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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.

"Dozens of District [of Columbia] residents who installed solar panels on their homes under a government grant program promoting renewable energy have been told they will not be reimbursed thousands of dollars as promised because the funds were diverted to help close a city budget gap."

Pennsylvania is experiencing a gas rush -- to drill and frack Marcellus shale formations -- a rush some say is polluting the state's groundwater and poisoning its citizens. Some critics wonder why Pennsylvania is one of the few states not to tax gas extraction as it faces a budget deficit of about $4 billion.

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.

A "group" seeming to be without members or origins has apparently lied about taking money from General Electric to call for less cleanup of that company's PCB pollution of the Housatonic River in Connecticut.

"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.