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As drilling grows, Colo. records first-ever high wintertime ozone levels

Posted: May 21, 2013

Colorado regulators this year have measured elevated wintertime ground-level ozone levels for the first time, prompting an environmental group to petition the Bureau of Land Management to halt all new oil and natural gas drilling on federal lands in northwest Colorado where the pollution was...

Most states show decreases in CO2 emissions

Posted: May 21, 2013

Carbon dioxide emissions from energy use declined in the majority of states between 2000 and 2010, according to an analysis released yesterday by the Department of Energy.

Led by big percentage decreases in CO2 emissions in Delaware, the District of Columbia, New York and Maine, states'...

Wyo. governor unveils energy strategy

Posted: May 17, 2013

New rules for baseline water testing, off-site mitigation and reclamation are among the hallmarks of Gov. Matt Mead’s official strategy for energy management in Wyoming.

The strategy, much like its preliminary predecessor, breaks down energy policy into four basic subgroups – economic...

Carbon milestone a reminder of things to come

Posted: May 13, 2013

The Earth's atmospheric carbon dioxide levels passed an ominous milestone yesterday when a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration observatory on the Big Island in Hawaii registered 400 parts per million for the first time.

It's a concentration of CO2 that has not existed in the...

Coal mine smoldering poses fire risk in SW Colo.

Posted: May 8, 2013

At least seven coal fires are smoldering near the site of a wildfire that burned 10,000 acres in southwestern Colorado last year.

Coal fires are not uncommon and can burn for decades underground without ever producing open flames. But the number of fires near the mountain concerns state...

EPA criminal enforcement suffers from sequestration

Posted: May 8, 2013

When a jury last week found a former suburban Chicago water department chief guilty of 11 charges related to mixing contaminated well water into a town's drinking water supply, the verdict represented an important victory for U.S. EPA's criminal enforcement efforts.

EPA officials hope the...

Interior head promises fracking rule within weeks

Posted: May 6, 2013

The Obama administration plans to unveil new federal regulations for hydraulic fracturing and drilling on public lands within the next few weeks, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said during a teleconference with reporters.

The drilling rule will impose stricter standards on oil and...

EPA to change the way it handles environmental justice complaints

Posted: May 6, 2013

U.S. EPA plans to change the way it investigates environmental justice complaints, recently releasing two policy papers that address long-standing criticism of the agency's Office of Civil Rights.

The papers target so-called Title VI complaints, which are named after a provision in the...

States scramble as EPA shifts research monitors into regulatory mode

Posted: May 3, 2013

A little-noticed change in U.S. EPA air policy has turned a national pollution-monitoring network that has been providing data to researchers for 22 years into a regulatory tool, leaving states scrambling to figure out the implications.

At issue are 90 air monitors in the Clean Air Status...

Mont. commission opposes proposed EPA rules on greenhouse gases

Posted: May 2, 2013

Montana's Public Service Commission says it opposes proposed federal rules to restrict greenhouse gas emissions for new power plants.

The PSC said in a statement Monday that it sent the Environmental Protection Agency a letter urging the agency to withdraw its proposed rules for new...