A new report from the Royal Society of Canada provides a mixed verdict on the environmental impacts of oil sands extraction in Alberta.

"BP has reneged on promises made in November to negotiate early payments to Louisiana to help rebuild oyster beds, repair damaged wetlands and build a fish hatchery to allow the state to respond immediately to the collapse of commercial fisheries in the wake of the BP Gulf oil spill, state officials said Monday."

"A Canadian company hoping to compete with China's near-monopoly of rare earth elements — metals critical for everything from U.S. military weaponry to wind turbines — wants to open a strip mine inside a national forest in northeast Wyoming."

"President Barack Obama [Wednesday] announced the administration's action plan, under the America's Great Outdoors initiative, to achieve lasting conservation of the outdoor spaces that power our nation's economy, shape our culture, and build our outdoor traditions."

The Obama budget proposes charging tiny royalties for hard-rock minerals owned by the U.S. taxpayers that have been given away free to large, profitable corporations for more than a century. Will the GOP deficit hawks go along?

"Author Wendell Berry and 13 other environmental activists emerged from the [Kentucky] state Capitol on Monday to roars of approval and applause, ending their four-day occupation of Gov. Steve Beshear's outer office."