"If Royal Dutch Shell’s Arctic drilling program leads to a major spill, it could cost the oil company — and therefore its shareholders — an entire year’s worth of profit, according to a Tuesday legal filing by the conservation group Oceana and a University of Chicago law clinic."

"The waterway linking Gulf Coast oil with the refineries of Baton Rouge has brought great prosperity to Louisiana. But the people living in 'Cancer Alley' have a different story to tell."

"'Wildfire season' seems to be a thing of the past for drought-stricken California, with fires now raging throughout the year."

"The White House has threatened to veto a Republican bill that would repeal a controversial Environmental Protection Agency clean water rule."

"Gov. Jerry Brown accelerated California's effort to slash greenhouse gas emissions Wednesday, burnishing the state's reputation as a pacesetter in the battle against climate change."

"In the Sonoran Desert, rainwater harvesting is finally going mainstream."

"An Energy Department report shows that while hydro can be finicky, it could be a bigger part of a carbon-reduced future."

"Following a closely watched Vatican climate change meeting Tuesday at the Pontifical Academies of Sciences and Social Sciences, the attendees — including not only scientific leaders but also religious and political luminaries — have released a statement suggesting that a 2015 climate accord may be the last chance to keep global warming within a range deemed “safe” for the world, its people and its ecosystems."

"Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, announced Thursday that he was running for president as a Democrat, injecting a progressive voice into the contest and providing Hillary Rodham Clinton with her first official challenger for the party’s nomination." While unlikely to win the nomination, Sanders may pull the party leftward and inject environmental issues into the campaign.