Public

"Jared Blumenfeld, the newly appointed director of the U.S. EPA's Pacific Southwest region, Region 9, is pledging to make life difficult for polluters, especially those who despoil the environment in underserved and vulnerable communities."

"The United States pledged Thursday to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020 from 2005 levels under an international climate agreement, though it made its commitment contingent on passing legislation at home."

President Obama announced Thursday that the Transportation Dept. is awarding $8 billion in economic stimulus funds to develop America's first nationwide program of high-speed intercity passenger rail service.

Jeff Goodell's article "As the World Burns: How Big Oil and Big Coal mounted one of the most aggressive lobbying campaigns in history to block progress on global warming" was published in the January 2010 issue of Rolling Stone.

"A decrease in water vapor concentrations in parts of the middle atmosphere has contributed to a slowing of Earth’s warming, researchers are reporting. The finding, they said, offers part of the explanation for a string of years with relatively stable global surface temperatures."

"Climate change could more than triple the risk of catastrophic wildfires in parts of Australia, a top environmental group warned Thursday, almost a year since savage firestorms that killed 173 people."

"President Obama refused to back down from his ambitious energy and climate change agenda during last night's State of the Union address, prodding the Senate to pass a comprehensive bill despite complaints from moderates in both parties that the issue is too big to tackle in an election year."

"Mine operators are spreading serious amounts of coal combustion waste in W.Va. before the EPA declares it to be a hazardous material."