Environmental Politics

"Pope Francis heartened environmentalists around the world in June when he urged immediate action to save the planet from the effects of climate change, ...  But some of the largest American Catholic organizations have millions of dollars invested in energy companies, from hydraulic fracturing firms to oil sands producers, according to their own disclosures, through many portfolios intended to fund church operations and pay clergy salaries."

"Islamic scholars and religious leaders are preparing a call for action on climate change that will say it’s the religious duty of the world’s 1.6 billion Muslims to fight global warming."

"The issue of abandoned mines and their legacy of water pollution is not unique to Colorado. Abandoned mines across Ohio have polluted streams and creeks for decades, turning waterways orange and lacing them with sulfuric acid, dissolved metals and toxic sediments."

"Conservation groups are accusing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service of withholding research showing a federal plan to kill seabirds on the Columbia River would not actually benefit salmon and steelhead."

"Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush and Rick Perry among candidates poised to see biggest benefits from handful of wealthy individuals and corporations".

"The business lobby is ramping up efforts to sack a controversial air pollution rule from the Obama administration."

"Ohio Gov. John Kasich suggested that man-made climate change may not be real and that action to fight it could kill jobs during an interview on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday."

"Chris Cline, the billionaire coal baron, revealed himself today as the donor behind a $1 million contribution to a super-PAC supporting Jeb Bush’s presidential campaign."

"There could be half a billion reasons for the concessions President Barack Obama’s clean-power plan made to a defiant energy industry."

The megabillionaire Koch brothers, whose agenda opposes environmental regulation, have a major impact on Republican politics -- including the 2016 presidential race. Their influence is magnified by the big donors they attract to their causes via semiannual retreats like the one that just ended at a luxury resort near Dana Point, Calif. This year, journalists got limited access to the traditionally secret conclave by agreeing not to disclose donors' identities. Now critics are asking whether such rules compromise the integrity of journalism.