Public

"Energy industry donors made significant investments in the re-election bids of both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) during the final months of 2013, while also opening their checkbooks to boost a trio of Republicans seeking seats where veteran Democratic senators are retiring."

"If you think the roads you're driving on seem worse than usual this winter, you're probably right. The waves of snowstorms in much of the country have exhausted supplies of rock salt, the main tool that road crews use to melt ice and snow."

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A 'rapid response team' assembled by the state Department of Education to deal with water issues in schools following last month's chemical leak responded to complaints at four Kanawha County schools Monday."

"RICHMOND, Calif. – On Aug. 6, 2012, Courtney Cummings and her family were in their front yard when a massive fire erupted just six blocks away. 'There was a big boom,' she said. 'I got really scared. I saw this big fireball go in the air and we all took off running into the house.'"

"China spent more than the U.S. on energy efficiency for the first time with the $4.3 billion it invested accounting for almost a third of the world’s total."

"GOERLITZ, Germany — German police reached the accident to find what news stories would describe as a scene from a horror show: Seven horses, huddled on a small, dark, highway, had been ripped to pieces by two speeding cars. The drivers had been badly injured. Investigators found pieces of auto wreckage and horseflesh scattered around the site."

"CHICAGO — It might be back to the drawing board for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' sweeping proposal to spend billions of dollars and 25 years to block an Asian carp invasion of the Great Lakes."

"As Brazil struggles to solve land disputes between Indians and farmers on the expanding frontier of its agricultural heartland, more tensions over forest and mineral resources are brewing in the remote Amazon."

"RALEIGH — The Duke Energy coal-ash spill landed in the lap of a state legislative environmental oversight panel today and gave lawmakers a rare bird’s-eye look at the documented pollution problem posed by the utility’s coal-waste dumps statewide."

"North Carolina's top environmental official says he briefed Gov. Pat McCrory about a negotiated settlement with Duke Energy that would have fined the $50 billion corporation $99,000 to resolve violations for groundwater contamination leaching from two huge coal ash dumps."