"District regulators approved a $6.8 billion merger between Pepco Holdings and Exelon on Wednesday, creating the largest publicly held utility in the country."
"The Labor Department is preparing to issue controversial silica protections for workers. After years of delay, the Labor Department could finalize the silica rules as early as this week, after they were quietly approved by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on Monday."
"A federal judge has ordered the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to give the court documents related to its consideration of a controversial mining project in Alaska, ruling he has “no confidence” in the agency’s ability to decide which documents should become public following an open records request."
"Stockpiles of coal are growing to historically high levels at the nation’s power plants."
"When Florida’s largest power company added two nuclear reactors to an existing plant that sat between two national parks — Biscayne Bay and the Everglades — the decision raised the concerns of environmentalists and some government officials about the possible effects on water quality and marine life."
"The United States on Tuesday announced that tougher rules for labeling Mexican tuna imports as "dolphin-safe" would be expanded to the rest of the world in a bid to end a long-running trade dispute with Mexico."
"U.S. officials moved Thursday to strengthen safety rules for the nation's 300,000-mile network of natural gas transmission pipelines in response to numerous fiery accidents, including a 2010 California explosion that killed eight people and injured more than 50."
"Give Donald Trump credit for consistency. The Republican presidential front-runner repeatedly has said he isn’t “a believer” that humans have played a significant role in the Earth’s changing climate."
"BURNS, Ore. -- Harney County, infamous now for enduring a 41-day occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, may find itself back in the spotlight soon and this time it will be the government's doing. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell concluded a day of tours and meetings in the Burns area Monday by declaring she intends to help trumpet a success that got overshadowed by acts of the armed protesters who took over the reserve Jan. 2."
"Todd Stern, a leading architect of the Obama administration's international climate change strategy, will leave the State Department in the coming weeks, he told POLITICO."
