"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is investigating whether specific Marcellus Shale drilling and compressor station operations in Washington County have caused environmental damage that violates federal regulations."

The closing of an 83-year-old coal-fired power plant near Chicago, one of the area's top polluters, will have economic consequences.

"A U.S. government report on Monday showed farmers in the United States will plant the largest area with corn this spring since World War Two, which could double the razor-thin stocks of this year and help defray costs to consumers and food companies."

"As plans for wind farms rising out of the ocean along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts inch closer to fruition, a new study from Carnegie Mellon University suggests that hurricanes could destroy a significant number of turbines in some of these areas, even coming close to wiping them out."

"Children living next to driveways or parking lots coated with coal tar are exposed to significantly higher doses of cancer-causing chemicals than those living near untreated asphalt, according to a study that raises new questions about commonly used pavement sealants."

"With the U.S. Senate poised to begin debate on a bill that would greenlight the controversial Keystone XL pipeline as early as Tuesday, activists and other citizens have barraged the Senate with more than 350,000 petitions opposing the legislation in less than five hours. [Ed. Note: the count surpassed 500,000 a few hours later.]"

"President plans to spend big on green cars and biofuels as Steven Chu says US wants to lead in clean energy technology."

"Snow drifts reaching up to rooftops kept tens of thousands of villagers prisoners in their own homes Saturday as the death toll from Europe's big freeze rose past 550.

More heavy snow fell on the Balkans and in Italy, while the Danube river, already closed to shipping for hundreds of kilometres (miles) because of thick ice, froze over in Bulgaria for the first time in 27 years.

"House Republican leaders are desperately searching for the votes to pass their $260 billion transportation bill this week."

"After pushing through some of the most sweeping and contentious environmental measures in years, the Obama administration has slowed action on several policies as it calculates what it should undertake before the end of the term."