National (U.S.)

The practices of feeding farm animals low doses of antibiotics is helping breed lethal new super-bacteria that are resistant to treatment when they infect humans.

"A $93 million court settlement requiring Duke Energy, one of the America's largest electric power companies, to eliminate sulfur dioxide emissions from a coal-fired plant in Indiana, was reached Tuesday, state and federal officials said."

"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency [Tuesday] finalized a rule setting stricter exhaust emission standards and cleaner fuel standards for large marine diesel engines on large U.S.-flagged ships, a part of the agency’s long-term strategy to reduce harmful marine diesel emissions."

"A proposal to move large amounts of wind and solar power out of the Southwest by linking the three separate North American electricity grids with state-of-the-art switching terminals and superconducting cables is now in hands of federal regulators."

The nuclear industry may get a shot in the arm -- as the Energy Department is set to announce $18.5 billion in new loan guarantees.

After a perceived shortage of gasoline refineries a few years ago, five U.S. refineries have shut down this year. Refiners seem convinced that -- even after the economy recovers -- demand will not grow much.

Some golf courses get a bad rap from environmentalists, but there's a budding green movement in the golf industry.

"Communities in cold climates around the USA are changing their approach to snow and ice removal from highways in an effort to reduce potential harm to wildlife and vegetation caused by road salt runoff."

"A report has found that farmers are using more herbicides on genetically engineered soybeans, corn, and cotton because of resistant weeds."

"Federal regulators under President Barack Obama have sharply shifted course on long-standing policy toward pharmaceutical residues in the nation's drinking water, taking a critical first step toward regulating some of the contaminants while acknowledging they could threaten human health."