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"Agency Smackdown, Round 2: A Critique of 'The Nuclear Party'"

"The chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, whose four fellow commissioners complained about him to the White House, saying that he had been withholding information from them and wielding too much power, drew a spirited defense on Wednesday from a predecessor at the agency."

Source: Green/NYT, 12/29/2011

Texas County Sues Over Toxic Storage on River

"Angered that a riverside industrial waste pit leached potent toxins into the San Jacinto River for almost half a century, the Harris County [Texas] Attorney's Office is asking that those responsible be fined as much as the law allows -- $25,000 a day -- all the way back to the site's 1965 opening."

Source: Houston Chronicle, 12/29/2011

"Solyndra: Politics Infused Obama Energy Programs"

"Meant to create jobs and cut reliance on foreign oil, Obama's green-technology program was infused with politics at every level, The Washington Post found in an analysis of thousands of memos, company records and internal ­e-mails. Political considerations were raised repeatedly by company investors, Energy Department bureaucrats and White House officials."

Source: Wash Post, 12/29/2011

"Coal Extraction Poses Climate Challenge for Obama Administration"

"When it comes to coal mining in the United States, environmentalists have a simple goal: End it. For the Obama administration, it's a little more complicated. Since taking office nearly three years ago, the administration has restricted coal-mining waste from being dumped into streams and imposed new pollution controls on coal-fired power plants. But on the fundamental question of whether the government should halt federal leasing, the administration's answer has been: not yet."

Source: Wash Post, 12/29/2011

"Happy Birthday Endangered Species Act!"

"On this day 38 years ago Richard Nixon signed into law the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a landmark moment in human development when we formally recognized that animals and plants—imperiled as "a consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation"—deserved to survive... and need our protection in order to survive.

The ESA has been embattled since its birth. But so is every advance in human thinking that expands the rights and humane treatment of nonhuman others."

Source: Mother Jones, 12/29/2011

"Oil Plunges on Strong Dollar, Profit Taking"

Despite Iran's threat to close the Strait of Hormuz, some global oil prices fell. It turns out Iran's influence on the international oil market may be weak, and its threats more an effort to head off international sanctions that will harm its own weakened petroleum economy. Shipping lanes are just one of many major strategic factors affecting the global oil market. Iran has, however, offered spurious ammunition to U.S. politicians crowing for US acts of war against it. Right now, the news media are taking Iran's threats more seriously than the oil market is.

Source: AFP, 12/29/2011

NICAR Conference 2012 in St. Louis, with Two Pre-Conference Workshop Offerings

NICAR's annual conference will be devoted to computer-assisted reporting (CAR). Learn about tools you need to dig deeper into stories and give readers, viewers and your online audience the information they're demanding. The CAR conference offers something for everyone, from beginners to those on the cutting edge of digital reporting. In partnership with IRE, two intensive pre-conference workshops will be offered: "Follow the Money - Companies' Influence on Politics" and "News Camp: From Words to Data and Back."

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