Environmental Politics

"WASHINGTON — In the summer of 2010, it was Harry Reid, the Senate’s Democratic leader, who squelched his party’s efforts to pass a climate change bill, declaring it could never attract enough votes to pass. In the years since, he has rarely spoken publicly about the issue. But on Monday night, an impassioned Mr. Reid took to the Senate floor to kick off a nearly 15-hour climate-change talkathon by about 30 Senate Democrats, part of a campaign by a new Senate 'climate caucus' to make it a politically urgent issue."

Last week's Canadian green light for a pipeline flow reversal may mean that oil sands crude will be travelling to New England. Some New Englanders think that's a bad idea.

"CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Duke Energy's CEO says while the company and its shareholders will pay to clean up a coal ash spill in the Dan River, its customers will shoulder the costs of closing the rest of the utility's coal ash ponds across North Carolina."

"State commission in New Mexico will soon decide between benefits of diversion and water conservation for the Gila."

"Republicans say faster approval of LNG export terminals could help check the influence of other suppliers, like Russia, and allow Europe to take a tougher diplomatic stance on Ukraine. Energy analysts say that would take years."

One of the few journalists covering First Nation protests against fracking in New Brunswick -- and regularly arrested for doing so -- saw charges against him dropped for a third time in February. Now the Canadian Association of Journalists asks whether the RCMP are trying to intimidate journalists.

"HOUSTON – Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said Wednesday that oil companies have not done a good job explaining why they believe heavy federal restrictions on crude-oil exports should be lifted."

"OTTAWA — Canada’s energy producers received a rare boost in their efforts to expand the market for oil sands bitumen on Thursday when the country’s National Energy Board approved the reversal of a Canadian pipeline."

"The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating the company for evidence of criminal wrongdoing in a massive coal ash spill. But this comes too late for some North Carolina residents, who feel abandoned by regulators."

"Since the 1990s, a vast body of research has linked BPA and other chemicals found in plastics to serious health problems, ranging from cancer to infertility. But the industry—often using tactics pioneered by Big Tobacco as it sought to bury evidence about the health risks of smoking—has managed to shield these substances from federal regulation. How did Big Plastic bring regulators to heel?"