Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV)

"Gov. Edward G. Rendell of Pennsylvania signed an executive order on Tuesday effectively banning further natural gas development on state forest lands."

"The Obama administration has moved another step closer to blocking the largest mountaintop removal permit in West Virginia history, with a veto recommendation from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's regional administrator."

"If there is one policy left over from the Corzine administration that has been fully and enthusiastically embraced by Gov. Chris Christie, it is a program privatizing the cleanup of the tens of thousands of contaminated waste sites in New Jersey."

"A set of proposed regulations to modernize safety in Pennsylvania's booming natural gas industry and force drillers to disclose the chemicals they use cleared a first procedural hurdle Tuesday."

In a hotly contested Maryland race for House of Representatives, incumbent Democrat Rep. Frank Kratovil plays up his environmental credentials in a a district where the livelihoods of farmers and watermen (plus a tourist industry) depend on the environment. His opponent, Republican Andy Harris, offers a stark contrast and is making a strong showing."

"Gov. Joe Manchin has scheduled a press conference Wednesday morning where he is expected to announce that the state is filing suit against the federal government over the Obama administration's crackdown on mountaintop removal coal mining." Democrat Manchin, once considered a shoo-in for Robert Byrd's Senate seat, is now struggling to keep up with Republican candidate John Raese.

"Federal officials began a sweeping crackdown on pollution in the Chesapeake Bay on Friday - threatening to punish five mid-Atlantic states with rules that could raise sewer bills and put new conditions on construction."

The gas-drilling boom that is sweeping Pennsylvania is demonstrating the power of money to overcome landowners' reluctance and influence legislators and regulators. This fall, a gusher of gas-industry political campaign donations is spewing.

"COROLLA, N.C. -- On a stretch of barrier island without paved roads, some of the last wild horses in the eastern United States are seeing their world get smaller each year."

EPA has reissued the operating permit for the world's largest sewage treatment plant -- Blue Plains, which handles sewage from most of the DC metro area. Despite huge improvements in the Potomac River since the 1960s, Blue Plains needs to reduce its nitrogen discharge another 45 percent to protect the Chesapeake Bay.