The long legal battle over Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's controversial 2009 decision to cancel 77 leases near pristine federal lands in Utah may have finally reached its end. The U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver late yesterday issued a 22-page opinion upholding Salazar's decision to cancel the leases sold at a December 2008 auction, ruling that a coalition of energy companies and Utah counties did not file its federal lawsuit within 90 days of Salazar's decision. Go to story #1

Fresh data from Marcellus Shale drillers show that despite doubling oil and gas production over the past year, industry has curbed a parallel rise in waste. Wastewater volumes jumped by 26 percent since 2011, according to new data from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection. But that is a relatively controlled rise considering the region's surging natural gas production, and it's enough to prompt some claims that the industry has an entirely smaller environmental footprint with its improved handling of water. Go to story #2