National (U.S.)

"NEW YORK -- Environmental activists spent the weekend here trying to push their issues to the forefront of the Occupy Wall Street movement, staging mini-protests in the shadow of the World Trade Center on everything from relicensing the Indian Point nuclear power plant to hydraulic fracturing to global water scarcity.

The protests were the result of three weeks of planning by an Occupy splinter group that wants to use the broader movement's momentum to bring attention to energy-sector profits and what the activists view as widespread greed within associated industries."

"IRVINE, Calif. -- A non-radioactive ammonia leak at a Southern California nuclear plant prompted an emergency alert and precautionary evacuation of nearby workers before it was contained Tuesday, authorities said.

Workers stopped the leak by 5 p.m., about two hours after it was detected in a storage tank in the water purification system of Unit 3 at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, said Todd Adler, the plant's engineering manager.

Front-running Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain revealed that he was unaware that China had nuclear weapons. The revelation came in an October 31, 2011, interview with Judy Woodruff on PBS Newshour.

"President Obama said Tuesday that he will decide whether to approve or deny a permit for a controversial 1,700-mile Canadian oil pipeline, rather than delegating the decision to the State Department.

"The Obama administration announced Monday that it has extended nearly 1,400 deep-water oil and gas drilling leases to make up for delays caused by last year's Gulf spill and a subsequent moratorium on some offshore exploration."

"The Interior Department plans to issue a proposal soon forcing companies to reveal the chemicals they use in the so-called fracking drilling process on federal lands, as the Obama administration responds to public safety concerns over the shale exploration boom."

"Last week, we wrote about the likelihood that the $300 billion 2012 Farm Bill would take shape weeks before 2012 even begins, in the form of a dashed-off bill swept into the larger 'super committee'-driven deficit-cutting process. As this week starts, that troubling prognosis remains."

"Beacon Power Corp., an energy storage company that received $43 million in backing from the U.S. program that supported failed Fremont solar panel manufacturer Solyndra, filed for bankruptcy after struggling to raise private financing."

"Debbie Frederick hopes that her father's death in September in one of the most lethal outbreaks of food-borne illness in U.S. history will force the government to increase the safety of the country's food supply."