National (U.S.)

On Thursday two powerful House committees approved separate drilling reform bills, raising the possibility that the House would meld and pass them soon.

"For the first time in the nearly three months since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank off the Louisiana coast, there was no oil leaking from the blown-out Macondo well into the Gulf of Mexico  on Thursday afternoon, BP said."

"About 137,000 pieces of imported children's jewelry sold at two stores popular with preteen girls — Justice and Limited Too — were recalled Tuesday for high levels of cadmium, the latest in a series of recalls involving the toxic metal."

"A small Colorado tribe takes control of its energy resources and becomes a billion-dollar corporation — but has it gone too far?"

"Four years after tragedies in Kentucky and West Virginia prompted sweeping mine safety changes, a House panel Tuesday split along party lines over the need for additional reforms."

"Scientists are reporting early signs that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is altering the marine food web by killing or tainting some creatures and spurring the growth of others more suited to a fouled environment."

"President Obama and Senate Democrats have decided to press ahead in the next two weeks with a scaled-back energy bill that limits carbon pollution by power plants but not by other industries in an effort to salvage the legislation before midterm elections."

"BP engineers working to choke the flow of oil into the Gulf of Mexico found a leak on a line attached to the side of the new well cap and were trying to fix it Thursday before attempting to stop the crude."

"There's 'no chance' that President Obama will rework the executive policies carried over from his predecessor that tell agencies how to write regulations and outline a White House oversight role, academics and activists say."

"The Army Corps of Engineers wants to use ash cast off from coal-fired electrical generation to shore up dozens of miles of Mississippi River levees, drawing fire from environmentalists worried that heavy metals from the filler might make their way into the river."