"The Obama administration announced a $760 million settlement  Tuesday to resolve charges by thousands of Native American farmers and ranchers who say that for decades the Agriculture Department discriminated against them in loan programs."
 

"TransCanada Corp and Atco Ltd have abandoned plans to build a C$5 billion ($4.85 billion) dam on the Slave River in northern Alberta after a local native group refused to back the project."

"Hopes are dim for a global agreement to help developing nations cut carbon emissions, so Mexico is relying on an imperfect blend of grants, loans and ingenuity to meet self-imposed limits on greenhouse gases."

Gordon Murray, celebrated for designing the fastest, most powerful cars in the world, has gone to the other extreme. His latest product, the T.25, a fuel-abstemious three-seater passenger car, is made from metal tubes and recycled plastic bottles."

 

Roundup: What's up with whale poop? Humpback sets migration record. Whale jam off Norther California. Deaths blamed on krill, ship traffic.

"The crude has stopped gushing and coastlines are largely clear of the thick goo that washed ashore for months, but the impact of the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history will no doubt linger for years."

"Lake Mead sank to its lowest level in nearly 75 years on Sunday, a stark reminder of how drought and growing water demands have sapped the Colorado River and its huge reservoirs."

"Children who sleep in bedrooms with fumes from water-based paints and solvents are two to four times more likely to suffer allergies or asthma, according to a new scientific study."

The Consumer Product Safety Commission did an about-face and announced that it will not regulate cadmium -- a toxic metal found in consumer products that is known to damage kidneys and bones. "Instead, the agency will defer to an independent, private-sector group that has been drafting voluntary limits for several months."

"A secretive network of Republican donors is heading to the Palm Springs area for a long weekend in January, but it will not be to relax after a hard-fought election — it will be to plan for the next one."