"The shutdown-averting budget bill will block federal light bulb efficiency standards, giving a win to House Republicans fighting the so-called ban on incandescent light bulbs."

"SEATTLE -- For years, the federal agencies that helped the U.S. wolf population recover under the Endangered Species Act have also quietly killed hundreds of wolves that threaten livestock or prized game. They've even taken to the skies - and are considering doing so again."

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture released a document yesterday that got no attention on the nightly news, or almost anywhere, really. Its title, I'm sure you'll agree, is a snooze: National Nutrient Management Standard. Yet this document represents the agency's best attempt to solve one of the country's -- and the world's -- really huge environmental problems: The nitrogen and phosphorus that pollute waterways."

"The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said it would suspend review of the non-foreign ownership requirements of the proposed new reactors at South Texas because Japanese multinational Toshiba effectively controls the project. Foreign companies cannot control nuclear plants in the United States."

"In a letter dated December 13, the NRC said its staff would continue to review the application but would not issue a license until the foreign ownership requirements were met.

"WASHINGTON -- In exchanges that ranged from merely testy to caustic, four members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told a House committee on Wednesday that their chairman had withheld information from them, berated the agency’s professional staff, reduced female employees to tears with abusive comments and created a 'chilled' atmosphere that was hurting the agency’s ability to function."

"Officials released a first round of oil spill restoration projects Wednesday that included proposals to create or enhance oyster habitat, salt marshes, sand dunes, and nearshore reefs in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Florida."

"Drawing from a $1 billion pool established by BP as a down payment on fines related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon spill, representatives from the Gulf States agreed on $57 million worth of restoration projects.

Those proposals will be up for public comment at a series of meetings in January and February."

"BP and the oil industry drilling in the Gulf of Mexico lacked the proper safety attitude to handle the large risks of deepwater drilling, leading to the many bad decisions behind the nation's worst offshore spill, a panel of expert engineers said today.

More specifically, the industry needs to radically redesign the blowout preventers that are meant to be a last line of defense against runaway wells or else risk a repeat of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster, the National Academy of Engineering concluded.

"U.S. EPA has failed to provide adequate oversight of state regulatory programs, leading to inconsistent environmental protections, the agency's inspector general said in an unusually pointed audit."

"Three years into Lisa Jackson’s tenure as head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, more than a dozen formal complaints alleging air pollution is disproportionately harming low-income, minority communities remain unresolved. Each of these complaints has languished — in some instances, for more than a decade — in the EPA’s Office of Civil Rights despite Jackson’s stated commitment to environmental justice."

"WASHINGTON — The Senate has given final approval to a bill that doubles the maximum fine for pipeline safety violations and adds penalties for obstructing safety investigations.

The compromise bill cleared the Senate Tuesday by a voice vote and now goes to the White House. The House approved the same measure on Monday."

The Associated Press had the story December 13, 2011. [32]

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