In the most far-reaching move to relax air pollution rules in years, the Bush administration on Friday gave refineries new flexibility to upgrade their facilities without having to reduce emissions. The U.S. EPA also outlined proposals that would give aging coal-fired power plants a similar advantage -- allowing them to upgrade and increase energy output -- without having to install new anti-pollution equipment. The plans represent giant reforms to the Clean Air Act's New Source Review rule, which till now required antiquated plants undergoing modernization to meet up-to-date air standards. The EPA said the changes would lead to cleaner air, …

For some U.S. citizens, solar panels, wind turbines, and fuel-efficient cars have become the ultimate patriotic statement. With a war looming in the Middle East, green groups are framing the cause of energy conservation in terms of national security. They are issuing reports, creating websites, and hitting the airwaves with the message that true security will only come when the U.S. reduces its dependency on foreign oil. The nation has heard such calls before -- during World War II and the Arab oil embargo, for example -- but this time, the feds certainly aren't leading the charge. Instead, many plain-Jane …

With no public announcement, the Bush administration has given the go-ahead to two new natural gas wells in the Padre Island National Seashore, which boasts the nation's longest stretch of undeveloped beach and 11 endangered species. Oil and gas drilling have occurred in the Texas park before, but the rate of drilling dropped sharply in the last 20 years. Environmentalists say the new wells will further threaten the world's smallest and most endangered sea turtle, the Kemp's ridley, which uses Padre Island as its principal nesting ground in the U.S. To build the new well, heavy trucks will now drive …

The Bush administration is weighing a proposal that would require auto manufacturers to improve the fuel efficiency of SUVs and light trucks by a teensy bit. Working off data submitted by the Big Three automakers in Detroit, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has sent a draft plan to the White House that would raise fuel efficiency by about half a mile per gallon for three years, starting with the 2005 model year; by 2007, the standard would be 22.2 mpg. The increase would be the first since the standard went up three-tenths of a mile per gallon from 1993 …

Led by climate change skeptic ExxonMobil, a collection of oil, gas, and other energy companies has pledged at least $175 million over 10 years to Stanford University to create a Global Climate and Energy Project. One goal of the project will be to help develop renewable energy technologies. Critics say the gift amounts to small change for the companies and is an attempt to shield them from criticism for spewing out so many greenhouse gas emissions each year. Meanwhile, the results of a climate change study sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy are in -- and they don't look …

Halliburton and Hunt Oil, two Texas energy companies with strong ties to the Bush White House, are requesting hundreds of millions of dollars in public financing for a natural gas project in Peru that will tear through pristine rainforests. The Export-Import Bank of the U.S. and the Inter-American Development Bank are forbidden from funding projects that fail to pass rigorous environmental reviews. But the pipeline project in Peru is proceeding despite concerns about environmental destruction, according to anonymous officials reviewing it. Environmental groups and some members of Congress say the project will devastate the rainforest and the lifestyle of its …

In what environmentalists hope is the beginning of a major trend, 60 dams across the U.S. are slated for demolition this year and hundreds more are targeted for removal. Last week, for example, Portland General Electric signed a deal to remove the Marmot Dam on the Sandy River in Oregon and a smaller dam on the Little Sandy. Typically, dams being dismantled are no longer producing power, but the two dams in Oregon are fully functioning hydroelectric facilities. PGE says the dams, which were built in 1912, no longer make economic or environmental sense. "This is a major development in …

An oil tanker carrying twice as much oil as was lost by the Exxon Valdez in 1989 split in two today and sank in the Atlantic Ocean, threatening to cause an environmental disaster on the Spanish coast 133 miles away. The tanker "Prestige" first ran into trouble almost a week ago when its hull cracked in a storm; even before today's development, oil had been pouring from the boat, landing as thick sludge on seashores. Thousands of birds and fish are caked with the stuff, and fishing in the region has been banned. Some observers are hoping that the oil …

Some 92,000 acres of mud and sand at the bottom of the Pacific Northwest's Puget Sound is contaminated with dioxin, toxic metals, and PCBs (just for starters), all the result of industrial pollution. In turn, these nasties make their way into the sound's critters. Crabs are poisoned, while orca whales, salmon, and even some herring stocks are disappearing. The sound's beaches -- important nursery grounds for many fish -- are also in trouble because of rampant development. Scientists think global warming is also affecting the sound's sea life.

Faced with drought and plunging profits, Colorado farmers are under growing financial pressure to hawk their land to developers. Between 1993 and 2001, about 1.5 million acres of farmland in the state were put on the market and developed; 300,000 of the acres were sold in 2001 as a drought began to take hold. State officials are scrambling to come up with solutions that will slow the loss of agricultural lands. Trouble is, some of the solutions -- including more dams and logging to increase water resources for farmers -- won't be to the liking of environmentalists. So far, water …