"MANTON, Calif. — Aided by a shift in wind direction, firefighters made a stand against a huge lightning-sparked wildfire burning on the edge of three small Northern California towns."
"Royal Dutch Shell is spending billions of dollars to drill the first oil wells in U.S. Arctic waters in 20 years, backed by an Obama administration eager to show it wasn't opposed to offshore exploration. But the closely watched project isn't going the way the company or the government hoped—illustrating the continuing challenge of plumbing for natural riches in one of the world's most unforgiving locations."
"AZTEC, N.M. — The land is parched, the fields are withering and thousands of the nation’s horses are being left to fend for themselves on the dried range, abandoned by people who can no longer afford to feed them."
"ABOARD THE DREDGE POTTER, on the Mississippi River — This ship is making sure that the Big River, shrinking under one of the worst droughts in modern history, stays deep enough."
"A retired aerospace executive - appointed to review a study on hydraulic fracturing after it was disclosed the study's author has strong industry ties - has such ties himself."
"Beside Seattle’s notoriously polluted Duwamish River, an excavator scoops up small pieces of waste metal and slings them onto a rusty mountain at Seattle Iron & Metals Corp. A pile of flattened cars and trucks squats nearby amid vast sheets of scrap metal. For at least the last four years, this auto-shredder and metal recycler has dumped more pollutants into the river than allowed under the federal Clean Water Act, government records show. The levels have ranged higher than 250 times above what’s known to harm salmon that migrate through the river."
"BLACKFEET INDIAN RESERVATION, Mont. -- The mountains along the eastern edge of Glacier National Park rise from the prairie like dinosaur teeth, their silvery ridges and teardrop fields of snow forming the doorway to one of America’s most pristine places."
"Ever since comprehensive legislation to reduce greenhouse gases died in Congress two years ago, my colleague John Broder noted here recently, climate change has been the issue that national politicians seem to avoid at all costs. Supporting renewable energy? Fine. Advocating energy independence? Great. Calling for action on global warming? Not so much."
"ANCHORAGE -- Shell Oil's delay in drilling Arctic Ocean exploratory wells off Alaska's northern shores is not due to heavy ice or federal regulators, according to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar."
"A variety of laws regulate trade of endangered and threatened species, but many at-risk animals show up on U.S. menus. Most fish and seafood species have yet to be considered for listing on endangered lists. It’s not always possible to figure out where menu items come from."
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