Greenwire

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's inspector general has launched an investigation into whether the agency made a mistake when it allowed Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to change earthquake safety standards at a California nuclear plant without holding public hearings.

Workers at U.S. EPA, the Interior Department and the Energy Department owe more than $20 million in combined back taxes, new data show.

The Baltimore Board of Estimates, led by Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, voted unanimously yesterday to end its agreement with Energy Answers International Inc. to buy electricity from a planned waste-burning facility.

Money earmarked for pipeline safety was instead used to line the pockets of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. executives in the months leading up to a 2010 pipeline explosion that left eight dead, Public Utilities Commission head Michael Picker told lawmakers yesterday.

A federal judge held settlement talks yesterday in a mining dispute involving former Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D).

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought by environmental activists that attempted to order Massachusetts to more strictly regulate greenhouse gas emissions.

A Canadian antiques dealer was sentenced today to 30 months in prison for smuggling rhinoceros horns from the United States into his home country.

Opponents of the National Park Service's plan to restrict unleashed dogs to only a fraction of the San Francisco Bay Area's federal parks flew to the nation's capital this week to lobby for preserving dog freedom.

The diversity of New England's plant life is at risk from a range of threats that include commercial harvesting and salt marsh dieback, according to a new report.

Scientists are concerned that two exotic termites have the potential to create a hybrid species in Florida that could increase damage to properties.

The U.S. government and fishing industry officials are again calling on Thai officials to punish those who force migrant workers to catch seafood that ends up in the United States following a report by the Associated Press published yesterday.

White House officials met with policy experts from conservation groups recently to discuss the Fish and Wildlife Service's stalled ban on the commercial ivory trade.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration plans to expand a marine sanctuary off Hawaii and widen its conservation focus beyond humpback whales.

Impending legislation from Utah's congressional delegation is showing signs of softening the positions of local politicians and environmentalists as it attempts to broker a deal over public land use in the state.

The House Science, Space and Technology Committee chairman is accusing U.S. EPA of "stonewalling and slow rolling" as he digs for information about Administrator Gina McCarthy's deleted text messages.

Intimidation of Agriculture Department scientists by upper-echelon managers is increasing, government oversight group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility said today.

Sens. James Lankford (R-Okla.) and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) today launched a new webpage to take comments from citizens and businesses that are struggling with federal regulations.

The U.S. coal markets have been in the dumps for years now, but a flurry of new reports suggests the situation may be worse than originally envisioned.

Key Senate Republicans yesterday today blasted draft guidance on how federal agencies should incorporate climate change into their project reviews as an "illegitimate expansion" of a key environmental law.

Federal judges were skeptical today of an industry challenge to U.S. EPA's determination that carbon captured from power plant emissions and injected underground qualifies as a "solid waste."

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