Washington, D.C.: House approves energy bill, Alaska oil drilling

The House approved nearly $19 billion in tax breaks Friday for energy companies and power producers and set up a showdown with the Senate over energy policy, particularly oil drilling in an Alaska wildlife refuge.

The House-passed bill includes sweeping incentives for oil and gas development and a mix of tax and other financial breaks aimed at promoting the traditional fossil fuel industries.

And it revived the long-standing fight over whether to allow oil companies access to crude oil beneath the coastal plain of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.

Washington, D.C.: EPA to investigate claim against DuPont

An environmental advocacy group asked the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday to investigate whether chemical maker DuPont Co. withheld an internal study that showed health risks from an unregulated chemical used to make Teflon.

EPA spokesman Joe Martyak said the agency would investigate the complaint from the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group and would take whatever action was appropriate if problems were found. Residents living near DuPont’s Parkersburg, W.Va., plant brought the suit.