Daily Roundup: February 9, 2011

Fracking a Bad Word? As the EPA sets up measures to examine what hydraulic fracturing does to water supplies, the city of Buffalo, New York, acted preemptively by outright banning the practice. Buffalo News and Scientific American

I Am The...: Walruses were deemed not endangered enough to get any real federal protection. Instead, the species got put on the "warranted but precluded" list. Sierra Daily

Slick Move: Chevron obtained a restraining order against the parties suing it in a $113-billion lawsuit involving the company's alleged pollution of Ecuador. Greenwire

Ready to Pop? Corn prices are spiking, thanks to a 15-year low in U.S. reserves as a result of increased ethanol demand. Forbes

Net Worth: The NOAA set forth regulatory policies for oceanic fish-farming today, opening a period for public comment that ends in April, at which point the aquaculture guidelines will be finalized. Houston Chronicle

--Avital Binshtock