National (U.S.)

"RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — The federal government says a one-of-a-kind plant that will convert radioactive waste into a stable and storable substance that resembles glass will cost hundreds of millions of dollars more and may take longer to build, adding to a string of delays and skyrocketing price tag for the project. In addition, several workers at southeast Washington's Hanford nuclear reservation have raised concerns about the safety of the plant's design — and complained they've been retaliated against for voicing their issues."

"Capitol Hill’s biggest energy policy trend of 2011 is a Congress unable to accomplish much of anything."

"The chairwoman of the Texas Railroad Commission, Elizabeth Ames Jones, gets more campaign contributions from oil and gas than from any other industry. The Railroad Commission doesn't oversee railroads. By accident of history, the elected three-member panel regulates Texas's oil and gas industry. And when the three commissioners campaign, they turn to the companies they regulate to fill up their war chests."

Mike Soraghan reports for Greenwire December 9, 2011.

"House and Senate leaders on Thursday reached agreement on tougher safety rules for the nation’s vast network of pipelines in the wake of a spate of incidents including a deadly pipeline explosion in San Bruno, Calif., last year that killed eight people and destroyed 38 homes."

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- U.S. Labor Department officials blocked an independent state team investigating the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster from digging into questions about the federal government's response to earlier incidents where methane leaked from the Raleigh County operation's mine floor, newly disclosed records show."

In many places across the country today, manmade pollution and natural contamination of drinking water poser serious threats to people's health. Polls show Americans want such problems solved, and for four decades, the two political parties worked together to protect public health. But now Republicans (and some Democrats) in both House and Senate are trying to pass bills that would end safe drinking water and most other environmental protections.

"House of Representatives will include approval of a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline in a payroll tax cut bill, House Speaker John Boehner said on Thursday, raising the political stakes on the issue.

The move by House Republicans marked a challenge to President Barack Obama, who has warned he would veto any bill that linked quick approval of TransCanada Corp's Keystone XL pipeline to extending a tax cut for American workers that is due to expire on December 31.

"NAUCALPAN DE JUÁREZ, Mexico — The spent batteries Americans turn in for recycling are increasingly being sent to Mexico, where their lead is often extracted by crude methods that are illegal in the United States, exposing plant workers and local residents to dangerous levels of a toxic metal.

"CHEYENNE - The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday for the first time that fracking - a controversial method of improving the productivity of oil and gas wells - may be to blame for causing groundwater pollution."

"Air concentrations of the brominated chemicals doubled every 13 months in recent years in Cleveland and Chicago."