"Former Massey Energy Co. CEO Don Blankenship, who rose from humble beginnings in Mingo County to become the wealthy and powerful chief executive of one of the region’s largest coal producers, will serve one year in prison and pay a $250,000 fine for a mine safety criminal conspiracy, a judge decided Wednesday."

"The White House on Wednesday issued a dire warning to Republicans in Congress: Spend money to prevent the Zika virus from spreading within the United States or regret it later."

"Kennedy Space Center and other NASA facilities near coastlines are facing the prospect of continually rising waters."

"AES Corp. settled a lawsuit accusing the power-generating company of allowing one of its units to dump coal ash on beaches in the Dominican Republic, which allegedly caused a spate of birth defects in children."

"More than 1,000 women are suing the company for covering up a cancer risk."

"The Smithsonian Institution's new transparency policy hasn't kept prominent climate contrarian Wei-Hock "Willie" Soon from reeling in $65,000 in "dark money" to fund a secret research project."

"Six years after 29 miners were killed in a West Virginia coal dust explosion, the man who ran the mining company like a fiefdom -- a coal baron and power broker who earned millions of dollars a year -- will learn on Wednesday whether he goes to prison."

"Administration officials are mindful that President Barack Obama's second term in the White House is drawing to a close but said work is not yet complete on the president's environmental priorities."

"A swarm of new Clean Power Plan backers arrived on the legal scene last week, with filings rolling in from big technology companies, government officials and a couple of oddballs."

"Industry groups are challenging President Obama’s rule to protect workers from exposure to harmful silica dust."