In a hotly contested Maryland race for House of Representatives, incumbent Democrat Rep. Frank Kratovil plays up his environmental credentials in a a district where the livelihoods of farmers and watermen (plus a tourist industry) depend on the environment. His opponent, Republican Andy Harris, offers a stark contrast and is making a strong showing."

"Gov. Joe Manchin has scheduled a press conference Wednesday morning where he is expected to announce that the state is filing suit against the federal government over the Obama administration's crackdown on mountaintop removal coal mining." Democrat Manchin, once considered a shoo-in for Robert Byrd's Senate seat, is now struggling to keep up with Republican candidate John Raese.

"Federal officials began a sweeping crackdown on pollution in the Chesapeake Bay on Friday - threatening to punish five mid-Atlantic states with rules that could raise sewer bills and put new conditions on construction."

The gas-drilling boom that is sweeping Pennsylvania is demonstrating the power of money to overcome landowners' reluctance and influence legislators and regulators. This fall, a gusher of gas-industry political campaign donations is spewing.

"COROLLA, N.C. -- On a stretch of barrier island without paved roads, some of the last wild horses in the eastern United States are seeing their world get smaller each year."

EPA has reissued the operating permit for the world's largest sewage treatment plant -- Blue Plains, which handles sewage from most of the DC metro area. Despite huge improvements in the Potomac River since the 1960s, Blue Plains needs to reduce its nitrogen discharge another 45 percent to protect the Chesapeake Bay.

"In the rush to develop America's biggest new source of domestic energy, one community is fighting to protect its rural way of life from the environmental strains that accompany shale gas drilling."

Eight small earthquakes in central West Virginia since April have Chesapeake Energy and the state Department of Environmental Protection discussing the possibility of seismic monitoring near a disposal well for gas-drilling fluids."

"James J. Lee divided the world into good and bad. According to his writings on a Web site he created, people were bad, especially 'parasitic' babies."

"Chesapeake oysters are a succulent treat that for centuries have been loved almost to extinction.  But some scientists and business people are making headway in bringing back the bivalve, for the sake of oyster lovers and the bay."