National (U.S.)

"A federal appeals court on Friday upheld Endangered Species Act protections for the polar bear."

"President Obama plans to announce three cabinet-level nominations Monday, including a new administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, who could be on the hotseat in the looming battle over global warming."

"Tucked away in northeast Texas, Lake Gilmer was the last major reservoir built in the state, more than a decade ago. Local officials said they had intended to share construction costs and water with a new power plant, but the power company backed out, leaving the City of Gilmer with the bill."

"Even if foes of the Keystone XL pipeline block it, companies seeking to get Canada’s oil sands to U.S. and world markets could travel the old-fashioned way: by rail."

"At 5pm on Friday afternoon, The New York Times posted the following announcement: 'The Times is discontinuing the Green blog, which was created to track environmental and energy news and to foster lively discussion of developments in both areas. This change will allow us to direct production resources to other online projects. But we will forge ahead with our aggressive reporting on environmental and energy topics, including climate change, land use, threatened ecosystems, government policy, the fossil fuel industries, the growing renewables sector and consumer choices.'"

"Environmentalists have a hope. If they can block the Keystone XL pipeline, they can keep Canada from developing more of its dirty tar sands oil. It takes a lot of energy to get it out of the ground and turn it into gasoline, so it has a bigger greenhouse gas footprint than conventional oil. But the State Department report, which was released Friday, says Keystone won't have much of an impact on the development of that oil from Alberta."

"Cleanup of radioactive waste at nuclear sites across the country — including one in Washington state where waste tanks may be leaking 1,000 gallons per year — would be delayed under automatic spending cuts set to take effect Friday."

"For Jesslyn Brown, sequestration could not come at a worse time of the year."

"Georgia Power’s Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project will take about 19 months longer to complete than originally expected and cost about $740 million more than originally thought, the company said Thursday."

"The federal budget sequester took effect on March 1 with a number of likely environmental impacts. With $1.2 trillion in cuts over the next decade and $85 billion through the end of the fiscal year in September, layoffs and difficulties in enforcing the nation's environmental regulations are expected."