Epa

With gas prices continuing a steady upward climb, you may be headed to the dealer in search of something less thirsty at the pump. But which cars' sticker price gives you the most bang for your buck? We asked Edmunds.com to look at the vehicles with the lowest sticker price per fuel-economy rating. The math was simple: divide the car's base price by its EPA rating for combined fuel economy. The result gives a look at how much each mile per gallon will cost you. Photos: Top 10 cars with lowest cost per mpg Topping the list is Ford's C-Max Energi.

California could use $44.5 billion to fix aging water systems over the next two decades, according to a federal survey that placed the state at the top of a national list of water infrastructure needs. Texas, at nearly $34 billion, and New York, with about $22 billion, were next in line. The assessment, conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 2011 and released last week, is used to document the capital investment needs of public drinking water systems across the country.

WASHINGTON -- Alfredo Armendariz, a regional administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency, has resigned in the wake of criticism for comments made in Texas two years ago comparing the methods of the EPA to those of Romans using crucifixions to conquer foreign lands. “I have accepted Dr. Armendariz's resignation and respect the fact that he came to this difficult decision because he did not want to distract from our agency's critical work,” EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson said in an internal memo Monday, obtained by the Washington Post.

Coursing through vast reaches of Alaskan tundra, glacial lakes and emerald forests, six major river systems converge along the rim of the Bering Sea to form the crystalline waters of Bristol Bay, the richest wild salmon grounds in the world. Yet if three global mining giants get their way, this region - one of the last truly wild places in our country - could be destroyed. Each year, up to 40 million sockeye salmon make the journey from deep ocean waters into Bristol Bay and, from there, upstream to spawn in the inland shallows of their birth.

If it's any consolation to Southern California, none of its ZIP Codes claimed the top spot as the state's most polluted, according to a California Environmental Protection Agency report. That dubious distinction went to Fresno. But three of the 10 most pollution-heavy ZIP Codes were in Los Angeles County. The other seven, including Fresno, are in the San Joaquin Valley, according to the nation's first comprehensive statewide environmental health screening tool, called CalEnviroScreen.

Re "EPA chief, who battled GOP , plans to step down," Dec. 28 The reasoning behind the U.S. Environment Protection Agency as a distinct entity is to ensure that competing industrial interests are disentangled from decisions affecting the environment. Rather than spending millions of dollars pushing back against EPA efforts to protect environmental quality, it is incumbent upon industry to find new, creative ways to thrive within constraints established to ensure our future survival.

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court unanimously backed the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate a controversial form of coal mining called mountaintop removal, overturning a lower court decision that barred the agency from stopping a large coal mine in West Virginia. The ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is likely to set off considerable political backlash from industry, some utilities and their congressional allies who have long contended that the EPA's regulatory efforts are killing the coal sector.

A recent spate of decisions by the Obama administration to delay crucial pollution regulations is helping mend fences with an alienated business community but is angering the president's allies in the environmental movement that helped him to victory in 2008. Among the rules that the Environmental Protection Agency has delayed implementing have been stronger restrictions on air pollution and coal ash residue. The delays come even as the administration and the agency are finding support in the courts.

A Texas power generation company said it would have to shut down two coal-burning power plants and lay off about 500 workers to comply with an upcoming new air pollution rule promulgated by the Environmental Protection Agency. Luminant, Texas' largest power generation company, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to exempt the state from the EPA's new Cross-State Air Pollution Rule aimed at slashing emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, saying it would be forced to idle about 9% of its generating capacity.

WASHINGTON -- The EPA says it does not fly drones over the heartland to spy on farmers. It does, however, use manned aircraft to enforce anti-pollution laws. And that's a practice that a group of farm-state lawmakers want to stop. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.) has introduced the Farmer's Privacy Act to sharply restrict the Environmental Protection Agency's  use of "aerial surveillance" of farms and ranches -- the latest shot at an agency that congressional Republicans consider a symbol of Washington's regulatory overreach.

WASHINGTON - President Obama's nominee to lead the Energy Department won unanimous confirmation by the Senate on Thursday while two other Cabinet choices narrowly advanced out of committee, amid complaints from Democrats over Republican delaying tactics. Ernest J. Moniz, an MIT physics professor who becomes the new Energy secretary, is the fifth Cabinet appointment confirmed since Obama won a second term, and the first without any Republican dissent. By comparison, all but one of President George W. Bush's 11 initial second-term appointments were confirmed by the end of April, even though his party held no more Senate seats than Democrats control now. Republicans had delayed consideration of Thomas E. Perez, Obama's choice to lead the Labor Department, and Environmental Protection Agency nominee Gina McCarthy before Thursday's party-line committee votes to recommend them to the full Senate.

WASHINGTON - Senate Republicans boycotted a committee vote Thursday on President Obama's nomination of Gina McCarthy to head the Environmental Protection Agency, drawing accusations of obstructionism from Democrats. Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee said McCarthy had not adequately responded to their requests for information, so they didn't show up for the scheduled vote. They want more information on how the EPA makes decisions on new regulations, how it has used private email to conduct public business, and other transparency issues.

Chevrolet says it has earned bragging rights as the car company with the most efficient electric vehicle. The automaker says that the 2014 Spark, which is set to go on sale this summer in California and Oregon, has an EPA estimated range of of 82 miles when fully charged and an estimated combined city/highway 119 mpge. Mpge stands for miles per gallon gasoline equivalent. PHOTOS: Kelley Blue Book's top 10 'green' cars for 2013 Chevy said the subcompact car will save an average of $9,000 over the next five years, compared with other new vehicles.

If it's any consolation to Southern California, none of its ZIP Codes claimed the top spot as the state's most polluted, according to a California Environmental Protection Agency report. That dubious distinction went to Fresno. But three of the 10 most pollution-heavy ZIP Codes were in Los Angeles County. The other seven, including Fresno, are in the San Joaquin Valley, according to the nation's first comprehensive statewide environmental health screening tool, called CalEnviroScreen.

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court unanimously backed the Environmental Protection Agency's authority to regulate a controversial form of coal mining called mountaintop removal, overturning a lower court decision that barred the agency from stopping a large coal mine in West Virginia. The ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals is likely to set off considerable political backlash from industry, some utilities and their congressional allies who have long contended that the EPA's regulatory efforts are killing the coal sector.

WASHINGTON - The Environmental Protection Agency on Monday criticized the State Department's environmental impact review of the Keystone XL pipeline, saying there was not enough evidence to back up key conclusions on gas emissions, safety and alternative routes. In a letter to top State Department officials, the agency said it had "environmental objections" to their review, which concluded the pipeline would have minimal impact on the environment. The analysis could complicate efforts to win approval for the controversial $7-billion project.

WASHINGTON -- A dozen states and cities and three major environmental groups have notified the Environmental Protection Agency that they plan to sue the regulator unless it issues final rules limiting greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants. On Monday, the EPA confirmed that it had missed an April 13 deadline to issue final rules curtailing emissions of carbon dioxide from power plants, the country's single biggest source of heat-trapping gases that drive climate change. The jurisdictions and the environmental groups sent separate letters to the EPA. But each letter notified the regulator of the groups' plan to sue after 60 days, if the EPA did not expedite the rules.

WASHINGTON -- The Environmental Protection Agency issued a sharply critical assessment of the State Department's recent environmental impact review of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, certain to complicate efforts to win approval for the $7-billion project. In a letter to top State Department officials overseeing the permit process for the pipeline, the EPA lays out detailed objections regarding greenhouse gas emissions related to the project, pipeline safety and alternative routes.

California has failed to spend $455 million in federal safe-drinking-water funds and isn't adequately managing the program that administers the money, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency officials said. "Nearly half a billion dollars that could be actively used today is being held and basically parked," said Jared Blumenfeld, EPA regional administrator. Blumenfeld's office on Friday sent a notice of noncompliance to the California Department of Public Health, warning that if the state doesn't take corrective action within 60 days, the EPA may suspend grant payments to the program.