"The new head of the federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement promised Wednesday to find a way to reduce the impacts of mountaintop removal mining on Appalachian streams, forests and communities. But OSM Director Joe Pizarchik said he would not seek what most coalfield and national environmental groups are advocating: a ban on the practice."

"Over 1,700 scientists in Britain have signed a statement defending the evidence for human-made climate change in the wake of hacked e-mails that emboldened climate skeptics."

"Two top Obama administration officials arrived Wednesday at the U.N.-sponsored climate talks that opened this week offering both diplomacy and a tough line: The United States is willing to be a full partner in fighting climate change, but the real problem is with China and the developing world."

"An Ithaca environmental activist and 6,000 other individuals and organizations asked the governor Tuesday to withdraw the state's newly drafted regulations on natural gas drilling, saying the state's entire regulatory framework needs to be strengthened before more drilling occurs."

"NEW YORK -- Coal miner Consol Energy Inc launched an attack on environmentalists on Tuesday, blaming ecological "activism" for forcing it to idle two mines in West Virginia that employ nearly 500 workers." Activists countered that the coal company's violations were egregious and that Consol should follow the law.

"The city of Seattle announced this afternoon that its greenhouse gas emissions in 2008 were 7 percent below what they were in 1990 — a target the city had hoped to meet by 2012. But it's not at all clear how or if the city will still meet the goal three years from now."

"More and more milk comes from confined animal feeding operations, where large herds live in feedlots, waiting their thrice daily trip to the milking barn. ... Across the country, big dairies are coming under increased criticism for polluting the air and the water. In New Mexico, they're in the midst of a manure war."