"Changes in Iowa's weather patterns, landscape, cities and farms have rendered some of the state's most trusted flood prevention safeguards outmoded and inadequate, a review by The Des Moines Register shows."

"The struggle over huge livestock farms continues to roil in Missouri and Kansas, and no wonder -- a new report shows the two states in the middle of the growing concentration of factory farming."

"After a four-year effort, a western Kansas utility won state permission Thursday to construct an 895-megawatt, coal-fired power plant."

"The state of Iowa is failing to warn people to cut back on eating locally caught fish contaminated with mercury and other pollutants at levels the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency finds too risky, a study by The Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism has found."

"For several weeks, nine Kansas state employees have been voluntarily working weekends and late into the night to finish a review of a permit for a power plant. ... And that worries the coal plant’s opponents, who said the extra hours were a clear signal that the state was pushing the permit process too fast."

"The sprawling green space across from the Catholic church might be Herculaneum's prettiest asset, the kind of inviting place where people could flock to picnic or sling a Frisbee — if potential danger didn't lurk in the grass and ground."

"An asbestos-like mineral used on western North Dakota gravel roads can cause changes in workers' lungs consistent with commercial asbestos exposure that could lead to breathing problems, a study has found."

"St. Louis-based Doe Run Resources Corp., the nation's largest lead producer, will pay a $7 million civil penalty and spend about $65 million more to resolve alleged violations of federal pollution laws at the company's facilities in Missouri, U.S. EPA and the Justice Department announced Friday."

After a tornado largely destroyed Greensburg, Kansas, three years ago, the town has made a mark for itself by rebuilding a sustainable infrastructure from the ground up.

"Cinders are dirty. Cinders are cheap. Cinders increase traction on snow- and ice-covered roads. What remains unclear is whether they do significant harm to the environment."

"The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) launched an effort Wednesday to tip the scales in the close Missouri Senate race against Rep. Roy Blunt (R) by playing up oil-industry contributions to the conservative lawmaker."

Those who sold their land to the massive Premium Standard hog-feeding operation in northern Missouri or went to work for it loved it. Those whose property was next door generally did not.

"A new report shows predictions for a warming climate could be devastating to duck production in the Prairie Pothole Region."

"A national environmental group with deep pockets and specialized legal expertise is joining the effort to block a permit for one of the [Kansas City] area’s biggest development projects."

"Kansas' largest electric company has agreed to upgrade pollution controls at its biggest power plant under a legal settlement announced Monday by the utility and federal officials."