For the first time, hydraulic fracturing is specifically addressed in state oil and gas regulations set to take effect June 18. Environmental groups say that is a good first step, but the regulations don’t go far enough to protect Tennessee’s natural resources and keep the public informed about drilling operations.

"BEAUMONT, Texas -- The sound was deafening as workers sandblasted a section of the Gulf Coast Project, the southern installment of TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL Pipeline project."

"ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, Va. -- Kim Sandum is driving on a one-lane gravel road inside the George Washington National Forest, the largest federally protected forest on the East Coast. She points to a trout stream gurgling over rocks and shallows not 20 feet from her rolling minivan."

"ATLANTA -- The Southern Co. makes billion-dollar decisions that affect millions of people in Georgia, yet it has attracted little political scrutiny — until now. Leaders of the Atlanta Tea Party are challenging Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power over the monopoly's reluctance to increase its use of solar power, the ballooning costs of building a new nuclear power plant and even its legal right to monopoly status."

"OTTAWA -- A pipeline for exporting oil sands bitumen to Asia-bound tankers was dealt a severe blow on Friday when the province of British Columbia urged a federal review panel to reject the $6 billion plan."

"As shale hydrocarbons development surges, redrawing the U.S. energy map, so has construction of pipelines and processing infrastructure. Most of the cash that is financing the enormous capital projects comes from tax-favored investments called master limited partnerships."

"Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Jon Wellinghoff, who oversaw a broad expansion of the regulator’s oversight of the electric grid and several probes into improper trading tactics by Wall Street banks, will depart his post."

"A radical shift in the world energy picture is raising environmental concerns in the United States."

"A liberal watchdog group says the State Department’s inspector general (IG) is probing possible conflicts of interest in the federal environmental review of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline."