Emissions of heat-trapping carbon dioxide reached an all-time high last year, further reducing the chances that the world could avoid a dangerous rise in global average temperature by 2020, according to the International Energy Agency, the energy analysis group for the world's most industrialized states.

SAN JOSE, Calif. - New findings from the first statewide study of contaminants in fish caught off the California coast show that methylmercury, a toxin that damages the nervous system of humans, was found in high concentrations in more than a third of the locations that researchers sampled.

Alaska has massive hydro, wind, geothermal and other renewable resources, but the state's rural villages are chained to diesel and suffer oppressive energy costs they say threaten their existence. Lawmakers, energy experts and Native leaders said Thursday it's a dire problem with elusive solutions.

In a move that promises cleaner air throughout the Chicago area, BP on Wednesday agreed to spend more than $400 million to settle legal complaints about chronic pollution problems at the oil company's sprawling refinery in northwest Indiana.

BP will spend more than $400 million to significantly reduce noxious air pollution from its massive refinery in northwest Indiana, the company announced Wednesday in a settlement with federal authorities and environmental groups that could set a precedent for oil companies nationwide.

Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation to approve a ban on plastic bags at supermarket checkout lines, handing a hard-fought victory to environmentalists and promising to change the way Angelenos do their grocery shopping.

Los Angeles became the largest city in the nation Wednesday to adopt a ban on plastic bags at supermarket checkout lines, handing a major victory to clean-water advocates who sought to reduce the amount of trash clogging landfills, the region's waterways and the ocean.

The second anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon disaster passed with little fanfare last month. But with our government on the brink of allowing the oil industry to explore in America's remote Arctic Ocean this summer, it is worth revisiting some of the lessons learned from the biggest oil spill in the nation's history.

A 321-pound lake sturgeon washed ashore on Lake Erie near Buffalo in 1991, ending a life that began in 1837 as Michigan became the 26th American state, Martin Van Buren succeeded Andrew Jackson as president and Queen Victoria ascended the throne in Great Britain.