National (U.S.)

"The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided Thursday that wild plains bison do not deserve protection under the Endangered Species Act."

"The chief of security for Massey Energy's Upper Big Branch Mine lied to investigators and tried to destroy mine records, a grand jury has alleged in the first charges to come from a federal criminal probe of the April 2010 explosion that killed 29 coal miners."

"The new well will track one plugged after a moratorium. Obama administration officials say pressure from courts and Congress did not affect the decision, but that the firm met new safety rules."

"The short-term spending bill released Friday by House Republicans does not include language to block funding for the Environmental Protection Agency’s climate rules or slash the agency’s budget."

Refinery workers and nearby communities are endangered by lax regulation and neglect of safety by companies that find it more profitable to buy political influence than repair or maintain equipment.

While economists acknowledge doubts and uncertainties about the models that seem to predict job-losses from air pollution controls, members of Congress cite them without any caveats.

"With no say in their chamber's agenda but an ambitious goal of reclaiming the majority, House Democrats are turning to energy and environmental issues in their latest bid to promote an alternative to the GOP economic agenda ahead of the 2012 election."

"Farm groups and members of Congress are jumping the gun in their efforts to stop U.S. EPA from making its air pollution rules tougher on dusty rural areas, the agency's second-in-command said yesterday."

As gas companies race to drill more wells that produce gas with a technique known as hydrofracking, the dangers of the toxic wastewater they discharge turn out to be greater than previously understood.