"While the health effects of coal-ash disposal get most attention, a long list of other negative effects are overlooked. They include crushing financial burdens for people, companies, and governments; deepening mistrust of government; years of litigation; depressed property values; and more. These costs outweigh the costs of regulation, cleanup, and mitigation."

"The fuel company whose tank farm in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, exploded last month collected environmental violations and skipped inspections for years."

"Less than a month before negotiators will meet in Copenhagen with the lofty goal of crafting a deal to curb global greenhouse gas emissions, the Obama administration is considering endorsing a limited short-term climate pact and deferring more ambitious action until next year."

"With the clock ticking on the high-stakes Copenhagen climate summit, US President Barack Obama will try to salvage fading hopes for a deal as he meets this month with the leaders of China and India."

"A nonprofit organization that monitors the health of the Potomac River said Wednesday that a condition causing abnormalities in fish should serve as an urgent warning to rehabilitate the waterway that provides 90 percent of the D.C. area's drinking water."

"At least somebody gets it. The University of Montana in Missoula announced on Monday that it is accepting applications for a new, two-year graduate program in environmental science and natural resource journalism."

"The Army Corps of Engineers must consider the effects of climate change as it draws up plans for flood control, navigation and other water projects under a new agency policy."

"A spate of recent deaths of New York police and fire officers who took part in the emergency operation at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks has heightened fears that it could be the start of a delayed epidemic of cancer-related illness."

"A federal appeals court panel on Tuesday upheld a 2005 court decision that effectively halted the development of what would have been one of the nation's largest landfills near Joshua Tree National Park."

"A federal effort to ban the sale of raw oysters harvested during the warm months along the Gulf Coast has kicked up a hurricane of opposition from oystermen and members of Congress and threatened to derail a signature food-safety initiative by the Obama administration."