National (U.S.)

"It was the kind of meeting that conspiratorial conservative bloggers dream about."

"In a recent  annual review, a team at the Department of Homeland Security that works to counter  the threat of attacks  on critical computer infrastructure counted 198 incidents in fiscal 2012. The events reported ranged from the use of malware to sabotage systems to phishing attacks for retrieving  sensitive information. In roughly 40 percent of those cases, the target was the energy sector – 'an alarming rate,' the report said."

"Lifeboats from an oil rig that was temporarily grounded on a small island in southern Alaska may have leaked as much as 272 gallons of diesel fuel into pristine waters along the shoreline, but that cannot be determined until a full inspection is completed, U.S. Coast Guard officials said."

"BP and its partners in the Macondo well that released an estimated 4.9 million gallons of oil over three months beginning in April 2010 should be required to inform state officials -- and the public -- of the toxic materials included in the spill, and the potential health effects of those materials, a three-judge appellate panel ruled in New Orleans on Wednesday."

"A look back on a landmark study, weird weather, Greenland's ice sheet melt, and other highlights that shaped climate change science news last year."

"Drawing on growing output from the Bakken and Eagle Ford shale plays, U.S. crude production averaged 6.4 million barrels a day last year, a gain of 800,000 barrels daily over 2011 -- the largest annual increase since the birth of the U.S. oil industry in 1859, the Energy Information Administration said yesterday."

"New national drinking water rules are expected to lead to fewer dangerous pathogens coming out of the tap. The new regulation, which was announced last month and takes effect within three years, switches focus to a type of bacteria that more accurately reflects the presence of pathogens that can make people sick."

"A federal appeals court has ruled that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must either allow more public participation in its decisions about fire safety at the Indian Point 3 nuclear reactor or to show why such input is impractical or inappropriate."

"WASHINGTON, DC -- Environmental factors contribute to higher rates of disease and injury among Americans compared to people in other high-income countries, finds a new report from the National Research Council and Institute of Medicine."

"The government declared much of the central and southern Wheat Belt a natural disaster area on Wednesday due to persistent drought that imperils this year's winter wheat harvest."