"An independent government inquiry into the State Department's choice of a private contractor to steer the latest Keystone XL environmental review could remain open through this fall, raising the specter of a further delay in a final decision on the contentious pipeline project that President Obama vowed in March to rule on before 2014."
"WASHINGTON -- A new massive federal study says the world in 2012 sweltered with continued signs of climate change. Rising sea levels, snow melt, heat buildup in the oceans, and melting Arctic sea ice and Greenland ice sheets, all broke or nearly broke records, but temperatures only sneaked into the top 10."
"Last week, various news outlets were publishing all sorts of dire headlines about climate change and war.
"Dozens of dead or sick Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have washed ashore along beaches from Virginia north to New York, including several baby dolphins in Delaware, since early June."
"The Enbridge pipeline, converted from natural gas, would carry tar sands crude like the Keystone XL but is expected to easily win regulatory approval."
"The expansion of a terminal along the heavily industrialized Houston Ship Channel normally receives little attention. But Kinder Morgan Energy Partners’ plans to refurbish two docks have opened a new front in the fight over coal."
gas emissions. Now there are mounting concerns about the huge volumes of water used by the oil industry and the impact on the vast Mackenzie River Basin."
"Chevron Corp agreed to pay $2 million in fines and restitution after pleading no contest to six misdemeanor charges on Monday stemming from the August 6, 2012 explosion and fire at its San Francisco Bay refinery, according to the local district attorney."
"Highly radioactive water seeping into the ocean from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is creating an 'emergency' that the operator is struggling to contain, an official from the country's nuclear watchdog said on Monday."
"SEOUL, South Korea — Like Japan, resource-poor South Korea has long relied on nuclear power to provide the cheap electricity that helped build its miracle economy. For years, it met one-third of its electricity needs with nuclear power, similar to Japan’s level of dependence before the 2011 disaster at its Fukushima plant. Now, a snowballing scandal in South Korea about bribery and faked safety tests for critical plant equipment has highlighted yet another similarity: experts say both countries’ nuclear programs suffer from a culture of collusion that has undermined their safety."
