Wire Green News

The heaviest polar ice in more than a decade could postpone the start of offshore oil drilling in the Arctic Ocean until the beginning of August, a delay of up to two weeks, Shell Alaska officials said.

An appeals court has sided with the federal government in giving the go-ahead to Shell Oil Co. to move forward with drilling in the Alaska Arctic this year, according to a ruling issued Friday night.

Emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide reached an all-time high last year, further reducing the chances that the world could avoid a dangerous rise in global average temperature by 2020, according to the International Energy Agency, the energy analysis group for the world's most industrialized states.

Alaska has massive hydro, wind, geothermal and other renewable resources, but the state's rural villages are chained to diesel and suffer oppressive energy costs they say threaten their existence. Lawmakers, energy experts and Native leaders said Thursday it's a dire problem with elusive solutions.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - New findings from the first statewide study of contaminants in fish caught off the California coast show that methylmercury, a toxin that damages the nervous system of humans, was found in high concentrations in more than a third of the locations that researchers sampled.

BP will spend more than $400 million to significantly reduce noxious air pollution from its massive refinery in northwest Indiana, the company announced Wednesday in a settlement with federal authorities and environmental groups that could set a precedent for oil companies nationwide.

In a move that promises cleaner air throughout the Chicago area, BP on Wednesday agreed to spend more than $400 million to settle legal complaints about chronic pollution problems at the oil company's sprawling refinery in northwest Indiana.

Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation Wednesday to adopt a ban on plastic bags at supermarket checkout lines, handing a major victory to clean-water advocates who sought to reduce the amount of trash clogging landfills, the region's waterways and the ocean.

A 321-pound lake sturgeon washed ashore on Lake Erie near Buffalo in 1991, ending a life that began in 1837 as Michigan became the 26th American state, Martin Van Buren succeeded Andrew Jackson as president and Queen Victoria ascended the throne in Great Britain.

Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation to approve a ban on plastic bags at supermarket checkout lines, handing a hard-fought victory to environmentalists and promising to change the way Angelenos do their grocery shopping.

The 510-foot retired U.S. Navy ship Spiegel Grove - resting 130 feet deep about 6 miles off Key Largo - is no longer the largest vessel deliberately sunk to create an artificial reef. It is actually the third largest, trailing the runner-up Vandenberg (553 feet off Key West) and the record-holder - the 911-foot aircraft carrier Oriskany off Pensacola.

The second anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster passed with little fanfare last month. But with our government on the brink of allowing the oil industry to explore in America's remote Arctic Ocean this summer, it is worth revisiting some of the lessons learned from the biggest oil spill in the nation's history.

A tot's discarded rocking horse has taken on an artful life and become a compelling symbol of a river befouled by debris.

Ryan Crocker, a respected diplomat who came out of retirement to become the U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, is leaving his post this summer, a year ahead of schedule.

A wind farm proposed near the Pocosin Lakes Wildlife Refuge in eastern North Carolina could kill up to 20 bald eagles a year, according to a preliminary estimate by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Details of Minnesota's first wolf hunting and trapping season released Monday didn't please everyone.

It has no street address, no sign pointing the way. Around here, it's known simply as "the farm."

If you're anything like me you are savoring the bounty of fresh produce arriving this season. My vegetable garden is thriving and I am also enjoying the fresh fruits and veggies I find at my local farmer's market. Shopping for foods that are in-season is an important way to Do Your Part because that produce isn't being shipped around the world to get to your table, it's at its freshest, and is usually much more affordable. However, when summer is over, you don't have to miss out of your favorite flavors. A little extra work right now will help you enjoy those summer foods all year long.

The two primary breeding females from the best-known wolf pack at Denali National Park - a pack viewed by tens of thousands of visitors each year - have been killed, one of them by a trapper operating just outside the boundary of Alaska's premier national park.

High levels of formaldehyde were found in filtered water Friday at three water purification facilities in Chiba and Saitama prefectures and two other purification facilities in Chiba and Gunma prefectures, according to officials.

The Environmental Protection Agency is warning that plans for a massive mine in the hills above Bristol Bay in Alaska - home of the biggest sockeye salmon fishery in the world - could have devastating consequences for rivers and streams and wipe out habitat for fish.

All the pregame chatter about the difficulty of beating the same opponent three times in a single season was of little importance to the Loyola men's lacrosse team. What mattered was winning the last - and most important - meeting.

Annually, 450 million plastic toothbrushes make their way to landfills nationally, according to recycling experts. The majority of those toothbrushes never biodegradeand will remainthere intactfor decades.

Dan Heims makes no apologies: "I'm a plant nerd and proud of it," he says.

Why wasn't this intruder getting the message?

Now that we're well into spring, we know warmer weather is coming.

The Obama administration ordered tariffs of 31 percent and higher on solar panels imported from China, escalating a simmering trade dispute with China over a case that has sharply divided American interests in the growing clean-energy industry.

During the third weekend of June, 30 of the most private gardens in Amsterdam are open to the public as part of Open Garden Days. Some of them are opening for the first time ever, according to a press release from the Netherlands Board of Tourism and Conventions.

When the tomatoes are finally planted, any old daffodil foliage is cut back and the beds are weeded and mulched, it's time to add the final touch of perfection -- tropicals that give your porches and patios a little island mystique.