In 2005, at least 3,600 facilities violated their water discharge permits more than 24,000 times, according to a US Public Interest Research Group report released Oct. 11, 2007.

"Net metering" for selling excess wind or solar energy to utilities shows great variability among states.

The final installment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's "Fourth Assessment Report on Climate Change" is expected to be released Nov. 16, 2007, during a Nov. 12-17 gathering in Valencia, Spain.

After years of wrangling, and little significant action, federal legislative efforts addressing greenhouse gases and climate change are beginning to crystallize.

Another effort to revamp the US General Mining Act of 1872 is under way. The House on Nov. 1, 2007, passed by a 244-166 margin a bill that for the first time would collect for the U.S. Treasury royalties for mining "hard rock" minerals on federally owned lands.

Stories that we think will have great impact on the lives of Americans, but which we suspect will slip "under the radar" because of war-related media inattention.

The Society of Environmental Journalists (SEJ) joined other journalism groups May 6, 2008, in filing a "friend of the court" brief in a Washington state lawsuit seeking access to public officials' e-mails under state law.

As it leaves office, the Bush administration is rushing to complete regulations that will bind the Obama administration.

The battle to control news media and public perceptions of the climate change issue will heat up this week as the Senate prepares to start debate on the first major US legislation to address the problem of global climate change.

As the Bush administration closes out its terms in office, a number of rules, policies, orders, and other actions related to the environment are expected by Jan. 19, 2009.