Greenwire

The Obama administration won widespread international praise this morning as it formalized its pledge to sharply curtail America's greenhouse gases as part of a landmark climate change accord. But from Europe to the Marshall Islands, leaders warned that governments are not yet doing enough to avert a dangerous rise in global temperatures.

The Obama administration formally promised the world today that the United States would use laws already on the books to cut greenhouse gases across the economy by at least 26 percent by 2025, and "to make best efforts to reduce its emissions by 28 percent."

Digging what would be Australia's largest coal mine threatens to wipe out an endangered finch and threatened tree, according to lawyers challenging plans yesterday for a mine in the Galilee Basin that would cost 16.5 billion Australian dollars.

E.U. lawmakers approved a long-term plan yesterday to eliminate overfishing of cod, sprat and herring in the Baltic Sea.

With much of its water supply too polluted for human consumption, China is set to launch an action plan this month to protect water quality.

Hurricane-force winds hit Northern Europe yesterday, killing at least four people in one of the most severe storms in years.

A loose steer got a brief taste of college life yesterday before the University of Kentucky rodeo team ended its hourlong jaunt through campus.

A year after his showdown with the Bureau of Land Management over grazing on public lands, rancher Cliven Bundy rallied outside the Nevada Capitol yesterday with more than 100 fellow supporters of state legislation to end federal control over land in Nevada.

U.S. EPA is set to propose a weed resistance management plan for the use of glyphosate, the world's most widely used herbicide and a key Monsanto Co. product.

It's been nearly two years since the explosion at the West Fertilizer Co. plant in West, Texas, and state businesses face no new safety requirements for their storage of ammonium nitrate, the chemical that exploded in the fatal blast.

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) yesterday requested that U.S. EPA account for a recent finding that the common herbicide glyphosate -- better-known by its commercial name Roundup -- may be linked to cancer.

California's water officials have talked tough about their plans to punish people who fail to conserve water, but state law no longer allows for a harsher penalty of throwing water wasters in jail.

Pollution from Asia is drifting over to California and causing "secondhand smog," a University of California, Davis, researcher said yesterday.

A draft Hudson River estuary management plan released today by the state of New York stresses concerns about increased barge and rail activity, aging water infrastructure and protection for threatened species as some of the challenges in conserving the sprawling system.

Texas environmental regulators say that a three-day workshop scheduled for next week will focus on the science and policy questions surrounding ground-level ozone, a key component of smoggy city air.

The Federal Highway Administration is granting another five weeks for public comments on proposed regulations requiring state transportation departments to systematically maintain and preserve existing roads and bridges through "asset management" plans.

The federal government's elite career employees are troubled by prospects that Congress would allow them to be fired more easily.

Genetically modified foods approved for consumption are expected to become more exotic in the coming years thanks to the recent OK given to apples that don't brown and potatoes that don't bruise.

Southern Co. today announced a new research center that will be dedicated to "cutting-edge innovation" in electricity products and services for customers.

States are expressing concern about the Mine Safety and Health Administration asserting jurisdiction over abandoned coal mine reclamation sites and are asking congressional appropriators to intervene.

Latest Images