"Opponents of the law, largely oil firms and conservative activists, miss a signature-gathering target date for putting an initiative on the November ballot, but get a cash infusion to keep trying."
"More than 200 former congressional staff members, federal regulators and lawmakers are employed by the mining industry as lobbyists, consultants or senior executives, including dozens who work for coal companies with the worst safety records in the nation, a Washington Post analysis shows."
"When Sen. David Vitter persuaded the EPA to agree to yet another review of its long-delayed assessment of the health risks of formaldehyde, he was praised by companies that use or manufacture a chemical found in everything from plywood to carpet."
Across the country, aging dams are reaching the end of their lifespan, and must be either removed or rebuilt -- at very significant cost. One dam in Minnesota raises issues of public tax dollars being spent to benefit the rich -- and puts a political problem squarely in the lap of aspiring GOP tea-bagger Gov. Tim Pawlenty.
"Should New Jersey's environmental agency play a key role in economic development? New Jersey Environmental Commissioner Bob Martin thinks so, and soon he will appoint an assistant commissioner for economic development -- believed to be a first in the agency's nearly 40-year history."
"The United States will abstain today when the World Bank directors vote to loan South Africa $3.75 billion for a coal-fired power plant, sources told ClimateWire."
"Controversy is swirling in Montana after the governor, Brian Schweitzer, requested in a letter sent to local officials that they voice support for 'coal money' from a proposed new mine in exchange for receiving funds to build roads and other infrastructure projects."
"African-American residents of Mossville, a community just west of Lake Charles, have won a hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on charges that the U.S. government has violated their rights to privacy and racial equality in not forcing local chemical plants to stop polluting."
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