"Pacific Gas and Electric Co. must pay a record $1.4 billion in fines and other penalties for more than 3,700 violations of pipeline safety laws leading up to the deadly San Bruno natural-gas explosion, two administrative law judges said Tuesday."
"Royal Dutch Shell submitted a plan to the federal government on Thursday to try once again to explore for oil in the Alaskan Arctic, following years of legal and logistical setbacks as well as dogged opposition from environmentalists."
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More evidence of Congress' ineffectiveness comes in its ongoing failure to keep its secrets actually secret. Its official policy is to keep the Congressional Research Service from publicly releasing the handy explainers it produces at taxpayer expense. Thanks again to the Federation of American Scientists' Government Secrecy Project for unauthorized publication of these reports.
"Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said the recent earthquake in Northern California shows the need for an earthquake early warning system."
"SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Hurricane Cristobal hurled heavy rains across Atlantic and Caribbean islands on Tuesday as it headed toward Bermuda, and officials said the storm already had caused at least five deaths."
"Japan is facing the toughest test yet in its effort to restore nuclear energy more than three years after the Fukushima disaster: scrutiny from a skeptical population."
"The 6.1-magnitude earthquake that shook Napa Valley early Sunday morning could total more than $1 billion in losses. As many as 100 homes were left in unlivable condition, and it’s likely most residents will be paying out-of-pocket for repairs."
"A federal nuclear inspector urged U.S. regulators to shut down a California nuclear power plant until tests showed its reactors could withstand shocks from nearby earthquake faults, according to the Associated Press and an environmental group."
"NAPA -- Many people awakened by Sunday's earthquake described it as long, rolling, almost gentle. Near the quake's epicenter in the North Bay, however, it was anything but soothing."
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