President Obama's Clean Power Plan survived yet another court challenge in a decision announced Wednesday.

"A House subcommittee will vote Thursday on whether to lift the 40-year-old ban on exporting crude oil."

"Eight states and several organizations have filed briefs in federal appeals court supporting Vermont’s food labeling law, joining the state in its battle against corporate interests."

"At Monsanto, sales of genetically modified seeds were steadily rising. But executives at the company’s St. Louis headquarters were privately worried about attacks on the safety of their products. So Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company, and its industry partners retooled their lobbying and public relations strategy to spotlight a rarefied group of advocates: academics, brought in for the gloss of impartiality and weight of authority that come with a professor’s pedigree."

"Some of the world's most ambitious climate change legislation is currently under consideration in America. But the lawmakers in question aren't in D.C. — they're in Sacramento."

"SACRAMENTO -- Hoping to discourage the alarming killing of African elephants, the state Senate on Wednesday voted to ban the sale of old elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn."

"A court has vacated federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a Great Plains bird that was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act last year."

"Monsanto said it would abide by Latvia's and Greece's requests under a new EU opt-out law to be excluded from its application to grow a genetically modified (GM) crop across the European Union, but accused them of ignoring science."

"Emails and financial documents released by the University of Kansas on Thursday reveal earmarked funding from Koch Industries to develop research used to lobby against the state renewable energy standard."

"One partner was the son of a local police chief, the other an executive at a state-run chemicals firm. After meeting at a dinner party, they started a company here to handle the export of the most dangerous chemicals made in China, promising 'outstanding service' and 'good results.'"