A judge has refused to stop construction of a crude-oil pipeline that would be built by TransCanada Corp. through eastern North Dakota, saying state regulators took adequate safety precautions in deciding its route.
North Dakota’s Public Service Commission did a thorough factual and legal review of its order allowing construction of the Keystone pipeline, district [...]

Uranium mining in the United States may be about to surge, a spike in claims being filed indicates.
In five Western states where uranium is mined, 43,153 claims were filed last year, up from 4,333 in 2004, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday. The area of interest includes near the Grand Canyon, where U.S. Interior Department [...]

Some 1,500 coal miners staged a mass rally on Thursday on the front lawn of the state Capitol to protest legislation that they fear could eliminate their jobs.
The rally came two days after lawmakers narrowly defeated a bill aimed at stopping mining companies from blasting off mountaintops to expose coal deposits.
Gov. Steve Beshear made a [...]

Ninety-four pages of proposed rules for uranium mining companies that need to obtain state groundwater permits were too much Wednesday for the South Dakota Water Management Board.
The panel had planned to make a decision on the rules but decided to delay it until a special meeting April 2-3 in Rapid City.
Board members want to know [...]

Environmental groups across Appalachia spoke out at public hearings in four states on a Bush administration-backed proposal to relax restrictions preventing mining activity near waterways.
The groups oppose exempting valley fills , in which rubble from mountaintop removal mining is dumped in nearby valleys , from the 20-year-old rule restricting mining activity near streams.
“Enough is enough!” [...]

A state judge denied a request by two environmental groups to temporarily stop test drilling for uranium in Fall River County.
Circuit Judge Jack Delaney said at a hearing Tuesday that the groups had not shown how continuing the exploration would harm the environment.
Defenders of the Black Hills and ACTion for the Environment are challenging a [...]

An oil refinery would jeopardize Costa Rica’s environment as planned by a Chinese company known as a polluter, environmental groups said Saturday.
Oilwatch Mesoamerica and other groups warned that recent agreements between China and Costa Rica included a refinery built by China Petroleum Corporation.
“We are studying the history of this company, which has little concern [...]

State regulators on Tuesday signed off on plans to build one of the nation’s first plants that would turn dirty coal into cleaner fuel, generating electricity while dramatically reducing smog and mercury pollution.
If built amid cornfields outside Taylorville, about 200 miles southwest of Chicago, the 630-megawatt plant would provide a lucrative boost to the state’s [...]

FirstEnergy Corp. violated federal and state air pollution laws at a western Pennsylvania coal-fired power plant, according an environmental group.
PennFuture notified Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy Inc. on Tuesday that it intends to sue over alleged pollution at the Bruce Mansfield plant in Shippingport, about 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh.
The plant violated opacity standards, which relate to [...]

THE world’s largest untapped oil reserves - in the Canadian Arctic - have become the new front line in the battle between environmentalists and the energy industry.
Shell, a self-styled “green” energy company, is to invest billions of dollars in exploiting the Athabasca tar sands.
Environmentalists say the tar sands are the world’s dirtiest oil deposits and [...]