"A Silicon Valley company is claiming a breakthrough in a decades-old quest to develop fuel cells that can supply affordable and relatively clean electricity. Google, Bank of America, Wal-Mart and other large corporations have been testing the devices, which will be formally introduced on Wednesday."

"The United Nations will have an extra round of climate change talks this April in Germany to speed up stalled climate negotiations."

"GM's efforts to sell its Hummer brand to a little-known Chinese company have fallen apart, the U.S. automaker announced Wednesday. As a result, GM will begin to dismantle a brand of gas-guzzling SUVs that were synonymous with pre-financial crisis wealth and excess."

"Istanbul is one of a host of quake-threatened cities in the developing world where populations have swelled far faster than the capacity to house them safely, setting them up for disaster of a scope that could, in some cases, surpass the devastation in Haiti from last month’s earthquake."

"At least 31 more coal-ash impoundments across the country -- including two in West Virginia -- have been found to have polluted nearby groundwater, wetlands and streams, according to a report issued Wednesday by two national environmental groups. The report brings to more than 100 the total number of sites where coal-ash disposal has been linked to contamination of water supplies with toxic pollutants including arsenic, cadmium and selenium."

"Scientists have discovered an area of the North Atlantic Ocean where plastic debris accumulates. The region is said to compare with the well-documented 'great Pacific garbage patch'."

"The Vermont Senate blocked efforts by Entergy Corp. to win a 20-year license renewal for its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, an action that could encourage opponents of nuclear energy in other states."