"A licensing panel at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has turned down the state’s effort to block renewal of the operating license of a reactor because of the Fukushima Daichi accident in Japan."

Matthew Wald reports for the New York Times November 29, 2011. [2]

"The Persian Gulf nation of Qatar has been selected as the site of next year’s United Nations climate change meeting, edging out South Korea. The announcement came as this year’s meeting opened in Durban, South Africa, with delegates from 194 nations facing growing concerns about rising global temperatures and more frequent climate-related catastrophes."

John M. Broder reports for the New York Times November 29, 2011.
[7]

"CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Investigators from the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Inspector General have found that federal regulators are not identifying 'scofflaw violators' who don't pay mine safety and health fines, allowing those mine operators to avoid debt-collection lawsuits or other enforcement actions."

"Subsistence farmers in Africa, victims of changing weather patterns, are caught in a stormy global debate over a special climate fund for which few want to pay."

"For 17 years, the Hendra virus smoldered in its host bat population, only rarely crossing to humans. Then it exploded, likely triggered by heavy rains and floods in Australia earlier this year. And that has public health doctors nervous about climate change. "

Nancy Bazilchuk reports for the Daily Climate November 29, 2011. [19]
 

"The Obama administration says BP and two other companies are likely to face new citations for alleged safety and environmental violations stemming from last year's Gulf oil spill.

Michael Bromwich, head of the Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement, says the upcoming notices stem from reviews that go beyond a federal government probe of the April 2010 Deepwater Horizon blast, which killed 11 workers and resulted in the nation's worst offshore oil spill.

"Life's no circus for the Ringling Brothers these days. The USDA announced Monday that an agreement was reached where Feld Entertainment, Inc., doing business as Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus (Feld), will pay a $270,000 fine for allegedly violating the Animal Welfare Act (AWA)."

"The digital age has left men's nether parts in a squeeze, if you believe the latest science on semen, laptops and wireless connections."

"Global climate talks got an inauspicious start in Durban, South Africa, on Monday with reports that Canada planned to withdraw fully from the Kyoto Protocol, a carbon-limiting multinational treaty first adopted in 1997 and scheduled to expire in 2012."