"A House subcommittee voted Thursday to lift the 40-year-old restriction on exporting crude oil, moving the legislation a significant step toward passage."

""Major business groups are in the midst of a coordinated, multimillion-dollar effort aimed at sowing opposition to the Obama administration’s smog pollution regulations."

"WASHINGTON — Workers reacted too slowly to stop a Gulf of Mexico well blowout that forced the evacuation of 44 people and ignited a fire that raged for two days in 2013, according to a federal investigation report released Thursday."

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency settled a lawsuit with North Carolina-based Duke Energy Corp., requiring the company to spend more than $5 million in penalties and other costs as it resolves alleged Clean Air Act violations."

"WASHINGTON - Food manufacturers must be more vigilant about keeping their operations clean under new government safety rules released Thursday in the wake of deadly foodborne illness outbreaks linked to ice cream, caramel apples, cantaloupes and peanuts."

"A U.S. appeals court ruled on Thursday that federal regulators erred in allowing an insecticide developed by Dow AgroSciences onto the market, canceling its approval and giving environmentalists a major victory."

"Heat waves, extreme storms, wildfire and other effects of climate change pose major threats to the electric power systems in Native American communities across the country, most significantly in the West and Southwest, according to a new U.S. Department of Energy report."

"The lobbying coalition representing 16 independent oil producers campaigning to export crude around the globe is launching advertising Wednesday night targeting Houston Democratic Rep. Gene Green and three other lawmakers who could play a decisive role on the issue."

President Obama's Clean Power Plan survived yet another court challenge in a decision announced Wednesday.