"A federal program that began as a safety net for Pacific Northwest logging communities hard-hit by battles over the spotted owl in the 1990s has morphed into a sprawling entitlement - one that ships vast amounts of money to states with little or no historic connection to timber, an analysis by The Associated Press shows."

"The Obama administration's greenhouse gas ruling Monday was meant to send a warning to industry, the U.S. Congress, and the world: with or without a law, Washington will tackle global warming in a serious way."

"The current decade has been by far the warmest decade on instrumental record, the U.K.'s Meteorological Office said Tuesday as it released new figures at the climate change talks in Copenhagen."

"The head of the U.N.'s panel of climate scientists on Monday strongly defended findings that humans are warming the planet, after critics said that leaked emails from a British university had undermined evidence."

"More than 20 percent of the nation’s water treatment systems have violated key provisions of the Safe Drinking Water Act over the last five years, according to a New York Times analysis of federal data."

"Many major automakers have unveiled vehicles at the L.A. Auto Show that are within a year or two of the showroom, but a lot has to change for such cars to be common sights in the U.S. private fleet."

"The Great Lakes are under threat from the Asian carp, an invasive species of fish whose presence is pitting neighboring states against Illinois in a showdown with no clear resolution."

"Poland's Bialowieza National Park is home to some of the most impressive trees in Europe. Old growth oak, ash, spruce, hornbeam, linden, lime, and pine tower out of sight, their trunks dripping with luscious moss. For millennia these trees (some of which are more than 600 years old) have harbored legions of top carnivores, rare bugs, birds, and plants. Three packs of wolves range the park's wilderness, along with bison, lynx, wild boar, roe and red deer, otter, cranes, storks, three kinds of eagle, and four owl species." The park faces a number of threats, especially logging."

"The largest and most important U.N. climate change conference in history opened Monday, with organizers warning diplomats from 192 nations that this could be the best, last chance for a deal to protect the world from calamitous global warming."

The Army Corps of Engineers is teaming up with The Nature Conservancy to change the way the Willamette River flows as part of their "Sustainable Rivers Project.

"A sweeping new White House policy aimed at ousting special interests from federal advisory panels might sweep registered lobbyists off some U.S. EPA advisory panels."

"There are places where some wildlife that once thrived, are now gone. In Wisconsin, the Pine Marten has been wiped out. The shy animal looks a bit like a ferret. Pine Martens are members of the weasel family. Jeff Wilson and Dan Haskell are trapping pine martens in Minnesota for relocation to northern Wisconsin."

"Selenium is an essential nutrient, but excess amounts can be dangerous to wildlife and people. Now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing a new regulation that would require more than 600 coal-fired power plants to clean up -- perhaps even eliminate -- wastewater discharged into lakes, rivers and other waterways."

"Asian rice farmers typically do not fly around the world on holidays or own big-engine cars but scientists say they have an important role to play in helping cut the world's output of greenhouse gases."

"In the long term, the Earth's temperature may be 30-50% more sensitive to atmospheric carbon dioxide than has previously been estimated, reports a new study published in Nature Geoscience this week."