WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 24: A stop sign stands outside the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) building on May 24, 2013 in Washington, DC. The EPA is one of at least four federal agencies that is closed today due to the automatic sequestration cuts forced government agencies giving employee's an unpaid furlough.
The S.S. Badger Capt Jeff Curtis is all smiles before boarding the carferry for its first trip of the year trip across Lake Michigan from Ludington, Mich., to Manitowac, Wisc., Monday, May 6, 2013. As the Badger begins its 60th season, a judge is considering whether to approve a deal with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that would allow the vessel to continue discharging coal ash into the lake for another two years while developing a plan to store the ash onboard.
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 18: A road sign displays the direction to the Waterloo wind farm on April 18, 2013 in Adelaide, Australia. South Australia's Environmental Protection Agency in conjunction with the National Health and Medical Research Council are conducting a report on any environmental or health implications from wind turbines. The South Australian Premier, Jay Weatherill is a proponent of the alternetive energy technology in the state.
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - APRIL 18: A wind turbine is seen on a hill on April 18, 2013 in Waterloo, Australia. South Australia's Environmental Protection Agency in conjunction with the National Health and Medical Research Council are conducting a report on any environmental or health implications from wind turbines. The South Australian Premier, Jay Weatherill is a proponent of the alternative energy technology in the state.
In this Aug. 26, 2009 file photo, Kourtney Hardwick, BP Florida operations manager, looks over a methane gas well site east of Bayfield, Colo. The well pad now has three gas wells that have been drilled and are producing natural gas. A new report from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has dramatically lowered estimates of how much of a potent greenhouse gas is being leaked by the natural gas industry. The EPA now estimates that in 2011 the natural gas industry released 10 percent less methane into the atmosphere than it did in 1990. The new figure comes after the EPA estimated last year that those methane admissions had risen about 15 percent since 1990.
Brandi Crawford-Johnson stands with her husband Adrian Johnson outside their home in Kalamazoo, Mich. on Tuesday, April 16, 2013. Crawford bought the 110-year-old home from Kalamazoo for $3,200 has agreed to a $115,000 settlement with the city after she said officials failed to disclose the possibility it contained lead-based paint and blamed the home for her child's elevated lead levels. Crawford last year bought the two-story, 1,800-square-foot home, which had gone through tax foreclosure. In March, she filed a claim that city officials didn't provide her with an Environmental Protection Agency-approved form warning her of the potential of lead-based paint in the home.
