Alaska and Hawaii

"Mushers at the Iditarod, the annual nearly 1,000-mile sled-dog race across Alaska, are complaining that the unusually warm weather is causing dangerous conditions along the course."

"OLYMPIA, Wash. -- Nearly 25 years after the Exxon Valdez oil spill off the southern coast of Alaska, sea otters in the most affected parts of Prince William Sound have recovered to their pre-spill numbers, a federal report released on Friday showed."

"SEATTLE — Federal environmental regulators, citing risks to water quality and salmon spawning grounds in one of the world’s richest fisheries, moved on Friday to block the development of a giant open-pit copper mine in the watershed of Bristol Bay in southwest Alaska."

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden ruled out drilling in Alaskan offshore waters during 2014 -- as part of a restructuring aimed at restoring falling profits.

"SEATTLE — Eight days after the federal government declared that a proposed mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay would have a devastating effect on the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery, a Washington senator and 250 chefs and food professionals demanded that the Obama administration stop Pebble Mine."

"JUNEAU, Alaska -- A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that the U.S. Interior Department wrongly awarded offshore oil leases in the Chukchi Sea near Alaska in 2008 without considering the full range of environmental risks posed by drilling in the Arctic."

"U.S. Sen. Mark Begich says he's concluded the proposed Pebble mine cannot be developed without harming the Bristol Bay region's world-famous red salmon runs."

"JUNEAU, Alaska -- A government report indicates a large-scale copper and gold mine in Alaska's Bristol Bay region could have devastating effects on the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery and adversely affect Alaska Natives, whose culture is built around salmon."

"Interior Secretary Sally Jewell won’t allow a road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska."