"VISAGINAS, Lithuania -- The parking lot outside the atomic power plant is weedy and potholed. Bus stops that once teemed with hundreds of workers are eerily empty."

"The shale gas revolution is firing up an old-fashioned American industrial revival, breathing life into businesses such as petrochemicals and glass, steel and toys."

"Research to be released Thursday shows that West Coast refineries continued to produce gasoline even though Americans were told they were temporarily shut down, leading to price spikes in May and October, McClatchy Newspapers reports."

"Georgia tops all other states for the amount of power it generates from coal-burning units that are “ripe for retirement” because they aren’t cost-effective, according to a Union of Concerned Scientists report."

"Warning that tens of thousands of jobs are at stake, governors in wind energy states Tuesday called on Congress to renew an expiring tax break."

"The federal government's flood insurance program, which fell $18 billion into debt after Hurricane Katrina, is once again at risk of running out of money as the daunting reconstruction from Hurricane Sandy gets under way."

"Climate change is suddenly a hot topic again. The issue is resurfacing in talks about a once radical idea: a possible carbon tax."

Because of the Citizens United decision, spending on the 2012 election by fossil-fuel and anti-environmental-regulation groups was enormous. The actual results of the election seem to suggest that these business lobbies made some disastrously bad investments. The common media narrative that big money makes big business omnipotent (or omniscient) may be due for fact-checking.

"Money raised from carbon taxes on energy bills should be used to lift millions of households out of fuel poverty and boost the economy, it has been suggested."

"When the United States International Trade Commission decided on Wednesday to uphold tariffs of about 24 to 36 percent on most solar panels imported from China, the case’s proponents claimed a major victory."

"LONDON — BP returned to profitability with a better-than-expected third-quarter profit, prompting the oil giant to raise its dividend."

"THREE RIVERS, Tex. — The refinery business has long been the difficult stepchild of the oil industry, expensive to run, prone to accidents and a low-margin headache for executives who preferred drilling for gushers. But signs of the improving fortunes for the industry can be seen at Valero Energy's Three Rivers refinery here, about 70 miles south of San Antonio at the doorstep of a giant new shale oil field."

Fracking has brought economic boom times to some parts of the U.S. As the price of natural gas sinks, the question arises: what will happen when the boom is over?

"The hillside vineyards of New York's Finger Lakes region make money producing fine Rieslings and inviting tourists to sip white wine by the water's edge. Now winery owners are worried about the prospect of a grittier kind of economic development: gas drilling."

"WASHINGTON -- The owner of a small nuclear reactor in Wisconsin said Monday that it would close the Kewaunee Power Station early next year because it was unable to find a buyer and the plant was no longer economically viable."