Meter Reading: Texas Using Affordable Care Act to Fight EPA, Midwest Drought Good for Gulf, and More

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images

The sun sets waves wash up from the Gulf of Mexico onto the beach April 13, 2011 in Isla Grand Terre, Louisiana. The drought in the Midwest has actually helped aquatic life thrive in the Gulf this summer.

Big Drought Makes for a Small ‘Dead Zone’ – “In yet another display of the inexorable interdependence of Earth’s ecosystems, a bad summer for Midwestern farmland has turned out to be a good one for life in the Gulf of Mexico.” – New York Times

Texas using health care reform ruling to fight EPA – “Texas may have new courtroom ammunition in its fight over federal regulation of greenhouse gases: the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on health care reform.” – Houston Chronicle

Facebook’s Green Efforts Challenged By Growth – “But Facebook isn’t toasting to its clean energy success quite yet. Although the company reported that 23 percent of the energy it used in 2011 came from renewable sources — solar, wind, etc. — it said that it hoped to improve on that figure to get to 25 percent renewable energy usage by 2015.” — Talking Points Memo