"Montana's top elected officials backed a plan Monday to put vast tracts of coal up for lease, bucking pressure from environmentalists who say digging up and burning the fuel will be an "abomination" that endangers the planet."

"The protected areas would encompass 1 million acres containing wildlife, extinct volcanoes, sand dunes and ancient petroglyphs. The senator says the bill could be enacted in late 2010."

"It was the slap heard 'round the coalfields: Cordelia Ruth Tucker, wearing the fluorescent-striped shirt of a miner, strode past West Virginia state troopers and into a stream of marchers protesting mountaintop removal mining to deliver an audible smack."

"A Canadian mining company's discovery last week of high-grade gold deposits north of Glacier National Park has raised alarm among environmentalists that development of the deposits could imperil Montana's Flathead River Valley and fragment North America's most prized grizzly habitat."

"In New Mexico, a tribal attempt to protect Mount Taylor sparks a battle over ancient claims to the land."

"The federal Minerals Management Service has approved a controversial plan by Shell Gulf of Mexico, Inc. to drill up to three exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea on leases it purchased in 2008."

"The new head of the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement promised Wednesday to find a way to reduce the impacts of mountaintop removal mining on Appalachian streams, forests and communities. But OSM Director Joe Pizarchik said he would not seek what most coalfield and national environmental groups are advocating: a ban on the practice."

"Sears Holdings, the parent company of Sears and Kmart, along with two other jewelry retailers last week signed on to the No Dirty Gold campaign's Golden Rules for responsible sourcing of precious metals."

"The Obama administration on Wednesday announced plans to beef up federal strip-mining inspections and reviews of mining permits issued by state regulators like West Virginia's Department of Environmental Protection."

"A federal appeals court panel on Tuesday upheld a 2005 court decision that effectively halted the development of what would have been one of the nation's largest landfills near Joshua Tree National Park."