"California billionaire Thomas Steyer is taking his fight against climate change to Virginia, helping to buy TV ads criticizing Republican gubernatorial candidate Ken Cuccinelli."

"The weather is one of those topics that is fairly easy for people to agree on. Climate, however, is something else. Most of the scientists who study the Earth say our climate is changing and humans are part of what's making that happen. But to a lot of nonscientists it's still murky. This week, two of the nation's most venerable scientific institutions tried to explain it better."

"An independent government inquiry into the State Department's choice of a private contractor to steer the latest Keystone XL environmental review could remain open through this fall, raising the specter of a further delay in a final decision on the contentious pipeline project that President Obama vowed in March to rule on before 2014."

"State legislatures are pushing to stifle farm investigations, and some news associations are fighting back."

"U.S. EPA has backed down from an ambitious target for cellulosic biofuel production, releasing a final rule today that requires refiners to blend 6 million gallons into the nation's supply of gasoline this year."

"In the past several years, a number of polls have documented the huge gap between liberals and conservatives when it comes to their acceptance of the science of climate change. Naturally, then, researchers have increasingly turned their attention to trying to explain this dramatic divide over what is factually true. And it wasn't long before they homed in on the role of conservative media in particular -- thus, a number of studies show that watching Fox News increases your risk of holding incorrect beliefs about the science of climate change."

"BP Plc said Monday it has discovered new evidence of fraud and conflicts of interest in the program that is paying billions of dollars to businesses and residents who claimed they were harmed by the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill."

"Last week's much-touted White House meeting between Obama administration environmental leaders and West Virginia Democrats on coal was part of what advocates are calling an increasing dialogue between both sides of the contentious debate."

"Keystone XL pipeline is under scrutiny as State's inspector general probes conflict of interest charges surrounding a review of Keystone XL."

"Google’s climate scientists are not happy with the company’s political support for climate science denying Senator James Inhofe (R-OK)."

It is news that four former EPA administrators who served under Republican presidents wrote an op-ed published in the New York Times making "A Republican Case for Climate Change." Whether their persuasiveness will persuade may be in doubt -- but the fact that they tried may say a lot about the current US political situation.

"The Koch brothers have turned to a former aide to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) to lobby against the simple idea of a carbon tax."

"WASHINGTON -- Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe failed for more than a year to discipline two supervisors who retaliated against whistle-blowers at an Oklahoma field office, the Interior Department's inspector general says in a harshly worded letter that accuses Ashe of damaging the agency's credibility and integrity."

"WASHINGTON -- A proposed overhaul of how the country regulates toxic chemicals came under sharp attack [Wednesday] from officials of California and several other states."

"Above the harbor in Baltimore’s industrial Curtis Hill district is a one-acre urban farm. Jason Reed, a community organizer who works there, described the view. 'I can look out over the harbor, and you can see the piles and piles of coal,' he said."