Energy & Fuel

"Partly driven by an oversupply of cheaper panels from China, the domestic solar market had its best year in 2012, with the growth in installations outpacing that of the global market, according to an annual report to be released Thursday."

"NEW ORLEANS -- BP's cement contractor on the Deepwater Horizon rig has discovered cement samples possibly tied to the ill-fated drilling project that weren't turned over to the Justice Department after the 2010 oil spill, a lawyer for the contractor said Thursday."

"KALAMAZOO, Mich. -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is ordering Enbridge Inc. to do additional dredging in the Kalamazoo River to clean up oil from a massive 2010 spill."

"WASHINGTON -- The Shell Oil Company must provide a detailed plan addressing numerous safety and operational issues that plagued its efforts to extract oil beneath the Arctic Ocean last year if it wants to resume drilling off the coast of Alaska, the Interior Department said Thursday."

"Republican lawmakers pressed President Barack Obama on the Keystone XL pipeline in a meeting on Wednesday. Initial reports suggested Obama would approve the pipeline, but he did not offer a definitive answer."

"Hulking, pitch-black mounds resembling coal have grown exponentially in the last week along the banks of the Detroit River in southwest Detroit, prompting concern about potential pollution from residents and legislators on both sides of the river."

"The U.S. approved three renewable- energy projects to be built on federal land in California and Nevada."

"State Department assessment focused on market response to rejection, rather than the climate impact and environmental cost of a pipeline approval."

"Two advocacy groups have come up with a new tactic to show how climate change—and laws to deal with it—could make investments in fossil fuel companies riskier and rock financial markets."