National (U.S.)

The potential resurgence of uranium mining in the U.S. raises questions of both national and local interest.

"The White House released a plan on Tuesday aimed at protecting oceans, coastal and Great Lakes environments around the United States while safeguarding related businesses that support more than 44 million jobs."

"WASHINGTON -- The Obama administration’s nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency declined on Thursday to answer questions about a controversial new guide that suggests public health standards could be relaxed dramatically in the event of a nuclear attack or accident."

"Nearly 140,000 whales and dolphins could be injured if the Obama administration allows energy companies to conduct seismic research aimed at identifying oil and gas along the Atlantic Coast, according to a new report issued Tuesday."

"CUCAPÁ EL MAYOR, Mexico — Germán Muñoz looked out at the river before him and talked about the days when dolphins swam here, 60 miles from the sea."

"The fire that destroyed part of Chevron's Richmond refinery happened because weak state regulations allowed the company to monitor rather than simply fix potential problems, federal investigators said Monday."

"Synthetic chemicals added to consumer products to meet federal and state flammability standards are showing up in waterways, wildlife and even human breast milk."

The 2013 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting went to InsideClimate News, a 5-year-old web-only nonprofit, for its book-length feature series on the 2010 Enbridge tar-sands oil spill that fouled miles of Michigan's Kalamazoo River. InsideClimate has been one of the most aggressive media outlets covering the current spill in Mayflower, Arkansas. ExxonMobil recently threatened one of InsideClimate's reporters with arrest for trying to find a federal government press office handling the spill.

"NOAA has issued a report on a small part of the recent brutal droughts that have hit the United States over the past few years. The report — 'An Interpretation of the Origins of the 2012 Central Great Plains Drought' — is needlessly confusing, scientifically problematic, and already leading to misleading headlines."

"MAYFLOWER, Arkansas -- Warren Andrews had just finished putting up balloons for his stepdaughter's 18th birthday party at their suburban home in Mayflower, Arkansas, when his wife came inside and said something was wrong."