"Two years ago, Superstorm Sandy devastated the northeastern United States, killing more than 70 people, causing $60 billion in damage and exposing major gaps in federal disaster preparedness and response. But there has been little movement in Congress to change policies to prepare the country for future disasters."

"The nation’s first-ever regulations on the storage and disposal of coal ash have been sent to the White House for final review."

"Salt residue from soil irrigation degrades around 5,000 acres of farmland every day at a global annual cost of $27 billion dollars in lost arable revenues, according to a study released Tuesday."

"Royal Dutch Shell Plc is asking the Obama administration for five more years to explore for oil off Alaska’s coast, saying set backs and legal delays may push the start of drilling past the 2017 expiration of some leases."

"Climate change has thrown historic rain patterns out of whack. Sanitation departments throughout the Midwest are bracing to keep up with more frequent and intense runoff."

"The BP oil spill left an oily "bathub ring" on the sea floor that's about the size of Rhode Island, new research shows."

"The 2014 season for Lake Michigan's only coal-powered passenger and car ferry comes to a close Sunday, signaling the end of the controversial practice of dumping coal ash into the Great Lake. When the vessel resumes operations in 2015, it will no longer release the waste material into those waters."

"Despite the global moratorium on commercial whaling that began in 1986, Japan continues to kill thousands of whales under the guise of 'research.'"

"West Virginia regulators have revoked the state certification for a Raleigh County laboratory, following the guilty plea of a lab supervisor who admitted he and other employees falsified coal industry samples so mining operations would appear to be in compliance with water pollution standards."