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Some 30 energy companies are off the hook for now. "So many members of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals have recused themselves from a rehearing of a lawsuit that charges energy companies with contributing to the effects of Hurricane Katrina by emitting greenhouse gases that the court cannot conduct the rehearing."

"FRESNO, Calif. - A hazardous-waste landfill suspected by Kettleman City residents of causing birth defects has been inaccurately testing treated contaminants for five years, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency says."

"As greenhouse gas levels and temperatures rise, seasonal events that species rely on are slipping out of balance. Consequently, many plants’ and animals’ neighborhoods – their ecosystems – are changing rapidly. These changes are challenging the ways in which we've protected wildlife and the ecosystems on which they depend."

California Republican Richard Pombo, who was ousted by voters in 2007 from the Congressional seat from which he championed extraction over environment, is trying to return. A tight four-way primary this week will be key.

"Dutch prosecutors accused Trafigura AG of putting profits ahead of safety at the start of the company's criminal trial Tuesday, saying the oil trader hid hazardous waste in a ship that docked in Amsterdam in 2006 and then exported it illegally."

"BP shareholders are fleeing the company’s stock amid growing uncertainty about the ultimate bill for cleanup costs, lawsuits, fines and damage to the oil giant’s reputation."

Unable to discredit consensus climate science with evidence and arguments, the climate change deniers have launched a broad campaign of death threats and intimidation against top-level research scientists.

"The Obama administration said Tuesday that it had begun civil and criminal investigations into the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, as the deepening crisis threatened to define President Obama’s second year in office."

The BP Gulf oil spill is inspiring re-evaluation of how to prevent low-probability but highly catastrophic environmental risks. In Oregon, the terminals and pipelines proposed for handling imported liquified natural gas are getting a very hard look.