"U.S. EPA during the first year of the Obama administration saw deep declines in the amount of penalties assessed against polluters and pounds of pollution slashed through enforcement activities compared with the previous year, according to data released by the agency last month."

"Americans' infatuation with their cars has endured through booms and busts, but last year something rare happened in the United States: The number of automobiles actually fell."

"Federal biologists on Tuesday proposed the first open ocean habitat protections for the endangered leatherback sea turtle along the West Coast, an action that could affect future development of offshore renewable energy, aquaculture and desalination plants."

"Think, the Norwegian electric carmaker, said on Tuesday that it will open its first American assembly plant in Elkhart, Ind."

"The Interior Department office created to oversee billions of dollars of land appraisals is weak and undermined by other bureaus, leaving it unable to function efficiently, the Interior inspector general has found."

"These foods are not always what consumers think they are. Some are not chemical or pesticide free. Health benefits are questionable. Only certain thing? They cost more."

"The nation's top scientists and spies are collaborating on an effort to use the federal government's intelligence assets -- including spy satellites and other classified sensors -- as sensitive instruments that can assess the hidden complexities of environmental change. They seek insights from natural phenomena like clouds and glaciers, deserts and tropical forests."

"Former San Joaquin Valley congressman Richard Pombo will formally announce his comeback bid Tuesday, igniting a heated competition to replace retiring Rep. George Radanovich, R-Mariposa."

"Many old factories around the country now sit dark and empty. But at a once-defunct Polaroid film factory in New Bedford, Mass., the lights are on again and a new industry is rising up inside the ruins of an old one."