The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finalized new regulations on Thursday to protect the beleaguered northern long-eared bat — but some environmentalists say the government should be doing more.

"With tens of thousands of sick nuclear-weapons workers thwarted in their bids to win compensation from the U.S. government, Congress is under growing pressure to investigate what went wrong with a $12 billion federal program aimed at helping them."

"The Obama administration will announce on Friday a halt to new coal mining leases on public lands as it considers an overhaul of the program that could lead to increased costs for energy companies and a slowdown in extraction, according to an administration official."

"Much has been made of the rapid rise of renewable energy in the US, but the policy workhorse behind it does not get nearly enough attention or credit."

"The Environmental Protection Agency’s internal watchdog has found no evidence of bias in the agency’s efforts to block a proposed gold mine from being built near Alaska’s Bristol Bay."

"Under pressure to devise a fix for its polluting diesel cars, the chief executive of Volkswagen, Matthias Müller, met for the first time with a senior government official in the United States to discuss the crisis that has engulfed the German carmaker since September."

"President Barack Obama's State of the Union pledge to better manage fossil fuel development will face a test within days, when federal officials rule on whether to open public lands containing more than 600 million tons of coal to more mining."

"Sen. Lisa Murkowski is holding up President Barack Obama's nominee to run the Food and Drug Administration to force the labeling of genetically engineered salmon."

"The US solar industry now employs more workers than oil and gas, a new report from the Solar Foundation claims, with most of the jobs in power panel installation."

"The Republican-controlled House approved a bill Tuesday blocking new Obama administration regulations designed to reduce the environmental impact of coal mining on the nation's streams."