"Energy industry donors made significant investments in the re-election bids of both Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.) during the final months of 2013, while also opening their checkbooks to boost a trio of Republicans seeking seats where veteran Democratic senators are retiring."

"If you think the roads you're driving on seem worse than usual this winter, you're probably right. The waves of snowstorms in much of the country have exhausted supplies of rock salt, the main tool that road crews use to melt ice and snow."

"China spent more than the U.S. on energy efficiency for the first time with the $4.3 billion it invested accounting for almost a third of the world’s total."

"RALEIGH — The Duke Energy coal-ash spill landed in the lap of a state legislative environmental oversight panel today and gave lawmakers a rare bird’s-eye look at the documented pollution problem posed by the utility’s coal-waste dumps statewide."

"North Carolina's top environmental official says he briefed Gov. Pat McCrory about a negotiated settlement with Duke Energy that would have fined the $50 billion corporation $99,000 to resolve violations for groundwater contamination leaching from two huge coal ash dumps."

The Washington Post, which over the years has set a standard for good science journalism, may be falling on hard times now that it has let so many of its reporters go. While still strong in original science reporting compared to many other daily newspapers in the U.S., the Post has taken to reprinting press releases from universities and science organizations. This has spawned questions about the transparency of the practice and the objectivity of what Post readers are reading.

"Across the southeastern United States a battle is raging -- ant against ant."

"Electronic cigarettes are often billed as a safe way for smokers to try to kick their habit. But it's not just smokers who are getting their fix this way. According to published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 5 middle school students who've tried one say they've never smoked a 'real' cigarette. And between 2011 and 2012, e-cigarettes doubled in popularity among middle and high school students."

"MEXICO CITY -- The annual migration to Mexico of millions of orange-and-black monarch butterflies is one of the nation's cherished rituals. But it could come to a virtual halt if the insect's natural habitat is not urgently salvaged."

"FRESNO, Calif. — President Obama arrived in the heart of California’s parched farmland on Friday afternoon to offer tens of millions of dollars in federal assistance to the state, where the lack of rain and snow this winter has led to the severest drought in its modern history."