"HELENA, Mont. -- No one can recall the last time an illegal immigrant hiked into the rugged and remote wilderness of Glacier National Park in an attempt to slip into the U.S. But that isn't stopping some in Congress from proposing to give border agents control over environmental laws in protected areas such as the popular tourist attraction in Montana, Washington's North Cascades National Park and all federal land within 100 miles of the U.S. border."

"The biofuels industry has poured millions of dollars into lobbying as Congress debates whether to end a key ethanol tax credit, according to a report released yesterday by a right-leaning Washington think tank."

"Canada's Stephen Harper government is spending more than 60 billion dollars on new military jets and warships while slashing more than 200 million dollars in funding for research and monitoring of the environment.

Amongst the programmes now crippled is Canada's internationally renowned ozone monitoring network, which was instrumental in the discovery of the first-ever ozone hole over Canada last spring. Loss of ozone has been previously linked to increases in skin cancer.

"Senate Democrats defeated a bill on Thursday that would have blocked federal environmental regulators from slashing power plant air pollution that blows downwind to other states and causes lung and heart problems."

"France's state energy firm EDF has been fined €1.5m by a Paris court for spying on Greenpeace."

"The Obama administration, under sharp pressure from officials in Nebraska and restive environmental activists, announced Thursday that it would review the route of the disputed Keystone XL oil pipeline, effectively delaying any decision about its fate until after the 2012 election."

"Corn and soybean farmers are pushing for – and Congress is moving to create – a whole new subsidy that could maintain farm incomes at a nearly four-decade high should prices fall or crops be destroyed by weather."

"Weary of plastic litter, Grand Canyon National Park officials were in the final stages of imposing a ban on the sale of disposable water bottles in the Grand Canyon late last year when the nation’s parks chief abruptly blocked the plan after conversations with Coca-Cola, a major donor to the National Park Foundation."

"Disturbing images of pregnant bellies confronted commuters in Washington, DC this week. The threat of mercury pollution from coal-fired power plants affecting babies was splashed across 160 subway cars as part of the Sierra Club's new campaign."

"It's one thing to say that Pennsylvania has become a battleground in the debate over natural gas extraction. But it's quite another to actually endorse and employ counterinsurgency tactics to fight opponents of hydraulic fracturing, the controversial process used to extract the gas from the ground. But that appears to be exactly what industry insiders called for at a recent conference."

Kate Sheppard reports for Mother Jones November 9, 2011.
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