"The utility whose leaking natural gas well has driven thousands of Los Angeles residents from their homes acknowledged that it understated the number of times airborne levels of the cancer-causing chemical benzene have spiked during the crisis."

"The Obama administration will announce on Friday a halt to new coal mining leases on public lands as it considers an overhaul of the program that could lead to increased costs for energy companies and a slowdown in extraction, according to an administration official."

"Much has been made of the rapid rise of renewable energy in the US, but the policy workhorse behind it does not get nearly enough attention or credit."

"Global emissions of mercury from manmade sources fell 30 percent from 1990 to 2010, in part from decreasing use of coal, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) reported on Wednesday."

"Under pressure to devise a fix for its polluting diesel cars, the chief executive of Volkswagen, Matthias Müller, met for the first time with a senior government official in the United States to discuss the crisis that has engulfed the German carmaker since September."

"President Barack Obama's State of the Union pledge to better manage fossil fuel development will face a test within days, when federal officials rule on whether to open public lands containing more than 600 million tons of coal to more mining."

"Indonesian energy company Lapindo Brantas plans to resume drilling for gas near the site of a mud volcano, its CEO said, referring to a disaster that some scientists say it helped to create around 10 years ago."

"The persistent plunge in oil prices has translated into a new round of industry job cuts. The British oil giant BP said on Tuesday it would eliminate 4,000 of the approximately 24,000 positions in its exploration and production units this year."

"The US solar industry now employs more workers than oil and gas, a new report from the Solar Foundation claims, with most of the jobs in power panel installation."