"The U.S. Forest Service believes proposed revisions to its forest planning rule will accelerate timber sales and provide rural jobs while protecting watersheds, wildlife and quiet spaces for recreation."
"Author Wendell Berry and 13 other environmental activists emerged from the [Kentucky] state Capitol on Monday to roars of approval and applause, ending their four-day occupation of Gov. Steve Beshear's outer office."
The cleanup of radioactive contamination at the massive Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in Kentucky faces a major delay, even as contaminated groundwater continues to escape the 5.5-square mile property, likely reaching the Ohio River. One problem: money.
"Leaked documents indicate that the US Chamber of Commerce hired a private firm to gather information about the families and children of its progressive political opponents."
"In an unusual scenario that raises questions of conflict of interest, a company that conducts research on behalf of the pesticide industry has paid a U.S. government agency to help prove some controversial chemicals are safe."
"President Obama’s budget, released Monday, essentially treads water on energy and the environment, trying to maintain momentum for alternative energy research even as it cuts deeply into some environmental protection programs."
"Thawing permafrost is triggering mudslides onto a key road traveled by busloads of sightseers. Tall bushes newly sprouted on the tundra are blocking panoramic views. And glaciers are receding from convenient viewing areas, while their rapid summer melt poses new flood risks. These are just a few of the ways that a rapidly warming climate is reshaping Denali, Kenai Fjords and other national parks comprising the crown jewels of Alaska's heritage as America's last frontier."
Three House Republicans have asked newly installed Appropriations chairmen to zero out NASA climate research. This would effectively end scientists' ability to measure changes in climate.
"An Indiana County [PA] power plant deemed one of the nation's biggest polluters operated without federally mandated permits even though it was inspected more than 1,100 times by state officials during the past 25 years, according to state records."
"As Thursday dawned, the extent of the explosion and fire in central Allentown became starkly visible: half a block reduced to cinders by a catastrophe that killed five people, displaced scores from their homes and raised fears about the soundness of the aged gas pipelines beneath the city."
