"FRONT ROYAL, Va. — The five red panda cubs in large boxlike cribs at the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute here are bottle-fed, sleepy and wobbly on their legs. They have bandit masks and thick, rich fur, and they make soft squealing noises and something called a huff-quack, which sounds like … a huff-quack."
"The impact of low oil prices could have long-term consequences for drilling companies. But hydraulic fracturing technology could allow the industry bounce back more quickly, experts say."
DuPont, a major U.S. chemical company, for years hid what it knew about the threats to employees and neighbors from a chemical -- perfluorooctanoic acid, also known as PFOA or C8 -- that can cause cancer and other health damage. The PFOA was used in operations of DuPont's Washington Works plant in Parkersburg, WV. Its health damage was the focus of a major class-action lawsuit.
"Sixteen companies have reached a $14.3 million settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state of Maryland to stabilize and cap waste and contaminated soil at the Central Chemical Superfund site in Hagerstown, the agency announced Monday."
"A toxic algae bloom that began off the West Coast this spring now stretches from California to Alaska. It’s poisoning marine life from shellfish to sardines to sea lions, and scientists say it’s one of the worst they’ve seen."
"Islamic leaders from around the globe [Tuesday] will unveil a declaration calling on the world's 1.6 billion Muslims to embrace climate change action as part of their religious duty."
"The Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Inspector General (OIG) said Monday it will begin investigation the Aug. 5 incident that sent 3 million gallons of toxic sludge into Colorado’s Animas River."
"A Baltimore City Circuit Court judge has ruled that the information railroads submit to the state about the volume and frequency of their crude oil shipments is public."
"The Obama administration is expected to propose as soon as Tuesday the first-ever federal regulation to cut emissions of methane, a powerful greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming, by the nation’s oil and natural-gas industry, officials familiar with the plan said on Monday."
"The Obama administration is giving Shell permission to fully drill an exploratory well in the Arctic Ocean and burrow into potential oil-bearing rock thousands of feet below the seafloor that previously was off limits."
