Environmental Politics

"The Environmental Protection Agency was justified in intervening to examine possible risks of gas drilling to Texas drinking water, the agency's internal watchdog reported Tuesday. But environmentalists say the report raises fresh concerns about the EPA's 2012 decision to halt its investigation into possible well water contamination in Parker County, Texas."

"The EPA Inspector General's report is the latest analysis to spotlight the regulator's handling of high-profile cases of alleged drinking-water contamination near natural gas drilling sites.

"VICTORIA -- Within three hours of the Joint Review Panel’s announcement giving conditional approval for the proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, the Lake Babine First Nation threatened the lawsuit it has been preparing for months."

"Global mining giant Rio Tinto said Monday it is considering dumping its stake in Alaska’s Pebble Mine, a huge open pit mine planned for the best remaining wild salmon stronghold on Earth."

"In the Brazilian state of Pará, an army of 25,000 workers is building the world’s third largest hydroelectric plant, a controversial construction project –because of the dam’s low efficiency, its environmental impact and its effects."

"It's not uncommon for environmental protesters to face arrest, but here's an apparent first: On Friday, Oklahoma City police charged a pair of environmental activists with staging a 'terrorism hoax' after they unfurled a pair of banners covered in glitter -- a substance local cops considered evidence of a faux biochemical assault."

"WASHINGTON — Sen. Barbara Boxer’s longtime relationship with environmentalists has been strained by compromises she’s made in the committee she leads to get major pieces of public works legislation through a divided Senate."

"Is genetically engineered food natural? The Grocery Manufacturers Association, a trade group representing some of the world’s biggest food and food-related companies, including ConAgra Foods, Bayer CropScience, and the Coca-Cola Company, thinks so. And it’s pressing the Food and Drug Administration to see things its way."

"Conservative groups may have spent up to $1 billion a year on the effort to deny science and oppose action on climate change, according to the first extensive study into the anatomy of the anti-climate effort.

"This coming Sunday, Dec. 22, marks five years since the Kingston Coal Plant's ash dam in Tennessee ruptured, sending more than a billion gallons of toxic sludge into homes, onto farmland, and into the Emory and Clinch Rivers in Roane County - one of the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history. Five years later, we're still waiting - and pushing - for the Environmental Protection Agency to put in place long-overdue protections to prevent more coal ash disasters."