"The White House won’t use the law on federal environmental impacts assessments as an effective tool for executive action on climate and clean energy projects. The Council on Environmental Quality has let four years go by without acting on proposed guidance to federal agencies on permitting of energy projects under the National Environmental Policy Act, rejecting appeals to take stronger action and leaving the playing field tilted in favor of the fossil fuel industry."

"Construction has begun on the stalled FutureGen 2.0 carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) project in western Illinois, according to project officials, but major hurdles remain for the $1.65 billion first-of-its-kind power plant."

"About 19 months after closing down its special team of environmental reporters, the New York Times has named Adam Bryant as editor overseeing climate change and environmental issues for the paper's science coverage."

"In an effort to reduce the number of giant bluefin tuna killed by fishing fleets, the U.S. is putting out new rules about commercial fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and parts of the western Atlantic. The rules have special protections for giant bluefin — fish that have grown to 81 inches or more."

"A coalition of environmental and food-safety groups is asking the Fish and Wildlife Service to grant endangered species protection to the monarch butterfly, whose U.S. population, the groups say, last year fell to 90 percent below its 20-year average."

"Certain members of the Department of Energy's panel reviewing its national laboratories are paid consultants to some of the same labs that they are charged with overseeing."

"The future will require tough trade-offs over protecting species, wildness and the way humans experience the backcountry"

"Halliburton, the company contracted by BP to cement the ill-fated Macondo oil well in the Gulf of Mexico, has reached a $1.1 billion settlement with thousands of businesses, individuals and local governments that suffered losses from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, the company and plaintiffs announced on Tuesday."

"Should you worry about the chemicals in your makeup, lotion, shaving cream, soap and shampoo? The answer is a clear maybe."

"The average price of gasoline is the lowest heading into Labor Day that it has been in three years, the Energy Information Administration said."