Greenwire

JAMESTOWN, Va. -- Sally Jewell last set foot here several years ago, when her children were teenagers. She lured them with a visit to nearby Busch Gardens but was able to sneak in a trip to the National Park Service site, where she bought a glass container that she uses to this day to hold maple syrup.

New Mexico Sens. Tom Udall (D) and Martin Heinrich (D) are pushing for more federal funding for their state's troubled nuclear waste storage site.

By pursuing only the most egregious polluters, using new reporting technology and relying on public citizens to flag violations during lean budget times, U.S. EPA will continue to meet its enforcement goals, the agency's enforcement chief said yesterday.

An interagency task force established in the wake of the West, Texas, fertilizer plant explosion last year issued its final recommendations to President Obama this morning in a report that largely avoids new mandates on chemical facilities but could open the door to regulatory changes in the future.

The Obama administration has hired a former Alaska state lawmaker to lead its National Ocean Council.

A federal appeals court today sided with environmentalists in their challenge to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's approval of the expansion of a major Northeast natural gas pipeline.

Some delinquent staffers have given U.S. EPA employees a bad rap.

U.S. EPA officials who have left the agency may have as much sway over its new power plant rule as those still employed there. In a review of Office of Management and Budget meeting records, Greenwire found more than a half-dozen former EPA officials have worked to influence the regulation on behalf of outside interests. Ex-agency honchos are representing clients of all stripes -- environmental groups, energy companies and utilities -- as EPA works to finalize its rule designed to reduce carbon pollution.

Did U.S. EPA go far enough in its proposed rule for regulating carbon emissions from existing power plants? During today's OnPoint, Conrad Schneider, advocacy director at the Clean Air Task Force, explains how he believes the assumptions used by the agency in creating the rule could be strengthened. He also weighs in on whether a lack of congressional support for the rule ahead of the midterms could impact the Obama administration's ability to sell the plan to Americans.

South African police today announced the arrest of two men in connection with a $5.2 million heist of rhino horns from a game park office southeast of Johannesburg.

Eco-friendly auto parts suppliers are flocking to China as the country looks to crack down on vehicle emissions.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti has endorsed a plan supported by two California senators to route the state's cap-and-trade revenue toward mass transit and affordable housing.

Maui County, Hawaii, appears poised to vote on its first-ever citizens' initiative after residents gathered enough valid signatures to force a vote on temporarily banning genetically modified crops.

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) signed a controversial bill Friday to end a lawsuit brought by a local levee authority seeking compensation from oil and gas companies for damage to the state's coastline.

When Rio de Janeiro was making its bid for the 2016 Olympics, it promised to clean up the Guanabara Bay, where sailors say they have encountered dead animals, floating couches and plastic bags that hurt their rudders. But Saturday, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes said that promise would go unfulfilled.

Illinois yesterday became the first state to ban microbeads, the nonbiodegradable plastic particles used in many personal care products.

A California research team has created a coating for roof tiles that attacks pollutants linked to urban smog.

Early-life exposure to air pollution causes changes in the brain that are seen in humans with autism and schizophrenia, according to new research from the University of Rochester.

The Agriculture Department's Wildlife Services is facing criticism for killing more than 4 million animals in fiscal 2013.

The Department of Energy's inspector general has found weaknesses in the department's security procedures at its largest science and energy laboratory, according to a report released today.

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