National (U.S.)

"LOS ANGELES — Unusual wear has been found on hundreds of tubes that carry radioactive water at Southern California’s San Onofre Unit 2 nuclear plant, raising questions about the integrity of equipment the company installed in a multimillion-dollar makeover in 2009.

The disclosure came two days after a tube leak at the plant’s other unit prompted operators to shut down the reactor as a precaution. A tiny amount of radiation could have escaped, but officials say workers and the public were not endangered.

"The Environmental Protection Agency missed a deadline to release federal guidelines on the dangers of excess dioxin chemicals in the food supply and environment, giving ammunition to critics that hope the agency will change course."

"The two chairmen of a study group established after the Obama administration killed a plan for a nuclear waste repository in Nevada appeared before a House subcommittee on Wednesday to explain a proposed solution to the enduring waste dilemma. They found their idea tough to sell. Last week the so-called Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future released a report calling for a new approach to finding a site, based on local consent rather than Congressional dictate."

"Insurance commissioners in California, New York and Washington State will require that companies disclose how they intend to respond to the risks their businesses and customers face from increasingly severe storms and wildfires, rising sea levels and other consequences of climate change, California’s commissioner said Wednesday."

"Trevor Rees-Jones made his name as a Dallas fracking pioneer. So what's he doing bankrolling political attack ads halfway across the country?"

"Half the authors of a controversial Wall Street Journal opinion piece denying the Earth's warming trend have ties to the oil and gas industry, a DailyClimate.org investigation finds."

"Hate mail in the inbox has been an occupational hazard for climate scientists in the public eye for some time now. Something about their endorsement and explanation of the mainstream scientific view that humans are heating up the earth’s atmosphere elicits that sort of response from certain people who disagree very strongly. Lately, it has been Texas Tech University professor Katharine Hayhoe’s turn to be on the receiving end of an avalanche of venomous emails."

"Proposed new beach pollution regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, meant to protect public health, instead would continue to allow lots of people to get sick, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, or NRDC."

"Snow seems to be missing in action this winter for much of the United States."

"U.S. House Republican leaders proposed a $260 billion transportation spending bill Tuesday, but its prospects are slim because of controversy over provisions to allow heavier trucks and to pay for new projects with expanded oil and gas production. The bill is important for all 50 states, including Louisiana, because it sets spending parameters for transportation financing critical to repairing and upgrading roadways. The bill also is one of the federal government's biggest job-generators.