"The Energy Department is making up to $30 billion in loan guarantee authority available for renewable energy and electric grid modernization projects."

"Scientists say they've created something in a Virginia river that hasn't been seen since the late 1800s: a vast, thriving reef of American oysters, the shellfish that helped create the Chesapeake Bay's ecosystem and then nearly vanished from it."

"The House approved the first major changes to food-safety laws in 70 years Thursday, giving sweeping new authority to the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the way food is grown, harvested and processed."

"The United Farm Workers union sued California’s occupational health and safety agency on Thursday, accusing it of doing too little to prevent farm laborers’ deaths from heat illness."

"There's no question that the world's fish are in trouble. Fishermen are pulling fish out of the seas far faster than these populations can grow back. Some fisheries are heading toward collapse or even extinction. But a major new analysis of this grim picture shows that fisheries aren't doomed. In fact, some are on the mend."

"Conflict-of-interest allegations are not sufficient grounds for disqualification, so a southern West Virginia judge can continue overseeing a water pollution trial involving Massey Energy and its coal slurry disposal practices, the state Supreme Court said Thursday."

"New-car shoppers appear to have already snapped up all the $1 billion that Congress appropriated for the 'cash for clunkers' program, leading the Transportation Department to tell auto dealers Thursday night to stop offering the rebates."

The World Bank is taking a renewed role in hydropower development, driven it part by estimates that the developing world has 1,333 GW of potential and unexploited hydro capacity. Some NGOs, however, don’t believe large scale hydropower is the answer for rural electrification and say the World Bank's number would be much lower if negative social and economic impacts were taken into consideration.

"State regulators violated the Alaska Constitution when they approved exploration permits for the proposed Pebble copper and gold mine without allowing the public to weigh in first, according to a civil lawsuit filed Wednesday."

"A measure approved by the House would require the EPA to develop a system that would allow the public to be made aware of contamination within hours of sampling."

White roofs, a measure recently urged by Energy Secretary Steven Chu, are catching on both as a way of fighting global warming and a way to cool houses cheaply.

"Secretary General Ban ki-moon today announced plans to fly from Norway out over the Arctic Ocean to the Norwegian research vessel Lance near the North Pole on September 1. The planned excursion is part of his efforts to prod world leaders to take meaningful steps on global warming in treaty talks in Copenhagen in December."

"The Obama administration is in talks with the Senate to craft a plan to ratify the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, a top State Department official said yesterday."

"In a big win for oil companies, a federal appeals court said it will allow the U.S. Interior Department to move forward with oil and natural gas leasing plans for the Gulf of Mexico that were drawn up by the Bush administration."

"The biggest opportunity to improve the nation’s energy situation is a major investment program to make homes and businesses more efficient, according to a study released Wednesday."