Tuesday that it worked with DEC to find and fix the violations. | 09/22/09 21:44:23 By - Elizabeth Bluemink

China, U.S. promise bold steps to protect climate

Presidents Barack Obama and Hu Jintao of China - the leaders of the two countries that emit the most greenhouse gases - pledged at a United Nations summit Tuesday that their countries would take bold actions to protect the Earth's future climate from irreversible damages. | 09/22/09 18:44:00 By - Warren P. Strobel and Renee Schoof

Solar energy farms proposed for Fresno area

A pair of solar farms proposed for the Panoche Hills of western Fresno County and eastern San Benito County could become the biggest installations of their kind in the world. | 09/22/09 15:25:57 By - Tim Sheehan

American innovation comes to the lowly prison toilet

One of the things most people don't realize, or think about, is that the average prison inmate in the United States flushes the toilet in his cell about 30 times a day — far more often than a person out in the world. That makes the invention of a highly secure toilet that uses just one gallon of water per flush a major development. | 09/22/09 11:39:59 By - Donald Bradley

Alaska's Murkowski proposes stalling EPA's gas emission rules

Environmentalists say they're disappointed in a proposal by Sen. Lisa Murkowski to force the Environmental Protection Agency to hold off for a year on regulating so-called "stationary" emitters of greenhouse gases, such as power plants. | 09/22/09 06:37:50 By - Erika Bolstad

U.S. judge reverses Bush, puts grizzlies on endangered list

Grizzly bears in eastern Idaho, Montana and Wyoming were returned Monday to federal protection under the Endangered Species Act by U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy. The ruling reverses a decision made by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2007 that transferred control of grizzly bears to the states. | 09/21/09 15:41:41 By - Rocky Barker

Another python species is making a home in the Everglades

Discoveries in West Miami-Dade have scientists worried about a new, potentially more troublesome species of python — the African rock python — establishing itself in the Everglades. | 09/21/09 07:06:52 By - Curtis Morgan

General: Climate change threatens national security

Global climate change affects national security, a former four-star general and assistant commandant of the Marine Corps told about 150 people gathered Thursday at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island. | 09/18/09 12:56:44 By - Patrick Donahue

Alaska Gov. Parnell asks to open Arctic seas for gas, oil exploration

In his first trip out of state since he replaced Sarah Palin as Alaska's governor, Sean Parnell urged the Obama administration to consider the state's perspective as it weighs whether to allow oil exploration to go forward in Arctic waters. The Obama administration is reviewing a Bush-era proposal on oil, gas leases. | 09/18/09 06:44:04 By - Erika Bolstad

(Good) weevils at work in Olympia lake

A three-year pilot project using an aquatic beetle to tackle a milfoil infestation in Capitol Lake is off to a good start. | 09/17/09 15:23:25 By - John Dodge

California moves to curb organic crop fraud

A bill meant to deter fraud in California's nation-leading organic farming industry is headed to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's desk. The bill increases penalties for violations of organic fertilizer standards, expands state regulators' inspection authority and raises as much as $416,000 annually for enforcement through new fees on fertilizer makers. | 09/17/09 06:51:19 By - Jim Downing

Native Alaskans seek consultation with companies before projects start

It's a hot topic, especially in the cold Arctic. How do oil and gas developers do business and have positive relationships with Alaska Natives who own a large chunk of the land and natural resources in the state, but need that land to remain unpolluted and wildlife-rich to preserve their way of life? | 09/17/09 06:46:55 By - Elizabeth Bluemink

Schwarzenegger empowers air board on renewable energy

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed an executive order Tuesday on utilities' use of renewable energy. It assigns the California State Air Resources Board the task of charting how utilities arrive at using at least 33 percent renewable energy by 2020. He's poised to veto two bills that would limit out-of-state power purchases. | 09/16/09 12:04:38 By - Susan Ferriss

Northwest salmon recovery plan may include breaching dams

In a case closely followed by environmental and business interests, a rewritten plan for restoring endangered and threatened wild salmon runs on the Columbia and Snake rivers in Washington state and Idaho includes studying the possibility of breaching four major hydroelectric dams if other steps don't reverse the decline. | 09/15/09 17:16:00 By - Les Blumenthal

Can U.S., China find common ground in climate talks?

The U.S. and China should be able to agree on energy cooperation projects that reduce greenhouse gases and lead to a successful outcome at international climate talks in Copenhagen in December, two U.S. climate insiders said Tuesday. | 09/15/09 16:37:00 By - Renee Schoof and Margaret Talev

Schwarzenegger to issue order for renewable energy goals

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will take charge today of how California utilities meet a goal that one-third of their power be generated by renewable energy by 2020. | 09/15/09 06:49:21 By - Susan Ferriss

Interest in home solar grows in Sacramento as economic calculations change

Costs of home solar are coming down, and utility rates are going up. That may be the beginning of growth in home solar power in Sacramento. | 09/14/09 10:11:15 By - Jim Downing

Fed officials fear Calif. logging rules would hurt salmon

The California Board of Forestry has adopted new rules on logging near streams and has rejected protections sought by by National Marine Fisheries Service and the state Department of Fish and Game. A federal fisheries official said the new rules likely would push the state's imperiled salmon and steelhead closer to extinction. | 09/14/09 10:05:10 By - Matt Weiser

California officials consider biomass plant near Lake Tahoe

Government officials and a private company are working on plans to build a power plant run on biomass in the Lake Tahoe Basin. | 09/14/09 09:51:54 By - Ed Fletcher

Power lines planned from plains to Pacific, but not without resistance

Two transmission line projects, considered vital to the West's future power needs, can't seem to find the path of least resistance. | 09/13/09 08:40:03 By - Rocky Barker

EPA to take closer look at 79 permits for Appalachian surface mines

The Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday that 79 applications for surface coal-mine permits in Kentucky, West Virginia, Ohio and Tennessee might violate the nation's Clean Water Act and require closer scrutiny. The EPA's action was an abrupt shift from the Obama administration's approach in May, when it blocked only six of 48 permits. | 09/11/09 18:54:00 By - Renee Schoof

U.S., Canada mapping Arctic floor in hopes of claiming oil

Since early August, icebreakers from the two countries have criss-crossed icy areas of the Beaufort Sea, measuring how far the continental shelf extends into the Arctic. The farther the shelf extends, the larger the swatch of the Arctic sea floor over which the United States and Canada can assert exclusive control of minerals and resources there. | 09/11/09 17:31:23 By - Elizabeth Bluemink

EPA to review surface coal-mining permits

Federal regulators will take a closer look at nearly 50 requests for surface coal-mining permits in Eastern Kentucky because of the potential for the operations to hurt water quality, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Friday morning. | 09/11/09 15:48:51 By - Bill Estep

Advocacy group keeps cell phone radiation debate in spotlight

While the cellular industry dismisses such fears and the federal government essentially declares cell phones safe, the Environmental Working Group thinks the radiation emitted by the devices can cause brain cancer and other illnesses. | 09/11/09 07:22:25 By - Scott Canon

El Nino shows manly strength, keeps hurricane season quiet

El Nino, a local warming of surface waters in the Pacific Ocean that affects atmospheric circulation, has helped keep the hurricane season normal so far. | 09/11/09 10:19:24 By - Curtis Morgan

Washington state's only coal plant nears emissions reductions

Washington state's only coal-fired power plant would reduce mercury and nitrogen oxide emissions under a proposed agreement. The plan, however, does not spell out any reduction of heat-trapping carbon dioxide. | 09/11/09 10:29:34 By - John Dodge

Filmmaker Josh Tickell powers Prius with algae-based biofuel

Eleven years ago, author, filmmaker and alternative-fuel advocate Josh Tickell came to the Capitol in a vehicle that ran on used vegetable oil — the cooking fluid of choice for french fries. He was back in Sacramento on Wednesday, driving a modified Toyota Prius running on a fuel mixture that includes 5 percent algae-based biofuel. | 09/10/09 06:55:39 By - Mark Glover

Fla. water district takes $25 million hit for halted Everglades reservoir

Water managers reached a tentatiave deal with a contractor after scuttling work on a reservoir that is not needed as a result of the Florida governor's land deal with U.S. Sugar. | 09/10/09 12:34:41 By - Curtis Morgan

Navy testing site may pose risk to endangered whales

The Navy has selected a site bordering a federally protected whale nursery stretching from Savannah to Sebastian for an undersea warfare range, where ships, submarines and aircraft outfitted with powerful sonar can practice hunting subs. | 09/09/09 18:03:04 By - Curtis Morgan

'Crazy' ants take over Texas, leaving path of destruction

Crazy ants, so named because they move in all directions rather than in a straight line, first surfaced in Houston seven years ago. Now the ants have been seen in San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley, alarming researchers who say the ants are so voracious they force other wildlife to flee. | 09/09/09 16:49:00 By - Bill Hanna

Loopholes let Charlotte reap highway dollars despite EPA air rules

An investigation shows Charlotte, N.C., revised its traffic estimates downward, which helped keep federal highway dollars flowing. EPA rules that road-building plans complement effots to clean the air have been ineffective. | 09/09/09 11:36:05 By - Steve Harrison

Florida utilities regulator in turmoil over ethics questions

The fallout continues at the Public Service Commission, which regulates utilities, as one lobbyist resigns and two staffers are put on leave. | 09/09/09 11:26:55 By - Mary Ellen Klas

Some Calif. residents fight plan for three large solar plants

Some San Luis Obispo County residents hope to make the case that three large solar plants proposed for the Carrizo Plain reflect a flawed state policy on renewable energy and will permanently damage the valley and its wildlife. | 09/09/09 10:59:15 By - David Sneed

Climate bill needed for U.S. security, ex-officials insist

America's national security is at risk unless Congress and the Obama administration end partisan wrangling and agree on legislation to reduce U.S. contributions to climate change, a bipartisan group of former presidential advisers, cabinet members, senators and military leaders said Tuesday | 09/08/09 16:21:00 By - Renee Schoof

California water debate turns on dams, conservation

As California looks for an answer to its water shortages, much of the debate focuses on dams. | 09/08/09 10:08:39 By - Matt Weiser

Air quality experts raise concerns over Kansas rail hub plan

Environmental pressures are mounting on Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway's proposed freight center in Johnson County, Kansas, with experts saying it would contribute to the region's already serious air pollution problems. | 09/08/09 07:24:00 By - Brad Cooper

Disappearance of Arctic ice opens up new era of shipping

With ice vanishing from Arctic seas, ships are now venturing north further than they generally have. Last week showed the result. A crew member of one vessel fell ill more than 1,000 miles from the nearest Coast Guard station even as two German cargo ships escorted by a Russian ice breaker entered the Arctic bound from Japan to Europe, saving thousands of miles, 400 tons of fuel and nine days of travel time. | 09/06/09 13:08:46 By - Elizabeth Bluemink

Farmers urged to get ready as climate change threatens crops

Slow increases in global temperature could cut the yields of some of the world's key crops nearly in half, a North Carolina University scientist says. | 09/04/09 10:56:36 By - Jay Price

Study finds more evidence rapid Arctic warming isn't natural

The Arctic was cooling for 1,900 years because of a natural change in Earth's orbit, according to a study published Thursday in Science magazine. The orbit hasn't changed, adding evidence that warming is caused by burning fossil fuels, the study concludes. | 09/03/09 14:17:00 By - Renee Schoof

Former Hanford construction workers face higher risk of some cancers, study says

A study from Duke Medical School found former construction workers at the Department of Energy's Hanford nuclear reservation had higher risks of death from some forms of cancer. | 09/03/09 10:23:37 By - Annette Cary

Kentucky officials see economic benefits in biomass

A task force in Kentucky looking at biomass and biofuels sees economic benefits for farmers and forest owners. | 09/03/09 10:11:34 By - Bill Estep

U.S., Canada near agreement to control pollutants from ships

The five-story-tall engines on oceangoing vessels burn some of the dirtiest oil — bottom-of-the-barrel bunker — and churn out a substantial amount of the air pollution in American port cities, coastal communities along shipping lanes and places hundreds of miles inland. | 09/02/09 17:04:00 By - Renee Schoof

Push to drill off Florida has money and confidence

A group of powerful legislators and busines groups _ including oil companies _ have been working to win approval to drill for oil off Florida. | 09/02/09 09:26:38 By - Mary Ellen Klas

Federal officials praise Kansas City's Green Impact Zone

White House officials visited Kansas City and said it's inner city effort to weatherize houses, add bus rapid transit and sustainable energy was a model for the nation. | 09/02/09 09:45:21 By - Lynn Horsley

Judge: Asarco, major polluter, to return to Mexican ownership

A U.S. bankruptcy judge in Texas has concluded that Grupo Mexico should regain control of Asarco even though it had been accused of gutting the century-old mining/smelting company and the federal government and 11 states Washington opposed the reorganization plan. | 09/02/09 04:09:44 By - Les Blumenthal

Wolf hunting begins in Idaho

Hunters have started shooting wolves in Idaho as hunting season opens. A federal judge is weighing whether to close it. | 09/02/09 09:35:11 By - Rocky Barker

Kentucky: Dangerous levels of selenium in water, fish near coal mines

State regulators have found dangerous levels of selenium in water and fish near coal mines in Eastern Kentucky, but they have not required mine operators to monitor for the mineral, environmental groups charged Tuesday. | 09/01/09 14:44:53 By - Andy Mead

Fire spreads, but Yosemite park likely to stay busy

The Big Meadow wildfire may extend the drive into Yosemite National Park for some visitors, but officials don't think it will keep people away for the Labor Day weekend. | 09/01/09 14:32:46 By - Denny Boyles

Treece Kansas residents to be tested for lead poisoning by EPA

Residents of Treece will be tested for lead poisoning next week, in response to concerns expressed to high-level federal officials who recently visited the contaminated southeast Kansas community. In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency will install air monitors to check for airborne lead and other possible contaminants. | 09/01/09 07:12:39 By - Dion Lefler

Cap-and-trade bill friends and foes come out in Alaska

Alaskans are starting to get heated up over climate legislation pending in Congress. Friends and foes in Anchorage this week are taking their ideas and concerns on the public circuit, with an anti-bill rally on Monday and a pro-bill roundtable discussion scheduled on Wednesday. | 09/01/09 06:38:20 By - Elizabeth Bluemink

Calif. state park visitors lament closings

As the state prepares to close 100 state parks, visitors to one of them say they'd rather pay more than see it close. | 08/31/09 15:03:09 By - Lisa Millegan

'Cash for appliances' program aims to boost sales

A federal "cash for appliances" program is likely on its way to a store near you before the end of the year. Comparatively unnoticed in the economic stimulus package approved by Congress earlier this year was a $300 million program offering rebates to buyers of more energy-efficient appliances and other products with the the Energy Star label. | 08/31/09 06:52:34 By - Mark Glover

Nuclear sites fear they're the alternative to Yucca Mountain

It is among the nastiest substances on earth: more than 14,000 tons of highly radioactive waste left over from the building of the nation's nuclear weapons arsenal. As the Obama administration and Senate leaders move to scuttle a proposed repository for the waste in Nevada, the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state — along with federal facilities in Idaho and South Carolina — could become the de facto dump sites for years to come. | 08/30/09 06:00:00 By - Les Blumenthal

Miami customs agents find S. African insect never before seen in U.S.

The discovery of the bug comes at a time when invasive whiteflies and red bay ambrosia beetles are threatening South Florida's landscaping and avocado farming industry, but entomologists are saying there isn't enough information about the South African visitor to know whether the bug's presence could be damaging. | 08/30/09 04:09:10 By - David Smiley

Mining ban sought for Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed

A coalition of sportsmen groups, businesses and conservation groups are asking Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to reject a plan from the final months of the Bush administration that would open roughly 1 million acres in the Bristol Bay region to potential mining and oil and gas leasing. Alaska's Bristol Bay watershed is home to some of the world's most productive salmon streams. | 08/27/09 05:42:49 By - Elizabeth Bluemink

Senators postpone Alaska environment tour for Kennedy funeral

A U.S. Senate tour of Alaska's climate change hot spots has been postponed so that participating senators may attend the funeral of their Democratic colleague, Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts. | 08/26/09 22:03:55 By - Erika Bolstad

Auto shops take a shine to low-VOC paint

Tumwater Collision has joined a small, but growing, number of auto collision repair shops in the state that have switched to waterborne paints to reduce air pollution escaping from their shop. | 08/25/09 14:30:39 By - John Dodge

Staghorn, elkhorn coral reefs rebounding in Florida Keys

After the discovery of a "farm-raised" coral spawn, Florida researchers have hopes of reversing the decline of two reef-building species. | 08/24/09 07:10:29 By - Curtis Morgan

Alaska's Rat Island apparently rid of its namesake pest

After two centuries of an epic infestation, Alaska's Rat Island finally may merit a name change. The island, part of a national wildlife refuge in the sprawling Aleutian chain, appears to be pest-free for the first time since rats overran it after a Japanese sailing ship wrecked there in the late 1700s. | 08/24/09 06:00:00 By - Erika Bolstad

Northwest fears that invasive mussels are headed its way

Highly invasive mussels are lurking on the Northwest's doorstep, threatening to gum up the dams that produce the region's cheap electricity, clog drinking water and irrigation systems, jeopardize aquatic ecosystems and upset efforts to revive such endangered species as salmon. | 08/23/09 06:00:00 By - Les Blumenthal

DuPont plans solar expansion in N.C.

DuPont plans to invest $55 million in North Carolina to increase production of materials used in solar panels. | 08/21/09 12:34:31 By - Alan M. Wolf

California sets nation's first standard for carcinogenic chromium 6 in drinking water

California officials have released a public health goal for how much chromium 6 creates a health risk in water. The industrial metal is popularly known as the "Erin Brockovich chemical." | 08/21/09 12:27:31 By - Susan Ferriss

Salmon count in Alaska's Yukon River greater than thought

A glitch in a sonar station used to count salmon means that more fish were making it upriver than estimated. However, that's not much comfort for fishermen in Western Alaska who depend on fish for food and income and have endured restrictions on fishing. | 08/20/09 18:37:47 By - Kyle Hopkins

Florida's sales of energy efficient products are surpassing expectations

So your car isn't a clunker? And you're not buying a new home? But maybe your air-conditioning unit is on the fritz. Or your small business needs new equipment or office furniture. Perhaps you have always wanted solar panels. Then there is a tax break waiting for you, too. | 08/20/09 15:51:41 By - Nirvi Shah

Category 3 Hurricane Bill expected to strengthen again

Hurricane Bill, the season's first major hurricane, weakened slightly on Thursday, but could get stronger again by the end of today or Friday. | 08/20/09 11:07:24 By - Curtis Morgan

Coal-reliant power companies ponder their future

In quick succession Wednesday, opening speakers at the Coal-Gen industry conference in Charlotte delivered sober messages tempered by can-do optimism. Chief among them: legislation working its way through Congress to cap emissions of carbon dioxide, the greenhouse gas of which coal power is a major source. | 08/19/09 20:39:43 By - Bruce Henderson

Brownback: Cap-and-trade enviromental legislation won't pass Senate

Sen. Sam Brownback said Monday he doesn't expect cap-and-trade legislation to be passed this fall by the Senate. | 08/19/09 16:21:00 By - Rick Plumlee

Drop in world temperatures fuels global warming debate

Has Earth's fever broken? Official government measurements show that the world's temperature has cooled a bit since reaching its most recent peak in 1998. That's given global warming skeptics new ammunition to attack the prevailing theory of climate change. | 08/19/09 16:03:00 By - Robert S. Boyd

Once again, lawmaker introduces bill to study dam breaching

Rep. Jim McDermott says he's no Don Quixote. But for the fifth time the Seattle lawmaker has introduced legislation that likely will go nowhere, puts his Democratic colleagues from Washington in an awkward position and sharpens the focus on Snake River dam breaching just as the Obama administration prepares its salmon recovery plan. | 08/19/09 16:00:00 By - Les Blumenthal

Hurricane Bill strengthening

Hurricane Bill has become a Category 4 storm. Forecasters see it veering away from the East Coast and heading to Bermuda. | 08/19/09 10:36:40 By - Curtis Morgan

California's Central Valley: Fight goes on for clean drinking water

After years of work, California still cannot make good on a promise of clean water for all. Residents in the Central Valley continue to rely on groundwater tained by pesticides, nitrates, industrial chemicals and arsenic. | 08/19/09 10:31:53 By - Susan Ferriss

Exxon may face hearings over oil well sabotage allegations

Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson called on the state's powerful oil regulatory agency Tuesday to open hearings into allegations that Exxon Mobil Corp. improperly plugged and sabotaged oil wells in a South Texas county after failed negotiations to reduce royalty payments. | 08/19/09 07:47:07 By - Dave Montgomery

Fish-friendly irrigation screens to help Yakima River salmon

Pierre Saget of Benton City and seven of his neighbors are getting new fish screens for their irrigation intakes on the Yakima River with help from Benton Conservation District and a $42,000 grant from the Salmon Recovery Funding Board. | 08/18/09 15:21:51 By - John Trumbo

Three N.C. coal plants to be replaced by natural gas plant

Progress Energy plans to shut down three coal-fired power plants in Wayne County, N.C., and build a natural gas-fueled plant at the site. The $900 million project would increase the amount of electricity produced at the site while reducing pollution, the Raleigh-based utility announced Tuesday. | 08/18/09 15:11:35 By - Alan M. Wolf

N.C. utilities seek extension of mandate for power from manure

North Carolina's large energy companies say they need more time than a state law gives them to make electricity from pig and chicken manure. | 08/18/09 13:25:59 By - Alan M. Wolf

A visit to the swamps and former swamps of North Carolina

Drained swamps created farm land in North Carolina, but some remain. | 08/18/09 13:20:46 By - David Bracken

Hybrid car sales not boosted by Cash for Clunkers

The federal Cash for Clunkers program is getting a lot of trucks and sport-utility vehicles off the road, but it hasn't made best-sellers out of the Prius or other gas-efficient hybrids. Much to the chagrin of public-interest groups, a fair number of U.S. consumers are turning right around and buying new light trucks with their credits from the Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS. | 08/18/09 06:42:36 By - Mark Glover

Climate change to make Texas too hot for some species

Texas has a new science-based approach to conservation that includes climate change. Studies indicate that by 2100, temperatures in Texas could rise by 3 degrees in the spring and about 4 degrees in other seasons. Precipitation could drop by 5 to 30 percent in the winter, according to The Earth Institute at Columbia University. | 08/17/09 13:39:30 By - Anna M. Tinsley