"Gov. Paul LePage (R) stepped up his attacks on the Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM) in dramatic fashion this week by sending personal letters to the environmental group’s donors."

"'Rogue dirt brokers' with mob ties and criminal histories used fake documents to haul hundreds of truckloads of tainted soil and construction debris that were then dumped illegally onto environmentally sensitive sites in New Jersey, state investigators alleged Wednesday."

"The University of Massachusetts said it will divest from direct fossil-fuel holdings in its endowment, without specifying the total amount of its investment."

"The Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled on Tuesday that the state must impose comprehensive cuts in greenhouse gas emissions to comply with the Global Warming Solutions Act, a law passed by the legislature in 2008."

"Ashley Funk looks back fondly on her days of playing in the black hills behind her Southwestern Pennsylvania house. But when she learned more about what those black hills were made of, it drove a wedge between her and her hometown."

"The New York City Council approved a bill on Thursday to require many merchants to charge 5 cents for each plastic or paper bag taken by consumers at checkout counters, and Mayor Bill de Blasio said he intended to sign it."

Activist Jennie Romer, a lawyer who got bills banning plastic bags from stores passed in California, moved to New York to do the same thing in New York City.

"Amid growing concern that flame retardants are responsible for elevated cancer rates in firefighters, Massachusetts lawmakers are pushing legislation that would go further than any other state’s in banning the use of chemicals meant to slow the spread of fires."

"New Hampshire says emissions of a chemical used to make Teflon coatings may be the source behind the contamination of more than 40 wells in several towns."