"It was the Friday before Christmas and Joe Paviglianiti, a senior engineer at Canada’s federal pipeline watchdog, the National Energy Board sent an email to TransCanada Corp. “Sorry in advance for bothering you during your holidays,” he wrote on Dec. 19, 2014."

"The Obama administration has cancelled a disputed oil and gas lease in the Badger-Two Medicine area near Glacier National Park."

"SeaWorld, together with the Humane Society of the United States, announced a landmark agreement Thursday to drastically alter practices at its theme parks, which have come under increased scrutiny for their treatment of animals. The company confirmed that it will end orca breeding."

"Earth got so hot last month that federal scientists struggled to find words, describing temperatures as "astronomical," ''staggering" and "strange." They warned that the climate may have moved into a new and hotter neighborhood."

"U.S. EPA's Region 5 office tiptoed around Michigan's environmental agency to avoid conflict on the lead contamination issue in Flint, Mich., even questioning whether to issue a violation for failing to prevent corrosion to the city's lead pipes, emails show."

"Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder on Thursday blamed career bureaucrats in Washington and his own state for the Flint water-contamination crisis, while the head of the federal Environmental Protection Agency faulted him and other state officials."

"While a harsh national spotlight focuses on the drinking water crisis in Flint, Mich., a USA TODAY NETWORK investigation has identified almost 2,000 additional water systems spanning all 50 states where testing has shown excessive levels of lead contamination over the past four years."

"Researchers have created the first reliable population estimates for the now-rare New Zealand southern right whale."

"Peabody Energy Corp., the largest U.S. coal miner, said it may not be financially strong enough to remain in business in its current form and that the company may seek bankruptcy protection."

"Since November, 54 people in Wisconsin have one by one fallen ill with an obscure kind of bacteria called Elizabethkingia. Fifteen have died from the infection."