Greenwire

As U.S. EPA crafted today's proposal to limit greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants, the agency was asked by environmentalists to use a model that would incorporate both "systemwide" reductions and those that can be achieved at individual plants, while industry advocates warned that such an approach would be challenged in court.

Is the Obama administration's new carbon emissions proposal for existing power plants court-ready? During today's OnPoint, Roger Martella, a partner at Sidley Austin and a former general counsel at U.S. EPA, discusses the sections of the rule that could face legal challenges and weighs in on the agency's strategy in using a rate-based approach. He also talks about EPA's method for assigning individual state targets.

The organization responsible for responding to some Canadian oil spills wants to know when first responders should euthanize oil-soaked mammals struggling to stay alive.

China today announced plans to set a nationwide cap on carbon emissions in 2016, a move that could be a turning point in U.N. climate change negotiations starting this week in Germany.

Wyoming lawmakers ordered staff yesterday to draft a bill that would create a fuel tax for up-and-coming alternative sources of vehicle power.

An eruption at Pavlof Volcano that issued a 22,000-foot ash cloud stretching 50 miles to its east led the Alaska Volcano Observatory to raise the alert level at the volcano to "warning" yesterday.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) said yesterday he would hold off on signing a controversial bill to kill a coastal restoration lawsuit against oil and gas companies at the recommendation of the state's attorney general.

Investigators have ruled they can't determine the cause of a fire last week at a Texas fertilizer storage facility.

A 100-year-old molybdenum mine in New Mexico is shutting down, resulting in the layoff of 300 workers.

Pressure is mounting on the Obama administration to extend the public comment period for a controversial Clean Water Act regulation and an associated list of exemptions for the agricultural community.

Federal officials will use a controlled burn today to accelerate cleanup of a crude oil spill within the Delta National Wildlife Refuge blamed on a leak from a submerged bulk line.

Nationwide thefts of used cooking oil from restaurants more than doubled between 2005 and 2012, an industry group says.

The Obama administration has urged the Supreme Court to pass on reviewing a high-profile dispute on whether federal law shields from state lawsuits energy companies that engage in natural gas market manipulation.

A 54-year-old Montana man was seriously injured yesterday when his single-engine airplane crashed in the northern part of Yellowstone National Park.

An egg company in Iowa has agreed to $6.8 million in fines for selling tainted eggs, which created a salmonella outbreak that swept through the country in 2010, among other crimes.

Conservationists opposing the roundup of wild horses say 35,000 people filed comments urging the Bureau of Land Management not to "appease" ranchers by removing mustangs in Utah's Iron and Beaver counties.

An Iowa-based organization that combats "the radical animal rights movement" will launch a super PAC to raise unlimited campaign funds to support the election or defeat of candidates.

The National Park Service is facing scrutiny over its decision to open more than 130 miles of trails to off-highway vehicles in a wetlands preserve, after a federal judge denied the agency's motion to dismiss a lawsuit from environmentalists.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management today announced it has issued its first-ever lease to test the use of ocean currents to generate electricity in federal waters.

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