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Emergency and health officials lift their recommendation that people evacuate the area around a fiery train crash. Many of the 2,400 residents of Casselton, N.D., have obeyed evacuation orders, fearing a large cloud of hazardous smoke and fumes.

The U.S. lost an average of 80,000 acres of coastal wetlands from 2004 to 2009, according to recent government data. In a recent period, more than 70 percent of the estimated loss came in the Gulf of Mexico.

New York has a moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, for natural gas, but the region is still benefiting from the drilling boom next door in Pennsylvania. A new pipeline is bringing gas into New York City, pushing down prices and improving the air quality as buildings convert from oil to gas furnaces.

Renewable energy has become a $220 billion a year industry. But to significantly slow climate change, the power of wind, solar and other renewable sources must vastly expand. Some say the tech breakthroughs needed are on the horizon, though a top economist sees a tougher road ahead.

The federal government is struggling to figure out how to fit fish farms into the National Organic Program, which regulates organic land-based farms. Environmentalists argue that fish farms shouldn't quality for an organic label if they don't use organic feed.

The country began pumping natural gas from its first major offshore field earlier this year. There are also hopes that Israel may have significant oil reserves, though there are hurdles, both technical and political.

Many organic farmers are hopping mad at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Their reason? Fertilizer. The FDA, as part of its overhaul of food safety regulations, wants to limit the use of animal manure, which organic farmers call a precious resource and a basis of their farming practices.

Previous estimates of the climate-warming gas were based on the rough number of methane-emitting sources on the ground — such as factories, refineries, stoves, swamps, landfills and cattle herds. But by directly measuring levels of methane in the air instead, a new study puts the total much higher.

With more and more carbon dioxide spewing from China, India and other rapidly growing nations, some people are asking why the U.S. should bear the expense involved in slashing its own emissions.

Railroads are increasingly becoming the preferred means of shipping the masses of oil being produced in North Dakota and surrounding states. The railroad industry is eager to fill in for the lack of pipeline capacity. But some say the train growth needs to slow down.