Billionaire investor Warren Buffet is planning to buy the Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad. Observers say this is a bet on the future of coal in the U.S. energy mix.

"The Energy Department must reconsider California's energy- and water-saving standards for residential washing machines, a federal court ruled [last] week."

"The Navajo Generating Station, the huge coal-fired power plant outside Page, supplies a fraction of Arizona's electricity demand, but its role in moving water to the state's largest cities has thrust it into a growing battle over the cost of cleaning up air pollution."

"CORPUS CHRISTI — Las Brisas Energy Center and several environmental groups take to the courtroom this week to argue the details of the proposed power plant’s air permit."

"[Oregon] State officials deliberately underestimated the cost of Gov. Ted Kulongoski's plan to lure green energy companies to Oregon with big taxpayer subsidies, resulting in a program that cost 40 times more than unsuspecting lawmakers were told, an investigation by The Oregonian shows."

"President Barack Obama will announce the largest investment of economic stimulus funds in clean energy during a visit to Florida, an Obama administration official said on Monday."

Gas drilling in the Marcellus Shale formation of Pennsylvania is bringing an economic boom there -- even as oil and gas drilling has fallen dramatically nationwide. But the gas is tax-exempt in Pennsylvania.

The House Thursday passed the Solar Technology Roadmap Act, which authorizes more than $2 billion to strengthen and coordinate research and development of solar power projects. Projects would be picked by an 11-member panel chosen by the Energy Secretary.

"The acclaimed documentary film 'Crude,' which details the 16-year struggle of indigenous peoples in Ecuador's Amazon to hold Chevron legally accountable for contamination of a huge rainforest area, opens in Washington, DC on Friday during intense scrutiny of a $27 billion liability lawsuit against the oil giant."

"DETROIT — Even though several automakers plan to begin selling electric vehicles next year, their sales may be limited by the lack of a national infrastructure to support them, speakers at a conference here on plug-in cars said on Wednesday."