"Nearly two-thirds of the coal-ash dams across West Virginia might need repairs, and a quarter of them are ranked as being in poor or unsatisfactory condition, according to a report released Thursday by the state Department of Environmental Protection."

"Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Democrats quashed a three-day-long Republican boycott and passed global warming legislation today using a procedural move that could undermine support from moderate senators if the bill reaches the floor."

"The US has given up hope of reaching a global climate change treaty at Copenhagen and is working towards a deal late next year, the Obama administration said today. The decision ends hopes of a legally binding deal being sealed next month."

"Environmentalists are beefing up efforts to increase regulation of a controversial oil and gas drilling technique as interest grows in tapping vast natural gas fields across the country."

"Draining and burning of the world's peat bogs accounts for about 5.5 percent of global carbon emissions but are currently excluded from governments' climate targets and U.N. talks, a study found on Wednesday."

"Leaders from the 564 federally recognized tribes will meet with Obama and numerous Cabinet secretaries at [Thursday's] White House Tribal Nations Conference. They will discuss broken treaty obligations and tribal sovereignty, along with issues of economic development and natural resources, public safety, housing, education and health."

"Great Whites may be loners, but the ocean's most feared predators also hang out together between Mexico and Hawaii at a deep sea watering hole known as the 'White Shark Cafe,' a study released Wednesday reveals."

California lawmakers ended months of negotiations with final agreement on a historic water package. The legislation now goes to Governer Schwarzenegger, and an $11.1-billion bond measure goes before the voters.

"Farm groups joined the manufacturer of the popular herbicide atrazine Tuesday in accusing the Obama administration of bowing to environmentalist pressure in initiating a review of the chemical's safety."

Since the 2008 Farm Bill capped the program for re-establishing native grasses on lands once swept bare by erosion like the Dust Bowl, some 3 million acres have been taken out of "conservation reserve."