WASHINGTON – The Obama administration will propose significantly cutting fossil fuel research and closing two facilities, Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Friday.

“Fiscal responsibility demands shared sacrifice — it means cutting programs we would not cut in better fiscal times,” he wrote in a blog post Friday outlining the cuts, as well as a big increase for clean energy, that will be proposed in next year’s budget.

Washington (CNN) — President Barack Obama said Thursday that the ongoing oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has highlighted the inadequacy of current environmental pollution laws, and urged Congress to move forward with a series of changes in an “aggressive, forward-leaning way.”

He made his remarks during a White House meeting with the bipartisan congressional leadership.

Washington (CNN) — As the oil slick from the recent offshore oil rig disaster makes its way to Gulf Coast shores — expected to devastate the precious ecosystem and hurt struggling businesses — the seeds of political fallout for the Obama administration are beginning to sprout.

Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said on his program that the oil slick disaster is “Obama’s Katrina.”

Not so, says Media Matters for America:

Washington (CNN) — Top federal officials said Sunday that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill is a potential catastrophe and defended the Obama administration’s response so far.

Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Thad Allen warned the leaking oil from a rig explosion could continue for weeks with dire consequences.

Washington (CNN) — Greenhouse gas emissions pose a threat to public health and welfare, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson said Monday.

“The overwhelming amount of scientific studies show that the threat is real,” she said.

The announcement stems from a Supreme Court ruling which ordered the agency to determine the impact of carbon emissions not only on the environment, but on public health.

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“These long-overdue findings cement 2009′s place in history as the year when the United States government began addressing the challenge of greenhouse-gas pollution and seizing the opportunity of clean energy reform,” Jackson said.