National (U.S.)

"Duke Energy has signed an agreement with the US Environmental Protection Agency to have it oversee the cleanup of toxic coal ash that spilled into a North Carolina river earlier this year. For days this February, tens of thousands of tons of coal ash flooded into the Dan River, which flows between North Carolina and Virginia, from a reservoir beside an old Duke power plant. Duke has been cleaning it up in the time since, with the EPA monitoring its progress, and it's now agreed to compensate the EPA for all past and ongoing oversight costs."

"From the water's edge in Norfolk, Va., the U.S. naval base spans the whole horizon. Aircraft carriers, supply centers, barracks and admirals' homes fill a vast expanse. But Ray Toll, a retired naval oceanographer, says the "majority of [the naval base], if not all of it" is at risk of flooding "because it's so low and it's flat.""

"Former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, ex-New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer, a hedge-fund billionaire and major Democratic donor, are linking arms Tuesday to release a report, Risky Business, that argues U.S. companies should treat climate change as any other business threat."

"In a big win for environmentalists, the Supreme Court on Monday effectively endorsed the Obama administration’s efforts to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from sources like power plants, even as it criticized what it called the administration’s overreaching."

"Babies whose moms lived within a mile of crops treated with widely used pesticides were more likely to develop autism, according to new research published today."

"A key federal agency that is investigating the January’s Elk River chemical spill is in turmoil."

"When President Obama stood before students in Southern California a week ago ridiculing those who deny climate science, he wasn't just road testing a new political strategy to a friendly audience. He was trying to drive a wedge between younger voters and the Republican Party."

"The White House announced new initiatives on Friday to promote the health of honeybees and other pollinators, which have suffered enormous losses in recent years. The memorandum, signed by President Obama, called for research into the causes of the severe decline and the role of pesticides, and formed a 'pollinator health task force' of more than 14 federal agencies, saying, 'It is critical to expand federal efforts and take new steps to reverse pollinator losses and help restore populations to healthy levels.'"

"The House Appropriations Committee approved a $34 billion spending bill for the Department of Energy (DOE) and Army Corps of Engineers Wednesday."

"A study of abandoned oil and gas wells in Pennsylvania finds that the hundreds of thousands of such wells in the state may be leaking methane, suggesting that abandoned wells across the country could be a bigger source of climate changing greenhouse gases than previously thought."