"Out-of-sight septic systems — more than 100,000 of them in Volusia County and an estimated 2.7 million in Florida — add to growing concerns about the rising tide of nitrogen and other pollution feeding algae blooms and killing fish and sea grasses."

"Demonstrators in Louisiana stepped off on a five-day march on Thursday, demanding environmental justice for a region besieged by toxic pollution from chemical plants."

"NEW ORLEANS — A state law that carries a possible five-year prison sentence for anyone convicted of trespassing in the area of a pipeline should be declared unconstitutional, environmentalists and others said in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday."

Shootings of Florida's state animal are likely to increase as both the human and panther populations expand, a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission veterinarian predicted.

"Gerard Braud has no plans to leave his handsome Creole-style house with its 15-foot-high front porch on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain, a short drive from New Orleans. “Peacefulness and tranquility” is how he explains the appeal of living here."

"A proposal pushed by Louisiana’s oil and gas industry to let refineries and other industrial plants keep some environmental violations secret fell a handful of votes short of House passage Thursday, amid fierce opposition that it could hide the impacts of the state’s petrochemical industry."

"From her front porch in Reserve, Louisiana, Mary Hampton looks in every direction and sees ghosts."

"Louisiana legislators are considering whether chemical plants and other industrial facilities should be allowed to conduct voluntary pollution audits that would remain secret and to grant legal immunity for certain violations discovered by the audits."

"BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In autumn of 2013, a senior executive from a powerful coal company and a lawyer from one of the state’s most influential firms hashed out a strategy for avoiding a serious — and expensive — problem."