Google and the European Pressphoto Agency (epa) have struck a deal under which the search engine will host epa content on Google News.

Under the agreement Google News users will be able to find original text stories and photos from the online services of a number of epa’s eleven agencies.

Just about everybody uses Google, and the statistics that prove this are always impressive.  It’s especially interesting to see government agencies tied to the search giant, though, and in the latest example of this, the EPA is working with Google Earth.

We’ve all seen Google grow increasingly close to the U.S. government, but in this case, it’s Microsoft that narrowed the gap.  The prize, as such, is a contract with the Environmental Protection Agency involving the use of Virtual Earth.

A semantic upgrade by the Environmental Protection Agency in a report on perfluorooctanoic acid, a chemical compound used to make Teflon, moves the compound from “suggested carcinogen” to “likely carcinogen.” The change in status may have huge legal ramifications.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was ordered by a federal judge to make up its mind about a smog-reduction plan for the Washington area by May 3.