"Out of pride and a reluctance to point a finger at neighbors, ranchers in the vast Great Basin outback where Oregon, Idaho and Nevada come together have been slow to admit that someone in their midst, perhaps even someone they know from barbecues and brandings, has been stealing cattle. Just who is doing it, and how they have gotten away with it for at least three years, remains a mystery."

"Thirty–one proposed renewable energy and power transmission projects have been put on the fast track for approval by the Bureau of Land Management, with the aim of getting them paid for with stimulus funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act."

"U.S. EPA during the first year of the Obama administration saw deep declines in the amount of penalties assessed against polluters and pounds of pollution slashed through enforcement activities compared with the previous year, according to data released by the agency last month."

"Americans' infatuation with their cars has endured through booms and busts, but last year something rare happened in the United States: The number of automobiles actually fell."

"The tap water that Tampa residents consume is contaminated with low levels of antibiotics, nicotine byproducts and a chemical used to produce firefighting foams."