National (U.S.)

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has decided that the declining Atlantic populations of the bluefin tuna do not warrant endangered species protection for now.

"Concerned about the threat of a catastrophic outbreak of a herpes virus among wild horse herds in the West, national animal advocates on Thursday called on the federal government to keep potentially infected domestic horses away from mustangs and burros on public lands."

"At Chevron's annual general meeting Wednesday, the oil giant's chief executive John Watson, the Board of Directors and shareholders were greeted by over 150 activists, who traveled to San Ramon from throughout the world. They came from Angola, Indonesia, Nigeria, Alaska and Ecuador to share their stories of the human and environmental degradation Chevron had unleashed in their communities."

"Shareholders of Massey Energy Co. asked a judge on Thursday to block the company's pending acquisition unless they are allowed to pursue claims that company directors ignored safety for profits and should be held accountable for a mine explosion that killed 29 workers last year."

"In the first substantive hearing of the consolidated litigation over last year's Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, corporate defendants told U.S. District Court Judge Carl Barbier Thursday that claims for economic damage, claims by first responders who got sick from cleaning up the oil, and suits by environmental advocacy groups should be dismissed."

Conservative claims that endangered species protections for the 2-inch-long desert pupfish are endangering the lives of U.S. Border Patrol agents flunk the fact-check test, according to a federal official in Arizona.

"A bidding war is heating up among users of corn in the United States as livestock feeders and ethanol makers scramble to lock in supplies before extremely low stocks run dry by this summer."

"The massive amount of nutrient-heavy river water pouring out of spillways and through the mouths of the Mississippi and Atchafalaya rivers will likely trigger a record-setting Gulf of Mexico dead zone, an area of low-to-no oxygen water that forms annually off Louisiana’s coast."

"For Republican presidential contenders who once supported combatting global warming, the race is heating up. Faced with an activist right wing that questions the science linking pollution to changes in the Earth's climate and also disdains big government, most of the GOP contenders have stepped back from their previous positions on global warming."

"The Obama administration on Thursday came through on its pledge to scour the federal rule book for regulations that need to be either dramatically changed or scrapped, as the White House seeks to stay in front of GOP and industry complaints that too many federal regulations are burdensome."