"A pipeline bill offered by House Republicans on Wednesday would block some safety reforms and ignores other recent safety recommendations made by accident investigators in response to a deadly natural gas explosion last year near San Francisco."

Hundreds of anti-fracking protestors rallied outside a Marcellus Shale industry conference in Philadelphia. Aubrey McClendon, the chief executive of Chesapeake Energy Co., called people concerned about the safety of their families' drinking water "extremists," even as an industry-friendly report noted that fracking could be costly to communities.

"So far 2011 has been a good year f0or wind energy projects. Installations in the first six months of 2011 were almost double what they were in the comparable period in 2010 in terms of total megawatts (2,151 versus 1,250), according to the American Wind Energy Association. But a bipartisan coalition of 24 state governors, fretting that the industry could lose momentum, has already begun lobbying the Obama administration to improve business conditions for wind energy developers."

"The colorful, six-sided tiles with pictures of trees, rocks, and landscapes formed larger hexagons, creating islands across six tables in the second-floor gallery of the Goethe-Institut in Washington, D.C. On a recent Friday evening, more than 60 people gathered to play a game that has sold 15 million copies worldwide since 1995. The tiles were part of 'The Settlers of Catan,' a game where players trade and compete for resources while constructing cities."

"The involvement of President Obama’s chief of staff in last week’s decision to withdraw a smog rule might signal a more muscular White House role in vetting costly regulations ahead of the 2012 election."

A group of nine Nobel Prize winners called on President Obama to reject the Keystone XL pipeline.

"The Obama administration's scrapping of a proposed new rule that would toughen ozone standards has put lawyers involved in litigation over the existing regulations on alert."

"TALLAHASSEE -- Gov. Rick Scott found himself on both sides of the fence on Tuesday when he said in a speech that he supports oil drilling in the Everglades, then hours later issued a clarification that he didn’t mean 'an expansion of drilling.'"

"AUSTIN, Texas -- "Governor Rick Perry, a Republican, has reissued his disaster proclamation nine times this wildfire season; it was originally issued on December 21, 2010. Perry, a Tea Party favorite who is campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, cut short a campaign visit to South Carolina to return to Austin to deal with the fires. Well known for criticizing federal government spending, Perry has since April been seeking federal assistance to pay for wildfire relief and preparedness."