Senate Democrats aim Wednesday to defeat a Republican attempt to overturn one of President Barack Obama's signature environmental and public health regulations, a vote that will expose divides in both parties over the future of coal.
The push by Sen. Jame Inhofe, R-Okla., to stop the Environmental Protection Agency's power plant mercury and air toxics, or MATS rule, appeared on Tuesday to have stalled short of the 51 votes he needs to claim victory
China has defended its curbs on rare earths mining and exports amid a World Trade Organization challenge brought by the United States, Europe and Japan.
The government said Wednesday that its controls are meant to protect the environment and preserve dwindling resources and are in line with its WTO free-trade commitments.
House Democratic lawmakers proposed legislation Tuesday that would bar mountaintop coal mining - which involves blowing the tops off mountains to reach the coal beneath -- until a comprehensive health study can be done to evaluate the effects of toxic pollutants, The Hill reports.
CINERA, Spain (AP) — Striking Spanish coal miners used homemade rockets and slingshots against police Tuesday as they kept up a protest against government spending cuts by barricading a highway and a rail line in this northern town.
At one point, some 80 officers firing rubber bullets were repelled by hundreds of miners and forced to retreat from Cinera, miners and an Associated Press photographer at the scene said.
The coal industry is ramping up its campaign against President Obama and the EPA, criticizing the administration for attempting to regulate the industry to death.
A $1 million ad buy from American Commitment, a conservative advocacy group, decries "Obama's war on coal" and targets EPA's recently finalized rule to limit toxic mercury pollutants from power plants, known as the "Utility MACT rule."
The rule will require power plants to install technology to limit toxic mercury emissions. The Senate could soon vote on a resolution that would kill the rule. EPA's proposal in March to begin regulating greenhouse gases on new power plants further enraged the industry.
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — Alpha Natural Resources has significantly cut its accident and injury rates in the six months since a landmark $210 million settlement that spared the company criminal charges over the 2010 mine explosion that killed 29 workers, federal prosecutors say.
Alpha cut its accident rate by a third and its injury rate by 25 percent at West Virginia's Upper Big Branch mine and other former Massey Energy Co. operations. It's also broken ground on an $18 million training center that U.S. Attorney Booth Goodwin told The Associated Press will dramatically benefit the industry.
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia's government has imposed two new conditions on a rare earth refinery set up by Australian miner Lynas to assuage public fears of radioactive pollution.
Tan Bun Teet, who heads the "Save Malaysia, Stop Lynas" coalition, said Friday the group received a letter from the science ministry rejecting its appeal to revoke a license granted to Lynas earlier this year. The letter cited a lack of scientific and technical justification.
NEW DELHI (AP) — The sugarcane on Rama Velip's farm is darker than it should be, stained by the iron dust that blows from hundreds of mining trucks that pass through the south Indian village every day.
"I see red everywhere," said Velip, whose village lies along the transport route from a series of iron and manganese mines to a cluster of smelters and refineries. "It's not just the dust. Mud from these mines gets washed down the Zuari River and trickles into my fields."
The day after the head of the nation's leading coal ash recycler urged lawmakers to use a pending transportation bill to resolve industry concerns about coal ash disposal regulations, Sen. Jay Rockefeller made it clear on Tuesday he would oppose any such move.
Rockefeller, D-W.V., chairs the Senate Commerce Committee and is a member of the House-Senate conference committee working to draft a final multi-year transportation bill by June 30, when current law expires.
NEW YORK (AP) — America is shoveling coal to the sidelines.
The fuel that powered the U.S. from the industrial revolution into the iPhone era is being pushed aside as utilities switch to cleaner and cheaper alternatives.
Liberal watchdog group Checks and Balances Project said the State Department inspector general is investigating potential conflicts of interests in the department's environmental review of the Keystone XL pipeline, The Hill reports.
West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin and Attorney General Patrick Morrisey joined a push to have the Supreme Court rule to overturn EPA greenhouse gas regulations, The Charleston Gazette reports.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., voiced optimism that President Obama would not veto his bill to authorize oil and gas drilling off the coast of Virginia, The Hill reports.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said a key satellite tasked with tracking severe eastern weather failed and a spare has been activated, Reuters reports.
The new chemical safety compromise bill introduced by Sens. David Vitter, R-La., and Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., now has 20 co-sponsors, The Hill reports.
Participants in the Energy Department's Better Buildings Challenge, designed to reduce energy consumption at buildings, saved about $58 million in energy costs last year, The Journal Sentinel reports.
In a Q&A with State House News Service, Massachusetts Senate candidates Rep. Ed Markey, D, and Gabriel Gomez, R, give their take on the Senate battle to confirm EPA nominee Gina McCarthy.
In an interview with GreenBiz.com, Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick discusses his vision for his state's energy policy, including his plans for offshore wind generation.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's plan to reform the Long Island Power Authority over flaws exposed by Hurricane Sandy is unpopular among municipal bond investors, Bloomberg reports.
