"The House of Representatives voted Friday to end the 40-year-old ban on exporting American oil to foreign nations, launching a showdown with the Senate and the president in the nation’s latest battle over energy and climate change."

"Dr. Dennis Paustenbach, the head of the scientific consulting firm ChemRisk, has long been a leading expert for companies under legal fire for environmental practices or product safety. He and his firm have also drawn the scrutiny of investigative journalists."

"An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.5 that struck near the U.S. crude oil hub of Cushing, Oklahoma on Saturday occurred just days after regulators imposed new rules meant to prevent temblors in the area and said more changes were possible."

"Note to anyone who thinks planting trees is the bees’ knees: Grasslands are important, too."

"Local agencies often spray mosquito-killing pesticides in an effort to control West Nile virus. But it's not clear whether the significant health risks from the pesticides outweigh the comparatively low risks of West Nile."

"One of the most eroded Native Alaskan villages on the state’s coast is being considered as a possible national model for moving entire communities whose futures are threatened by natural disasters escalated by climate change."

"Nineteen EU member states have requested opt-outs for all or part of their territory from cultivation of a Monsanto genetically-modified crop, which is authorized to be grown in the European Union, the European Commission said on Sunday."

"Throughout the 1980s, the company struggled to solve the carbon problem of one of the biggest gas fields in the world out of concern for climate impacts."

"California launched an ambitious effort Wednesday to expand renewable energy and increase energy efficiency, advancing Gov. Jerry Brown's plans for battling climate change."

"Gov. Jerry Brown of California signed legislation on Thursday that bans plastic microbeads, giving his state one of the country’s strongest laws against the tiny abrasives used in exfoliators and other products."