• Cost of Clean Water Regulations Frustrating Mayors
• BY: Ryan Holeywell   |   October 5, 2012
• Hundreds of cities are trying to follow federal orders to clean up their wastewater systems -- sometimes at a cost of billions of dollars.
• 2 Comments

• Pollution Tax Constitutional, Rules Washington State Supreme Court
• Source: AP/Seattle Times   |   Washington state   |   October 5, 2012
• The high court upheld a King County Superior Court ruling that found the state is not precluded from using the current tax of 0.7 percent on oil products, pesticides and other chemicals for environmental cleanup projects.

• Report: Wyoming Among Least Energy-Efficient States
• Source: Casper Star-Tribune   |   Wyoming   |   October 4, 2012
• Only Mississippi, North Dakota and West Virginia ranked lower in the list by a national efficiency advocacy group.

• New California Laws Set Up Framework for Spending Cap-and-Trade Revenue
• BY: McClatchy News   |   California   |   October 2, 2012
• While businesses deride California's new restrictions on greenhouse-gas emissions as a giant tax, lawmakers have taken steps to carve up the money.

• Fracking Decision Delays Prompt Anger and Praise in New York
• Source: New York Times   |   New York   |   October 1, 2012
• State environmental officials said they would restart the regulatory rule-making process, requiring them to repeat a number of formal steps, and almost certainly pushing a decision into next year.

• Electric Vehicles’ Role in Meeting New Efficiency Rules
• BY: Paul W. Taylor   |   October 2012
• One man’s test of the electric vehicle charging infrastructure along the West Coast highlights the hurdles ahead for states and localities in meeting the Obama administration’s new fuel efficiency rules.

• Can Credit-Exchange Programs Clean Up Lakes?
• BY: Elizabeth Daigneau   |   October 2012
• The concept has been used for the past 40 years as a means of restoring the health of rivers, streams, lakes and oceans -- but it's getting new attention.

• California Gov. Brown OKs Freeze on Park Closures
• Source: Los Angeles Times   |   California   |   September 26, 2012
• Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation setting a two-year moratorium on closing state parks in the wake of a scandal in which some parks officials hid surplus funds while facilities were threatened with being shuttered.

• The Farm Bill Expires This Week. Does It Matter?
• BY: Ryan Holeywell   |   September 26, 2012
• Not much -- for now. But lawmakers, especially those from agriculture-producing states, have warned Congress about the troubles that could ensue.
• 2 Comments

• Taxpayers, Ratepayers Will Fund California Solar Plants
• BY: McClatchy News   |   September 25, 2012
• Driven by the Obama administration's vision of clean power and energy independence, the rush to build large-scale solar plants across the Southwest has created an investors' dream in the desert.
• 1 Comments

• Judge Dismisses New York Fracking Lawsuit
• Source: Businessweek   |   New York   |   September 25, 2012
• New York state can’t pursue a lawsuit seeking a full environmental review of hydraulic fracturing, a federal judge ruled in a case that might have held up natural gas development in the Delaware River Basin.

• Measuring Air Quality in U.S. Cities
• BY: Brian Peteritas   |   Los Angeles   |   September 24, 2012
• A nonprofit is working to create a real-time map of air quality in U.S. cities that will be available to the public.

• It's a Critical Time for the Clean Water Act
• BY: Tom Arrandale   |   September 24, 2012
• As the federal law approaches its 40th anniversary, there is still a lot of debate over what bodies of water the act protects.
• 2 Comments

• Christie Vetoes Anti-Fracking Bill in New Jersey
• BY: Stateline   |   New Jersey   |   September 24, 2012
• New Jersey Governor Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have banned the disposal of hydraulic fracturing waste in New Jersey.

• Minneapolis Looks to Make Utilities Greener
• BY: McClatchy News   |   Minneapolis   |   September 24, 2012
• As Minneapolis pushes to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by nearly a third by 2025, city leaders are debating what role their franchise agreements with utility companies should play.