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"In the 2014 midterm election, facing off against voluminous spending by conservative groups and powered by a billionaire of their own, Tom Steyer, top environmental organizations say they are set to spend over $85 million -- a record amount -- trying to influence key races."

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today proposed listing the African lion as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, saying its analysis finds the lions are 'in danger of extinction in the foreseeable future.'"

"If you're headed to a U.S. national park this fall, be sure to savor the last of the leaf peeping -- and what could be the last of the low admission prices."

"A national survey of gas prices reports that the average cost of U.S. regular grade gas dropped 18 cents per gallon in the last two weeks."

"Royal Dutch Shell Plc is asking the Obama administration for five more years to explore for oil off Alaska’s coast, saying set backs and legal delays may push the start of drilling past the 2017 expiration of some leases."

"Japan has moved closer to a return to nuclear power, more than three years after the Fukushima disaster, after a town in the country’s south-west voted to approve two reactors coming back online."

"HONOLULU — Hawaii officials will make arrangements for those living in the path of a lava flow to watch the destruction of their homes.

That accommodation is being made to 'provide for a means of closure,' Hawaii County Civil Defense Director Darryl Oliveira said Monday. 'You can only imagine the frustration as well as ... despair they're going through.'

Dozens of residents have been told they might have to evacuate as lava from Kilauea heads toward their homes."

"Climate change has thrown historic rain patterns out of whack. Sanitation departments throughout the Midwest are bracing to keep up with more frequent and intense runoff."

"The BP oil spill left an oily "bathub ring" on the sea floor that's about the size of Rhode Island, new research shows."