"The Obama administration said Thursday it will require companies that drill for oil and natural gas on federal lands to publicly disclose chemicals used in hydraulic fracturing operations. The new "fracking" rule replaces a draft proposed last year that was withdrawn amid industry complaints that federal regulation could hinder an ongoing boom in natural gas production.

Major news and journalism organizations, including the Society of Environmental Journalists, have condemned the Justice Department's seizure of Associated Press phone records as a threat to journalists' ability to report on government conduct.

"LONDON — The authorities on Tuesday raided the offices of several oil companies and an industry data provider as part of a broader inquiry by the European Commission into potential price manipulation."

"Twenty-four plaintiffs, including a dozen police officers who rushed to the scene of a November train derailment in Paulsboro, sued on Monday, alleging that the rail company's negligence caused the derailment, and that it downplayed the dangers of a chemical spill and failed to protect responders."

"How ‘balanced’ coverage helped sustain the bogus claim that childhood vaccines can cause autism"

"A coalition of progressive groups is pulling its ads from Facebook in protest over political positions taken by the organization started by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg."

"With the muzzling of scientists, Harper’s obsession with controlling the message verges on the Orwellian."

"Following the fertilizer plant blast, Texas cited terror concerns in withholding information on dangerous chemicals. Some say that secrecy deprives citizens of the ability to make decisions about their safety."

"Dan Rather called it 'the most watched load of garbage in the memory of man.' It was 1987. A small town businessman had what seemed like a promising idea, to transport New York trash by barge to a landfill in North Carolina, where it would be converted into methane to heat homes. And then the news media latched on to the story."

"Three Los Angeles council members want the city to pull pension money from the investment firms that own Tribune if they sell the Los Angeles Times to buyers who don’t support 'professional and objective journalism.' Councilman Bill Rosendahl says: 'Frankly what I hear about the Koch brothers, if it’s true, it’s the end of journalism.'"

"A federal jury didn't hear from prosecutors about toxic chemicals in the drinking water of south suburban Crestwood. Or about higher-than-normal cancer rates in the working-class village. But on Monday, the jury ensured that the only public official to stand trial in the tainted water scandal will be held accountable for a more than 20-year scheme to conceal the secret use of a Crestwood well — crimes uncovered by a 2009 Tribune investigation."

"Environmental groups on Monday announced a new ad campaign that highlights ExxonMobil's massive oil spill in Arkansas last month. The ads will be concentrated in the Washington, D.C., Metro's Foggy Bottom station, which is used by many State Department employees commuting to work, as the agency considers whether to approve the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline."

"Watchdog also says US billionaire's Scottish golf resort could not substantiate claim that tourism will be harmed by turbines."

"The campaign group formed to support Barack Obama's political agenda has launched an initiative to shame members of Congress who deny the science behind climate change."

The 2013 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting went to InsideClimate News, a 5-year-old web-only nonprofit, for its book-length feature series on the 2010 Enbridge tar-sands oil spill that fouled miles of Michigan's Kalamazoo River. InsideClimate has been one of the most aggressive media outlets covering the current spill in Mayflower, Arkansas. ExxonMobil recently threatened one of InsideClimate's reporters with arrest for trying to find a federal government press office handling the spill.