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Environmental Site Assessment in Austin and throughout Texas

  NPR Topics: Environment

Breaking news on the environment, climate change, pollution, and endangered species. Also featuring Climate Connections, a special series on climate change co-produced by NPR and National Geographic.

Crews Get Handle On Wildfire North Of Los Angeles Crews working through the night beat back flames and built containment lines around a two-day old wildfire that charred nearly 22 square miles of brush. The blaze was 62 percent contained Saturday morning and no structures were threatened, Fire Capt. Sam Padilla said. He said there were no open flames, which slowed the fire's spread.

Debris Sets Back Work On Stopping The Gusher Tropical Storm Bonnie left crews working to plug the Gulf oil gusher a little memento that is expected to push their work back about a day.

By Hiring Gulf Scientists, BP May Be Buying Silence For months now, local scientists have been out on Gulf waters, advising the cleanup and measuring the damage. But there is growing concern that some of the best minds are being sidelined, since they've signed on as paid consultants to BP.

Saving Wildlife From The Midwestern Oil Spill A response effort is under way on the Kalamazoo River in western Michigan, where the EPA reports that a pipe belonging to Enbridge Inc. has spilled more than 1 million gallons of oil. Guest host Jacki Lyden speaks with Michigan Radio's Rebecca Williams about efforts to save river animals.

Alternative Energy And Ideas For The Auto Industry The long-term recovery of the U.S. auto industry will depend largely on American automotive creativity and innovation. Many industry watchers expect a new fleet of electric and hybrid cars to help buoy the U.S. car industry's comeback. Guest host Jacki Lyden talks with Ray Wert, editor-in-chief of Jalopnik.com, about the restructured U.S. auto industry and the importance of design innovation and creativity.

This IS His Grandfather's Bug, But Now It's Electric If the Chevy Volt's $40,000 price tag sounds a bit too steep, you could always go the do-it-yourself route of Oregon teenager Ashton Stark. He just finished a yearlong conversion of his grandfather's 1972 Volkswagen Beetle into an electric car.

Mich. Oil Leak Halted; Cleanup To Take Months The Canadian company in charge of a ruptured oil pipeline in southern Michigan says a spill into the Kalamazoo River has been contained -- and the Environmental Protection Agency agrees the spill presents no real threat to Lake Michigan. But cleaning up the site may take many more months.

New BP CEO: Some Efforts To Be Scaled Back The changes do not signify a lessening of the oil giant's commitment to clean up the oil spill, but do signify that some areas don't need a continuing effort, incoming executive Bob Dudley said Friday.

Chevy Volt May Not Cut Efficiency Mustard Robert Siegel speaks with John Voelcker, editor of GreenCarReports.com, and senior editor of High Gear Media Inc., about why the Chevy Volt may not qualify for a California Tax Rebate of $5,000, and why single drivers of Volts may not be able to use the HOV lanes in California, as the Nissan Leaf drivers will.

Incoming BP Chief: Time To Scale Back Cleanup BP's incoming CEO, Bob Dudley, says it's time to scale back the oil spill cleanup in the Gulf. At a news conference today, he also announced that former Federal Emergency Management Agency chief James Lee Witt will help BP's work to restore Gulf communities in the wake of the spill.

With Well Capped, How Long Will The Oil Linger? The Gulf of Mexico has a few ways of cleansing oil from its waters: it hosts legions of microbes adapted to dine on natural oil seepages, and its warm water temperatures favor the evaporation of oil. But scientists say it's still too early to know how long it will take the Gulf to recover.

Crews Race To Clean Up Oil Spill In Michigan Up to 1 million gallons of crude oil has spilled from a broken pipeline into the Kalamazoo River. There are concerns that the oil could reach Lake Michigan if it isn't stopped soon.

Pricing The Non-Human Cost Of BP Spill BP has spent more than $4 billion cleaning up the oil spill. But what about the non-human cost. How much should BP pay for dead and injured animals?

Broken Michigan Oil Pipeline To Stay Shut For Now Federal officials say a pipeline that spewed up to 1 million gallons of crude oil into a river in southern Michigan earlier this week must remain closed for the time being. Enbridge Energy Partners had hoped to fix the leak and restart the pipeline in a few days. But Transportation Department officials say that can't happen until it is thoroughly inspected and tested.

Gulf Residents Face Quandary: Sue Or Settle? The administrator of BP's compensation fund is trying to persuade Gulf Coast residents not to sue the company, but to take a settlement instead. But many in the region affected by the oil spill say it's too early to pinpoint their damages.