"An oil sheen in the Gulf of Mexico last week came from a natural sea floor seep and not from Royal Dutch Shell offshore production platforms, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE) said on Monday."

"'A modest amount of oil is being released from a natural sea floor seep previously suspected as the source of an oil sheen reported last week in the Gulf of Mexico,' BSEE said in an emailed news release."

Bruce Nichols reports for Reuters April 17, 2012. [2]

"On Tuesday, the Environmental Protection Agency is expected to announce the first national rules to reduce air pollution at hydraulically fractured -- fracked -- wells and some other oil and gas industry operations. The agency estimated that the plan it proposed in July would reduce smog-forming, cancer-causing and climate-altering pollutants from the natural gas industry by about one-fourth."

"PITTSBURGH -- A former top environmental official says Pennsylvania’s successful efforts to keep Marcellus Shale wastewater away from drinking water supplies should be extended to all other oil and gas drillers."

"Soaring gasoline prices have members of Congress and their opponents running scared all across the country -- and trying to seize the advantage."

"WARREN, Mich. -- The U.S. Army's next generation of advanced combat vehicles will be road tested in a Green Warrior Convoy."

"A major new study has quashed fears that onshore windfarms are causing long-term damage to bird populations, but found new evidence that some species are harmed when windfarms are built."

"LONDON -- The oil market has broken a two-year cycle of tightening supply conditions, the International Energy Agency said Thursday, as demand softens and Saudi Arabia increases output in response to tensions with Iran."

"Lloyd's of London, the world's biggest insurance market, has become the first major business organisation to raise its voice about huge potential environmental damage from oil drilling in the Arctic."

"COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An environmental group sued the Ohio Department of Natural Resources this week because the agency has not turned over public records related to a new program that allows oil and gas drilling at state parks."

"ATLANTA -- Clean air advocates and environmental groups won a victory Monday when the utility consortium Power4Georgians agreed to cancel its proposal to build a coal-fired power plant near Fitzgerald in Ben Hill County, Georgia."