National (U.S.)

"Tucked inside a short-term funding measure that Congress approved Thursday is a provision that critics are denouncing as a 'Monsanto Protection Act.'"

"President Obama will designate five national monuments Monday including one commemorating Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad in Maryland, according to several environmental groups."

"U.S. environmental regulators are failing to protect honey bees and their role in pollinating important food crops, and should immediately suspend use of some toxic insecticides tied to the widespread deaths of the bees, a lawsuit filed on Thursday charges."

"NOAA predicts tough spring for already struggling farmers as growing demand for water leaves US more exposed dry seasons."

"The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee approved Sally Jewell's nomination to become Interior Secretary by a vote of 19 to 3 on Thursday, after Interior Secretary Ken Salazar agreed to look again at whether to allow a road through Alaska's Izembek National Wildlife Refuge."

"A top expert who helped write the government's latest Keystone report previously consulted on three different TransCanada projects—a fact the State Department tried to hide."

"Several supermarket chains have pledged not to sell what could become the first genetically modified animal to reach the nation’s dinner plates — a salmon engineered to grow about twice as fast as normal."

"The Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that logging companies and forestry officials in Oregon were not required to obtain permits from the Environmental Protection Agency for storm-water runoff from logging roads."

"For people looking to put their finances in the black, a new report suggests they may be wise to look green. That's according to a report released Tuesday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics that breaks down employment in green goods and services through 2011. As first pointed out by the LA Times, the report shows 'green jobs' growing from 2010 through 2011 at a rate 4 times faster than all other industries combined."

"Transocean's chief executive testified Tuesday during the BP oil spill civil suit in New Orleans that employees should have done more to detect signs of trouble before the company's drilling rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010."