"Canada's offshore petroleum boards are not equipped to cope with a major spill, the country's environmental watchdog warned on Tuesday in a report that also said the booming energy sector needed more oversight."

"OSLO -- Plans by Arctic nations to start cooperating over oil spills are vague and fail to define corporate liability for any accidents in an icy region opening up to oil and gas exploration due to global warming, environmentalists said on Monday."

"Esther Tauscher stood outside her Staten Island home, leafing through boxes of family photos that had been steeped in storm water. She paused to point out life events -- her honeymoon, holding her baby boy in a hospital bed."

"A federal judge has ruled strongly in favor of a major energy firm that [San Diego] sued for roughly $250 million over its pollution cleanup efforts beneath 166-acre Qualcomm Stadium site."

"WASHINGTON -- Critics want a halt to offshore Arctic drilling in the wake of Shell's latest mishap in the waters off Alaska but there's no sign the Obama administration and key members of Congress are backing off their support for drilling in the sensitive region."

"The Justice Department on Wednesday asked a federal judge in New Orleans to require BP to produce documents that outline how it low-balled the amount of oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico from its Macondo well in 2010. The estimates were sent to the Coast Guard and Congress."

"The EPA found serious flaws in two earlier environmental reviews. Soon it will have another opportunity to weigh in, with climate impacts a major concern."

"One of the biggest unknowns in the unfolding Keystone XL debate is the role the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency might play."

"Mexico City plans to draw drinking water from a mile-deep aquifer, according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. The Mexican effort challenges a key tenet of U.S. clean water policy: that water far underground can be intentionally polluted because it will never be used."

"The mining of rare earth metals, used in everything from smart phones to wind turbines, has long been dominated by China. But as mining of these key elements spreads to countries like Malaysia and Brazil, scientists warn of the dangers of the toxic and radioactive waste generated by the mines and processing plants."

"Levels of PFOS, a chemical manufactured by 3M Co. for a variety of commercial uses until about 10 years ago, have improved significantly in the Mississippi River between Hastings and St. Paul -- except for the area around the company's Cottage Grove plant, where they have worsened."

"A trio of environmental groups warned Monday they would sue the operator of three coal-fired power plants in Maryland for allegedly discharging excessive amounts of nutrient pollution into Chesapeake Bay rivers and trying to mask their violations by transferring pollution 'credits' among facilities."

"Two oil barges pushed by a tugboat slammed into a railroad bridge in Vicksburg, Mississippi, on Sunday, causing one to leak crude oil into the Mississippi River, the U.S. Coast Guard said."

"PORTLAND, Maine -- More than 1,000 people rallied in Portland on Saturday in what was billed as the largest protest yet against the possibility of so-called tar sands oil being piped in from Montreal."

"MORGAN HILL -- Ten years ago this month, community leaders were shocked by the discovery that a company that manufactured road flares here had disposed of toxic chemicals improperly, creating a 10-mile-long underground plume of perchlorate, a chemical used in rocket fuel."

"The Railroad Commission of Texas regulates one of the most advanced industries in the world — oil and gas drilling. Yet the commission's software systems, many of its rules and even its name are from another era."