National (U.S.)

"President Obama on Thursday signed into law a measure that is intended to improve energy efficiency in buildings and stop efficiency rules for certain water heaters."

"The U.S. Energy Department will pay New Mexico $73 million in road and other infrastructure projects for violations by an underground nuclear waste dump and nuclear research lab that led to a radiation leak last year, officials said on Thursday."

"On Tuesday, the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee chaired by Lamar Smith (R-Texas) introduced a new spending bill that would slash NASA’s earth science programs by over $300 million dollars. Advocates for earth science monitoring and research have voiced strong objections to this proposal."

"In recent years, the fast-growing popularity of solar panels has intensified a central challenge: how to use the sun’s energy when it isn’t shining. Now, Tesla Motors, the maker of luxury electric sedans, says it is taking a big step toward meeting that challenge with a fleet of battery systems aimed at homeowners, businesses and utilities."

"On Friday, May 1 at 10:30 a.m., U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Canada’s Minister of Transport Lisa Raitt will hold a press conference to announce the next generation of stronger, safer rail tank cars for the transportatio
n of flammable liquids in North America. Secretary Foxx will also announce other aspects of DOT’s final rule. The press conference will be streamed live online here."

"If Royal Dutch Shell’s Arctic drilling program leads to a major spill, it could cost the oil company — and therefore its shareholders — an entire year’s worth of profit, according to a Tuesday legal filing by the conservation group Oceana and a University of Chicago law clinic."

"'Wildfire season' seems to be a thing of the past for drought-stricken California, with fires now raging throughout the year."

"The White House has threatened to veto a Republican bill that would repeal a controversial Environmental Protection Agency clean water rule."

"An Energy Department report shows that while hydro can be finicky, it could be a bigger part of a carbon-reduced future."

"Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont, announced Thursday that he was running for president as a Democrat, injecting a progressive voice into the contest and providing Hillary Rodham Clinton with her first official challenger for the party’s nomination." While unlikely to win the nomination, Sanders may pull the party leftward and inject environmental issues into the campaign.