"Thursday night's Republican debate was worth watching if only to see Tim Pawlenty try to talk his way around his previous support for efforts to cut planet-warming emissions. As governor of Minnesota, Pawlenty not only acknowledged that climate change is a problem, but also endorsed a cap-and-trade plan to deal with it. That makes him something of a pariah among other Republicans these days."
"As the Mississippi River continued carrying near-record amounts of water past Memphis, draining storm-drenched lands stretching from the Rocky Mountains to the Appalachians, officials combined messages of reassurance and caution."
"U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Friday directed a special task force to look into whether gasoline prices are falling in the wake of the drop in oil prices and if not, whether it was because of fraud or market manipulation."
"Methane levels were 17 times higher in ground water near areas where shale-gas 'fracking' wells had been drilled in Pennsylvania, compared with areas where no gas drilling had occurred, a new study has found."
"The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has just filed a complaint in federal court, seeking a permanent injunction against Amish farmer Dan Allgyer in Pennsylvania. It accuses him of violating a federal prohibition on interstate sales of raw milk by shipping unpasteurized milk to a Maryland buying club's members."
Phosphorus, mined primarily from phosphate rock, is a key fertilizer ingredient that maintains U.S. farm productivity. But once it runs off into lakes and streams it can be too much of a good thing.
As he delivered a eulogy last year for 29 men killed in the worst coal mine disaster in four decades, President Obama bowed his head and repeated a plea he had heard from mining families: 'Don't let this happen again.'
"Washington has become the first state to ban pavement sealants that contain coal tar. The state made the move in response to recent studies that show runoff from macadam treated with these products can pollute lakes and streams."
"Gov. Scott Walker and the Republican Legislature have moved quickly to weaken a string of environmental and energy programs as they contend with a budget deficit and make economic development their top priority."
"Corroded cooling water pipes at the Byron nuclear power plant in Illinois could have caused a nuclear catastrophe. The plant, owned by Exelon Corp., is just one example of regulators from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission failing to penalize safety failures."
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