"It's a volatile time in the state budget process, and North Carolina's main environmental agency can do little but watch as legislators, led by a recently installed GOP majority, work to close an estimated $2.4-billion shortfall through sharp cuts to its budget."
"Gov. Rick Scott authorized state officials Friday to ask the federal Environmental Protection Agency to back off on water pollution rules that Florida business and agriculture interests as well as many local government officials say will be too costly to implement."
"Republicans say installing long-overdue pollution controls would harm economic recovery, while advocates claim the rules would create jobs and save lives."
"An American Indian tribe's efforts to win access to legal documents relating to the federal government's management of a tribal trust fund received a cool reception at the Supreme Court [Wednesday]."
"Bolivia [Wednesday] marked the International Day of Mother Earth with a ceremony in the Plaza Murillo, the center of political power. An ancient ritual shared center stage with speeches in which authorities in this Andean nation extolled the Law of Mother Earth - the world's first legislation that grants to all nature rights equal to humans."
"The head of the Met Office [the United Kingdom's national weather service] has revealed that he has received death threats from climate change sceptics."
"A battle over whether states can use nuisance laws to curb greenhouse-gas emissions from power plants will come to the Supreme Court Tuesday in a case that puts a twist on the debate over climate policy."
"Congress [April 14] approved a budget bill that includes a rider removing wolves in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon and Utah from the federal endangered species list and sets the stage for near-term delisting in Wyoming. The measure returns control of wolf management to the states."
Taxpayers can't escape paying what they owe the U.S. Treasury. But for big oil companies who owe royalties, it's another matter.
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