Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV)

"A federal appeals court upheld Monday the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to order pollution reductions by Maryland and all the other states that drain into the Chesapeake Bay.

In a 60-page ruling, the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia brushed aside challenges from agricultural and home building groups to the 'pollution diet' that EPA imposed for the bay in 2010.

"Two environmental organizations are suing [Maryland] Gov. Larry Hogan for blocking proposed clean air regulations on his first day in office. The Sierra Club and Chesapeake Physicians for Social Responsibility argue that the governor lacked the authority to pull back the rules aimed at reducing nitrogen oxides that are key ingredients in ozone."

"The state has been moving away from coal-fired electricity for the past decade, and the effects of climate change already has its attention."

"Cold-water corals growing in deep water off Maryland and the rest of the mid-Atlantic coast would be protected from most harmful fishing activity under a sweeping plan approved Wednesday."

"Georgetown University's board of directors approved a plan Thursday to divest its endowment from coal companies."

"Appalachian Power ceased operations Monday at three coal-fired power plants in West Virginia, and two in Virginia, in order to comply with stricter emissions standards mandated by the federal Environmental Protection Agency."

"Back in 2008, an estimated 1.1 billion gallons of toxic coal ash was released into the Emory River in Tennessee when a dam breached at the Kingston Fossil Plant. It was the biggest coal ash spill in the nation. Much of that coal ash was hauled to a landfill in Perry County, Alabama. Residents of the poor, mostly African-American county have filed a lawsuit saying they're suffering as a result of the coal ash. But the landfill is also a vital part of the local economy.

"Dustin Wichterman's well-tanned arm rests on the rolled-down window of his beat-up silver Toyota Tacoma pickup truck. Suddenly, he points into the woods. "Do you see how it's wide?" he asks, indicating the stream rushing along near the road. It is one of hundreds of streams that feed into the southern branch of the Potomac River headwaters in West Virginia. "It shouldn't be like that.""