"COLUMBUS -- The Ohio Democratic Party on Monday urged federal and state prosecutors to investigate whether the largest privately owned coal company in the country illegally forced employees and vendors to contribute to presidential contender Mitt Romney and other mostly Republican candidates."

"America is unique when it comes to giving a platform to climate deniers and skeptics. According to a new analysis of data released last year, American newspapers are far more likely to publish uncontested claims from climate deniers, many of whom challenge whether the planet is warming at all and are 'almost exclusively found' in the U.S. media. The study was published in the journal Environmental Research Letters."

"The floodwaters are swelling, but the resources needed to confront them are shriveling up. That's the frustrating reality that state dam officials face as they confront added stress to the thousands of structures they regulate."

"With his Dudley Do-Right chin and broadcaster hair, Bill Line was the voice of Washington's cherry blossoms, parades, protests and national monuments."

"As the longtime spokesman for the National Park Service in the District, he was our National Ranger, stiff and proper, adjusting his ranger hat just so before reminding us to use Metro rather than drive to the Mall.

"More U.S. coal-fired power plants could retire due to environmental regulations and weaker-than-expected electric demand, costing the industry up to $144 billion, economists at consultancy Brattle Group said."

Murray Energy's CEO Robert Murray has raised money for GOP politicians all over the country. In August Presidential candidate Mitt Romney used Murray's Century Mine in the battleground state of Ohio for a speech attacking President Obama as "anti-coal." Century employees were forced to attend without pay, and later featured in Romney campaign ads. Now it appears that salaried Murray employees are being coerced to give money to the company's political action committee and to GOP candidates chosen by the company.

"In the worst wildfire season on record, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service ran out of money to pay for firefighters, fire trucks and aircraft that dump retardant on monstrous flames."

"Drought conditions in the United States eased slightly over the last week, though dry soils and water shortages persisted across wide swaths of important farm states, particularly Nebraska, a key corn and cattle state."

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency asked for a full-court review of a decision by a three- judge panel that threw out a rule designed to cut pollution from coal-fired power plants."

"The premiere of a Hollywood film featuring hydraulic fracturing is months away, but the energy industry already is preparing for battle."