The expensive and disastrous failure of Shell's effort to begin offshore drilling in Arctic offshore waters of the Beaufort and Chukchi seas offers a tale of what can go wrong in such Arctic drilling.

Clean drinking water is something most U.S. residents take for granted -- until something goes wrong. And when something does go wrong, as it did in Charleston, W.V., this year, there are political consequences.

"This is the time of year when it's not uncommon to see big trucks barreling down highways and streets spreading road salt."

"The National Marine Fisheries Services has decided not to grant federal protection to the pinto abalone, a prized six-inch sea snail whose population has severely declined in Northern California."

"If approved by Gov. Christie, bill would give municipalities with aging pipes right to sell systems to private companies"

"LOS GATOS, Calif. — Three punishing years of drought have parched California streams, rivers and wetlands. One animal has the potential to restore these dry landscapes."

"Federal officials acted properly when they curtailed water extraction from California's Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to protect fish and orca species at the expense of farmers and other water users in central California, a U.S. appeals court ruled on Monday."

"Radical environmentalists who threw acid and smoke bombs at Japanese whalers were found in contempt of court for continuing their relentless campaign to disrupt the annual whale hunt off the waters of Antarctica."

"On Thursday, the Southern Environmental Law Center, representing the Sierra Club, sent notice to Dominion Virginia Power of their intention to bring suit under the Clean Water Act to clean up leaking coal ash pits at the Chesapeake Energy Center (CEC) on the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth River in Chesapeake, Virginia."

"BISCAYNE NATIONAL PARK, Fla. — For 15 years, officials, environmentalists, fishermen and boaters have struggled to put together a plan to protect one of South Florida’s jewels — a national park, almost entirely underwater, where a part of the largest reef tract in the United States lures throngs of divers and anglers who fish its once-abundant grouper and snapper."