• Will Air Quality Rules Put Power Reliability At Risk?
• BY: Daniel Lippman   |   February 8, 2012
• Do new air quality rules announced by the EPA raise the risk that some electrical utilities could have reliability issues in keeping the lights on? That was a chief question debated by attendees at a utilities forum in Washington, D.C. Tuesday.

• San Francisco Expands Plastic Bag Ban
• BY: The Associated Press   |   California   |   February 8, 2012
• Shoppers in San Francisco will have to pay 10 cents per bag and more retailers are now banned from handing out plastic bags under a proposal approved Tuesday by the city's Board of Supervisors.
• 2 Comments

• Pennsylvania Gas Drilling Fee Bill Debate Ends Without Vote
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Pennsylvania   |   February 8, 2012
• Pennsylvania, the only major gas-producing state that does not tax the taking of natural gas from its soil, moved closer Tuesday to imposing a fee on the drilling in the vast Marcellus Shale reserves that have transformed the state in recent years.

• Ron Paul: States Should Resolve Land Management Issues
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Nation   |   February 3, 2012
• Republican Rep. Ron Paul railed against the federal government during campaign stops in Nevada on Thursday, saying states are in the best position to resolve conflicts over the management of wild horses and roads on public lands.
• 1 Comments

• Obama Pushes for Veterans Jobs Programs
• BY: The Associated Press   |   February 2, 2012
• In an effort to cut the unemployment rate among veterans, President Barack Obama is calling for a new conservation program that would put veterans to work rebuilding trails, roads and levees on public lands.

• Univ. of Vermont is Latest to Ban Plastic Water Bottles
• BY: Caroline Cournoyer   |   February 2, 2012
• Hoping to save money and the environment, a dozen colleges have stopped selling bottled water on campus.
• 1 Comments

• Report Proposes Dividing Great Lakes, Mississippi
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Great Lakes   |   February 2, 2012
• Groups representing states and cities in the Great Lakes region on Tuesday proposed spending up to $9.5 billion on a massive engineering project to separate the lakes from the Mississippi River watershed in the Chicago area, describing it as the only sure way to protect both aquatic systems from invasions by destructive species such as Asian carp.

• Old Architecture Buildings Pit Preservation vs. Progress
• BY: Jonathan Walters   |   February 2012
• A new generation of old structures is raising fresh questions about the rehabbing of architectural gems.

• Curbside Composting Added to a Major City: Is It Yours?
• BY: Elizabeth Daigneau   |   February 2012
• Nearly 100 cities now divert food waste from landfills. It’s far from becoming the norm, though, considering most major cities still don’t even have curbside recycling.
• 1 Comments

• The Plastic Bag Ban: A Battle of Socio-Economic Policy
• BY: Donald F. Kettl   |   February 2012
• This latest skirmish shows how localities, not the feds, are driving eco-policy.
• 4 Comments

• Water Shortage Crisis Tests El Paso's Conservation Efforts
• BY: Dylan Scott   |   February 2012
• El Paso began preparing for shortages two decades ago. Now, it's seen as a leader in confronting a crisis that many expect to spread beyond Texas.
• 1 Comments

• In Oil-Rich Alaska, Will the Good Times Last?
• BY: Stateline.org   |   January 31, 2012
• High oil prices are a boon for Alaska, whose credit rating recently went up to the coveted triple-A level. But waning oil production, unpredictable prices and looming pension costs remain challenges.

• Texas Town Relying on Tanker Trucks for Water
• BY: The Associated Press   |   Spicewood, Texas   |   January 31, 2012
• Tanker trucks loaded with water have become the lifeline for a Texas lakefront village that came precariously close to becoming the state's first community to run out of drinking water during a historic drought.

• Iowa and Nebraska State Parks Struggle With Tight Budgets
• BY: Dylan Scott   |   Midwest   |   January 30, 2012
• Iowa and Nebraska, Midwest states known for their picturesque vistas, are straining to make money for their state parks go as far as it can, the Omaha World-Herald reports.