National (U.S.)

It's not just that the billionaire Koch brothers have spent tens of millions to undermine science and stifle debate on climate change. It's that they do it in secret.

"Representatives from 17 states today joined an alternative association for local and state air pollution control agencies."

"More than half the Senate on Wednesday urged quick approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, ramping up pressure on President Barack Obama to move ahead with the project just days after he promised in his inaugural address to respond vigorously to the threat of climate change."

"How hot is the controversial Keystone Pipeline controversy getting? The Sierra Club is — for the first time in its history — going to engage in civil disobedience on Feb. 17 in Washington, D.C., which is also a day that greenies predict will be 'the largest climate rally in history.'"

"Promoting a recent poll, CNN is treating climate change as a matter of opinion, saying Americans are divided over whether or not it is real. But the network itself has fueled such confusion, often failing to report that manmade emissions are driving climate change or giving credence to those who deny the science behind it."

"The Obama administration is likely to rely mostly on existing rules and on flexing executive power to execute its second-term environmental agenda, sidestepping Congress as it sets about radically reducing greenhouse gases generated by major polluters."

"The volume of drilling wastes from Pennsylvania’s Marcellus shale is growing and threatening to overwhelm existing waste-handling infrastructure in Ohio and other states, according to a study released Tuesday."

"The Supreme Court refused on Tuesday to consider reducing the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to set air quality standards, leaving intact a tough new limit on sulfur dioxide emissions in a victory for the Obama administration."

"New federal rules proposed Tuesday would severely restrict medical and behavioral research on chimpanzees and send nearly all of the government’s remaining 450 research chimps into retirement, an unfunded project that could cost $25 million."

"Last winter may have been mild, but now, temperatures are plunging in the Midwest – some 20 to 30 degrees below normal. The arctic blast, which is moving through the Ohio Valley into the Northeast, coincides with a historic increase in home heating costs this winter, particularly in New England. The deep freeze is expected to last into the weekend."