Natural Resources

"FRESNO, Calif. — The government has been collecting dirt — lots of it."

"PINELANDS -- The long, heated debate ended, the votes were cast, and a proposed natural gas pipeline through the environmentally sensitive Pinelands appeared dead."

"When the World Trade Organization ruled this week that China must again start exporting rare earth elements key to manufacturing high tech and defense products, traders and the markets that need the materials rejoiced. But less happy were the Chinese who claim complying will hurt the environment."

"The House is expected to vote Wednesday on a Republican-backed bill that would make it more difficult for the president to declare new national monuments."

"The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a rule Tuesday that would give the federal government regulatory authority over millions of acres of wetlands and about 2 million miles of streams."

"On March 24, 1989, the tanker Exxon Valdez struck a reef in Prince William Sound, Alaska, spilling 11 million gallons of crude oil into the pristine water. At the time, it was the single biggest spill in U.S. history. In a series of stories, NPR is examining the lasting social and economic impacts of the disaster, as well as the policy, regulation and scientific research that came out of it."

"Wisconsin towns want regulatory control. Will the state take it away from them?"

"Gazprom has requested permission from the Crimean authorities to develop oil and gas fields, Crimea's first Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliev said Tuesday."

The story about wolves, elk, and the Yellowstone ecosystem has been told and retold by U.S. news media. The gist is that the reintroduction of wolves restored balance in overgrown elk populations -- which in turn allowed restoration of aspen groves which the elk had been overbrowsing. But new evidence suggests the story isn't really true -- or that a true understanding of the ecosystem is far more complex. That in turn raises issues about how U.S. news media cover the environment.

"A lawsuit against oil and gas companies for damage to the coast has become a symbol of the state’s environmental future."