"Chevron Corp agreed to pay $2 million in fines and restitution after pleading no contest to six misdemeanor charges on Monday stemming from the August 6, 2012 explosion and fire at its San Francisco Bay refinery, according to the local district attorney."

"SEOUL, South Korea — Like Japan, resource-poor South Korea has long relied on nuclear power to provide the cheap electricity that helped build its miracle economy. For years, it met one-third of its electricity needs with nuclear power, similar to Japan’s level of dependence before the 2011 disaster at its Fukushima plant. Now, a snowballing scandal in South Korea about bribery and faked safety tests for critical plant equipment has highlighted yet another similarity: experts say both countries’ nuclear programs suffer from a culture of collusion that has undermined their safety."

"Keystone XL pipeline is under scrutiny as State's inspector general probes conflict of interest charges surrounding a review of Keystone XL."

"The world's soil is in trouble. Ecologists say without dramatic changes to how we manage land, vast swathes of grassland are at risk of turning into hard-packed desert. To make sure that doesn't happen, researchers are testing out innovative ways to keep moisture in the soil."