"More than half of California is now under the most severe level of drought for the first time since the federal government began issuing regular drought reports in the late 1990s, according to new data released Thursday."

North Carolina lawmakers said Thursday they still haven't reached agreement on legislation requiring Duke Energy to limit pollution leaking from its coal ash dumps across the state, nearly six months after a spill coated 70 miles of the Dan River with gray sludge."

"The Department of Energy (DOE) gave conditional approval to a second Oregon facility to export liquefied natural gas to countries that don't have a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with the U.S."

"Dozens of the nation’s leading conservation scientists on Thursday expressed strong concern over a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service official’s order to override a recommendation by federal biologists that wolverines deserve threatened species status."

"The globe’s nuclear power industry is aging, plagued with high costs and construction delays, and generally on the decline."

"Energy taxes in much of the world are far below what they should be to reflect the harmful environmental and health impact of fossil fuels use, the International Monetary Fund said in a new book on Thursday."

"LOS ANGELES — The rupture of a nearly century-old water main that ripped a 15-foot hole through Sunset Boulevard and turned a swath of the University of California, Los Angeles, into a mucky mess points to the risks and expense many cities face with miles of water lines installed generations ago."

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture unveiled on Thursday the first major overhaul of the nation's poultry-inspection system in more than 50 years. It said the new system was part of an effort to better fight pathogens while placing more responsibility and trust on companies to protect the quality of their chicken and turkey."

"For the second time this week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has raised the travel alert for three West African countries, as the death toll in the Ebola outbreak increased at an alarming rate."

"Survey of 300 US environmental groups show lower percentage of jobs held by ethnic minorities than in science and engineering"