Public

"The U.S. Supreme Court hears arguments Monday in a case near and dear to EPA haters. It would seem to be a David-and-Goliath case that pits a middle-class American couple trying to build their dream home against the Environmental Protection Agency. But the couple, Michael and Chantell Sackett, is backed by a veritable who's who in American mining, oil, utilities, manufacturing and real estate development, as well as groups opposed to government regulation."

"ALLENTOWN, Pa. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency abruptly changed its mind Saturday about delivering fresh water to residents of a northeastern Pennsylvania village where residential wells were found to be tainted by a natural gas drilling operation."

"An independent panel has cleared two Interior Department scientists of scientific misconduct, more than three months after a federal judge lambasted their testimony on an endangered fish as 'false' and 'outrageous.'

"Dr. Paul Anastas, a top EPA scientist who heads the agency’s research branch is leaving EPA and returning to Yale University in February."

"EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson announced the news in a memo to staff Thursday. Anastas is EPA’s formal science adviser and heads the Office of Research and Development."

Ben Geman reports for the Hill's E2 Wire January 6, 2012.

"Three Australian environmental activists were detained on board a Japanese whaling ship on Sunday after boarding in protest at Japan's annual whale cull in the Antarctic, anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd said.

The three activists from Forest Rescue, an Australian group specializing in direct action to prevent logging, boarded the ship early on Sunday with assistance from the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, Sea Shepherd said in a statement.

"BILLINGS, Mont. -- White-tailed deer populations in parts of eastern Montana and elsewhere in the Northern Plains could take years to recover from a devastating disease that killed thousands of the animals in recent months, wildlife officials and hunting outfitters said."

"In an effort to sustain commercial and recreational fishing for the next several decades, the United States this year will become the first country to impose catch limits for every species it manages, from Alaskan pollock to Caribbean queen conch."

"The Obama administration is set to announce on Monday that it will block new uranium mining on one million acres in northern Arizona near the Grand Canyon, lobbyists and Interior Department employees who had been informed about the decision said on Friday."

"Alabama's coal-fired power plants dispose of almost 15 million pounds of toxic metals in on-site ash ponds, more than plants in any other state. Alabama Power Co.'s Miller Steam Plant in western Jefferson County sends more toxic metals to its ash pond than any other plant in the country, more than 5 million pounds annually."

Thomas Spencer reports for the Birmingham News January 6, 2012.