"The Koch brothers have turned to a former aide to House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) and Senator Jim Inhofe (R-OK) to lobby against the simple idea of a carbon tax."

It is news that four former EPA administrators who served under Republican presidents wrote an op-ed published in the New York Times making "A Republican Case for Climate Change." Whether their persuasiveness will persuade may be in doubt -- but the fact that they tried may say a lot about the current US political situation.

"On any given day, there's a wildfire burning somewhere in the U.S. — and that's not necessarily a bad thing. Many western forests have evolved with fire, and actually benefit from the occasional wildfire."

"FORT VALLEY, Ga. -- Peaches, the gem of the Southern summer, are just not so sweet this year."

"BOSTON -- The new head of the Environmental Protection Agency told an audience at Harvard Law School on Tuesday that cutting carbon pollution will 'feed the economic agenda of this country' and vowed to work with industry leaders on shaping policies aimed at curbing global warming."

"'Climate change will not be resolved overnight,' EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy told the 310-member audience. 'But it will be engaged over the next three years. That I can promise you.'

"Images of a scientific observation buoy floating in what appeared to be an Arctic lake near the North Pole lit up the online world in the past week, sparking questions about whether this was a sign of global warming."

"Measurements tell us that global average sea level is currently rising by about 1 inch per decade. But in an invisible shadow process, our long-term sea level rise commitment or 'lock-in' -- the sea level rise we don't see now, but which carbon emissions and warming have locked in for later years -- is growing 10 times faster, and this growth rate is accelerating."

"Despite above-average precipitation, lake has seen below-average water levels for 14 years running. Less ice cover and more dark open water may explain why."

"Republican strategists have laid out an aggressive game plan for seizing the high ground on energy during the August recess: talk about gas prices and jobs, jobs, jobs."

"Even though she'd been walking in the woods for only a few minutes, Jen McIntyre was in distress. Tears were running down her cheeks. She couldn't breathe through her nose. 'I feel like this is our new reality,' McIntyre said recently of the allergies that have begun to plague her."