"A landmark Environmental Protection Agency report on the impact of hydraulic fracturing has found no evidence that the contentious technique of oil and gas extraction has had a widespread effect on the nation’s water supply, the agency said Thursday."

"A Nevada ranch defied U.S. drought closure orders in grazing cattle on federally managed land, environmentalists said on Wednesday, comparing it to action by another Nevada rancher that led to an armed standoff last year with federal agents."

"An oil pipeline that ruptured and spilled an estimated 383,000 litres (101,000 gallons) of crude near Santa Barbara in May had been allowed to corrode to a tiny fraction of its original thickness, federal regulators have said."

"Pat Mulroy Preached Conservation While Backing Growth in Las Vegas".

"State and federal courts handed down three decisions against a proposed copper and gold mine in Alaska that environmentalists are staging a nationwide fight against."

"ALONG THE SALTON SEA, CALIF. — The bone-dry lake bed burned crystalline and white in the midday sun. Ecologist Bruce Wilcox hopped out of his truck and bent down to scoop up a handful of the gleaming, crusty soil."

"The foul-smelling carcasses of whales are attracting a veritable swarm of marine biologists to California beaches in what has so far been a futile effort to figure out why so many of the blubbery beasts are washing ashore."

Areas of the Southwest are desert, but federally financed water projects have created cities and farms dependent on water that may not be there much longer.

"President Obama on Wednesday announced a sweeping new clean water regulation meant to restore the federal government’s authority to limit pollution in the nation’s rivers, lakes, streams and wetlands."