Barbara Boxer

WASHINGTON, May 16- President Barack Obama's energy and environment team took two steps forward on Thursday after the Senate confirmed Ernest Moniz as energy secretary and the Senate environment panel cleared Gina McCarthy to get a full Senate vote to lead the Environmental Protection Agency. "Glad to see the Senate work and Dr.

WASHINGTON, May 16- A Democratic-controlled Senate committee backed President Barack Obama's choice to lead the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday, sending the nomination to the full U.S. Senate for a confirmation vote. The full Senate is expected to vote later on Thursday on whether to confirm nuclear physicist Ernest Moniz as U.S.

WASHINGTON, May 9- Republican lawmakers on Thursday boycotted a confirmation vote on President Barack Obama's pick to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, saying they were "completely unsatisfied" with answers provided by Gina McCarthy on several topics.

WASHINGTON-- The Senate rejected an effort Wednesday to expand the use of firearms on some of the nation's most frequently visited federal lands, handing gun control advocates a modest success.

WASHINGTON, May 9- Republican lawmakers on Thursday blocked a confirmation vote on President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, saying they were "completely unsatisfied" with answers provided by Gina McCarthy on several topics.

Senator Barbara Boxer said on Tuesday she plans to investigate the explosion at a Texas fertilizer plant earlier this month that killed 15 people and injured scores more.

Senator Barbara Boxer said on Tuesday she plans to investigate the explosion at a West, Texas, fertilizer plant that killed 15 people and injured scores more earlier this month.

WASHINGTON, April 25- Republicans on a Senate committee expect a vote by mid-May on President Barack Obama's nominee to lead the Environmental Protection Agency, provided that the nominee, Gina McCarthy, responds to a range of questions, a Senate staffer said on Thursday.

Executives from Monsanto Co., DuPont, and Dow Chemical, among the world's largest developers of biotech crops and the chemicals used to help produce them, told Reuters this week they are putting together a campaign aimed at turning the tide on what they acknowledge is a growing public sentiment against genetically modified organisms used as ingredients in the nation's food supply.

Executives from Monsanto Co., DuPont, and Dow Chemical, among the world's largest developers of biotech crops and the chemicals used to help produce them, told Reuters this week they are putting together a campaign aimed at turning the tide on what they acknowledge is a growing public sentiment against genetically modified organisms used as ingredients in the nation's food supply.

*Wyoming Senator blasts EPA's role in "chronic unemployment". WASHINGTON, April 11- President Barack Obama's pick to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told a Senate panel on Thursday that coal will remain important in the U.S. energy mix and that the EPA will be flexible in applying new pollution rules for coal-fired power plants.

WASHINGTON, April 11- President Barack Obama's pick to lead the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency told a Senate panel on Thursday that coal will remain important in the U.S. energy mix and that the EPA will be flexible in applying new pollution rules for coal-fired power plants.

HOUSTON, April 10- Nuclear regulators on Wednesday said a license request change submitted by operators of the damaged San Onofre nuclear station in California may not represent an increased safety risk, according to a release.

WASHINGTON, March 22- The Senate easily passed on Friday a symbolic measure approving the Canada to Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline, a move backers said showed strong support for a bill that would give Congress power to green light the project later in the year.

*Senate plan shields waterway engineering work from cuts. The Army Corps of Engineers, best known for its flood-protection role in hurricane-prone areas such as Louisiana, is also responsible for keeping the nation's ports and rivers open for cargo traffic.

*Unclear if measure will win Senate approval. WASHINGTON, March 7- The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday backed President Barack Obama's call to crack down on the clandestine trafficking of firearms, marking the first votes in Congress on gun-control since a school massacre last year prompted calls for action.

*Unclear if measure will win Senate approval. WASHINGTON, March 7- The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on Thursday backed President Barack Obama's call to crack down on illegal trafficking of firearms, marking the first votes in Congress on gun-control since a school massacre last year prompted calls for action.

*But unclear which if any of them will win Senate approval. WASHINGTON, March 7- Less than three months after the Connecticut school massacre, members of a Senate committee on Thursday will cast the first votes in Congress on measures backed by President Barack Obama to tighten U.S. gun laws.

WASHINGTON, Feb 26- The largest U.S. manufacturers' association on Tuesday warned that a potential tax on carbon emissions to fight global warming would cut factory output and could hurt the U.S. economy in other ways.