"Federal investigators' findings in the San Bruno pipeline explosion probe suggest that thousands of miles of long-buried and untested natural gas pipelines across the United States are at far greater risk of failure than the industry and government regulators have long maintained, experts say."

"U.S. EPA has signaled that it won't reverse a George W. Bush-era policy that lets refineries burn some byproducts without treating them as toxic waste, drawing scorn from environmentalists, who had asked the incoming Obama administration to rethink the rule."

"Drilling service companies have injected at least 32 million gallons of diesel fuel underground as part of a controversial drilling technique, a Democratic congressional investigation has found."

"California Gov. Jerry Brown's decisions regarding environmental and energy issues will affect public and private spending and public health for the foreseeable future."

New sulfur dioxide standards set by Alberta in December 2010 are far weaker than some members of an advisory panel hoped for, environmentalists say. They suspect the oil industry has gotten to Alberta Environment.

Environmentalists say mercury emissions from the TransAlta coal-burning electric power plant in Washington state are dangerous.

"The current air quality standards for carbon monoxide (CO) are strong enough to protect public health, U.S. EPA said today as the agency issued a proposal to keep the existing limits."

"The new Tea Party governor says businesses are on the endangered species list, but opponents say his proposals will harm the state's nature-based economy."

"Exxon Mobil, the largest American oil company, reported a 53 percent increase in its fourth-quarter profit on Monday, helped by an improving world economy that has increased energy demand and crude prices."