Environmental Issues

Legislators' 'hot dog' definition would aid street vendors

2013-06-17 00:00:00

SACRAMENTO — Americans have been eating hot dogs since at least 1870, when a Coney Island restaurateur started selling sausages on long buns. In California's capital, hot-dog carts keep the tradition going with cheap, quick, lunches for state...

Funding to improve drinking water has come at a slow drip

2013-06-16 17:56:00

LANARE, Calif. — A bright metal drinking fountain is mounted on the wall in the community center of this tiny town west of Fresno. No one pays it any mind: The water is drawn from a well that has been contaminated with arsenic for years. "Can't...

Some L.A. County bus drivers say pesticides are making them ill

2013-06-16 18:06:00

Los Angeles County bus drivers say they are regularly becoming ill — sometimes while behind the wheel — from pesticides sprayed inside their vehicles by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. At least 14 Metro drivers are pursuing...

Latest attempt to reintroduce Mexican wolves to the wild fails

2013-06-14 17:54:00

A pair of Mexican wolves that had been waiting for their final release into the wild in Arizona are heading back to captivity after federal officials determined that the alpha male of an existing� pack behaved aggressively toward them. Authorities...

Blast at Louisiana petrochemical plant kills 1, injures 77

2013-06-13 18:53:00

HOUSTON — At least one person was killed and 77 injured Thursday in an explosion and fire at a petrochemical plant in the Louisiana town of Geismar, part of a heavily industrial region known as “Cancer Alley.” “This has been a...

ExxonMobil faces federal lawsuit over Arkansas oil spill

2013-06-13 19:09:00

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department and the state of Arkansas filed suit against the oil giant ExxonMobil over a March 29 pipeline rupture that spilled 210,000 gallons of oil into a residential neighborhood and waterways in the small town of...

2nd victim dies from Louisiana chemical plant explosion

2013-06-14 13:18:00

HOUSTON--A second worker injured in an explosion and fire at a central Louisiana petrochemical plant has died and a few others remained hospitalized Friday. Scott Thrower, 47, of St. Amant, La., suffered burns Thursday morning in the explosion at the...

Climate change could slash snowfall in Southern California mountains

2013-06-14 01:00:00

Climate change is likely to wipe a lot of the white from those postcard winter scenes of Los Angeles ringed by snow-capped mountains, according to new research. A UCLA study released Friday projects a significant decline in snowfall on the ranges that...

Hillary Clinton speaks at Clinton Global conference

2013-06-13 12:53:00

The push to create more opportunities for women is the “great unfinished business of this century,” Hillary Clinton said Thursday, telling a Chicago audience that “when women participate in peacemaking and peacekeeping, we are safer...

For the record

2013-06-16 00:00:00

American Dream's dark side: Because of a production error, some copies of the June 16 Calendar section were missing a photo from the movie "Spring Breakers" intended to accompany an article about movies that reflect a dark side to the American Dream....

California lawmakers finalize $96.3-billion budget

2013-06-15 15:47:00

SACRAMENTO – California lawmakers wrapped up their work on the state budget on Saturday, approving bills detailing plans for university tuition assistance, energy efficiency projects and the expansion of healthcare programs. The Legislature also...

Developing nations see jump in clean energy investment, report says

2013-06-13 10:53:00

Renewable energy investments are heading toward developing countries that want to transition from pricey fossil fuels, a report said. China led the way with $67 billion spent on solar, wind and other clean energy projects, more than half of the total...

Natural Resources Commission members Annoesjka Steinman (from left), Department of Natural Resources director Keith Creigh and commission chair J. R. Richardson discuss antler point restrictions on Thursday in Lansing.

2013-06-14 11:31:00

Vegetable oil pools against absorbant boom designed to clean up oil spills. Environmental Protection Agency's on-scene coordinator, Paul Atkociunas, said he has not dealt with a cooking-oil clean-up before.

2013-06-14 11:21:00

South Bend Wastewater Treatment Plant

2013-06-11 14:50:00