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Two-year-old Michigan oil spill still not completely cleaned up, yields large fine

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Just months after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, another oil spill hit the United States, this one in Michigan. But the clean-up for this one has been long, involved and convoluted. The still ongoing effort led the EPA recently to levy one of its biggest fines relating to an oil spill, some $3.7 million.
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Cheetahs in race of their lives -- to save their species

The number of cheetahs the world over has declined dramatically over the past 100 years. Now, the population is so small that its genetic diversity is limited. If something doesn't change, their survival could be threatened....
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Louisiana bayou slow to recover from Gulf oil spill

Many ecosystems along the Gulf coast have been slow to recover from the BP oil spill in 2010. But few have struggled as much as Louisiana's coastal wetlands, where the annual erosion rate doubled from five to 10 feet over an 18-month period....
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Key West officials debate use of genetically modified mosquito to fight Dengue fever

Officials in the Florida Keys are hoping to enlist genetically modified mosquitoes in their fight against Dengue fever. Though countries like Brazil and Malaysia have already implemented the new technology, the United States has yet to determine if it poses any potential risks. ...
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Sweden imports waste from European neighbors to fuel waste-to-energy program

Sweden's successful waste-to-energy program converts household waste into energy for heating and electricity. But they've run into an unusual problem: they simply aren't generating enough trash to power the incinerators, so they've begun importing waste from European neighbors....
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United States debates joining Law of the Sea

The race is on for oil and minerals under the melting Arctic ice. But the U.S. is still not on board with the Law of the Sea, the United Nations treaty on who gets access to ocean resources. ...
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At Rio+20 Summit, little actual disappointment over lack of progress

As the global economic crisis has consumed more and more time and attention, focus on the global warming crisis has waned. So it wasn't surprising when President Barack Obama chose not to attend the Rio+20 conference this week in Brazil, and it also was unsurprising when there was little progress reported there....
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New study finds greater risk of wildfires in U.S. from climate change; others see decline

A new study out of Texas Tech University found that all corners of the world aren't in fact equal in terms of how climate change will alter the risk for wildfires. In fact, while the United States will see -- and is seeing -- an increase in wildfires, other parts of the world are in line to see their wildfires decrease....
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What's behind the grizzly bear attacks in Yellowstone?

Grizzly bears killed two people last year in Yellowstone National Park. After 24 years of no deadly encounters, many people were left wondering what caused the fatal attacks. Some said global warming had depleted the bears' normal food sources. Others say the answer is much simpler....
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New effort to dismantle aging U.S. dams aims to improve wildlife habitats

Some 1,000 U.S. dams have been dismantled in the past 100 years — but the pace has definitely been accelerating in recent years. Now, there's a major initiative underway to take apart old dams that serve little purpose as a way of restoring fish habitat and rebuilding aquatic ecosystems....
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