National (U.S.)

"Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) is more than just a supporter of his state's influential coal producers -- he's a full-fledged industry insider."

"The Obama administration [Tuesday] roundly denounced a proposal by Republican lawmakers that would release several million acres of protected public lands into local management plans, potentially opening them to timber harvests, oil and gas development, motorized recreation and other uses."

"The Navy has obtained authority to blast and sink as many as two real ships a year in the Gulf of Alaska over the next five years to give pilots and gunners authentic targets for their sights."

"The world consumes 1 million plastic shopping bags every minute - and the industry is fighting hard to keep it that way."

"The food-safety world knows there are a half-dozen or more lethal forms of E. coli ending up in our meat or on our leafy greens that are so virulent they can send people to the hospital and even kill them. But in the United States only one, E. coli O157:H7, is officially termed an adulterant, meaning any raw ground beef that tests positive for it cannot be sold for human consumption."

"The Obama administration will require that vehicle fleets average 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025, according to people with knowledge of the talks. That would mark a sharp increase in efficiency."

"A sentencing hearing turned into a rally supporting an environmental activist who has become an antihero after disrupting a government auction of oil and gas leases near two national parks in Utah."

"In remote places like California's Death Valley, over-reliance on GPS navigation systems can be a matter of life and death."

"The U.S. State Department said Friday it expects to issue a final environmental assessment next month on TransCanada Corp's proposed $7 billion pipeline that would deliver crude from Canada's oil sands to refineries to Texas."

"Government officials in the Northern Mariana Islands violated ethics rules when they handed an almost $400,000 contract to the [island commonwealth's] former Commerce secretary's new company, according to the Department of Interior's inspector general."