"At least 28 people have been killed and many others injured in an oil pipeline explosion in central Mexico, officials say."

"This was the year the Earth struck back. Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards, landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 — the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined."

"A federal buyout of homes and businesses in the Tar Creek Superfund site is nearly complete and is expected to cost about $10 million less than original estimates."

"An effort to fight an invasive plant with insects that eat it has drawn opposition from beekeepers who worry it will leave them without an adequate source of nectar and pollen for their honeybees."

"Two years after the disastrous coal ash spill in Kingston, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is on the verge of enacting the first federal standards for the disposal of ash from coal-fired power plants."

"Legislation imposing a two-year pause on Environmental Protection Agency regulation of carbon dioxide pollution from smokestacks appeared to be dead for this year as Senator John Rockefeller accused Republicans on Friday of withholding their needed support."

"The Environmental Protection Agency on Friday ordered General Electric Co to dredge deeper into the Hudson River as part of the next phase of an effort to remove cancer-causing chemicals dumped into the river over decades."

Portland, Oregon is completing a network of "Big Pipes" to replace its aging combined sewer overflow system and reduce the flow of sewage and stormwater into the Willamette River. But how long will this pipe do its job unless it is accompanied by more investments in "green infrastructure" as well?