From the U.S. Department of Energy --This site details the plans for Yucca Mountain, the site of America's first repository for spent nuclear fuel rods and solidified high-level radioactive waste. The material would be stored in tunnels deep underground after a complex of buildings would receive, package, and prepare the material for disposal underground.

“ Yucca Mountain is the site of America's first planned repository for spent nuclear fuel rods and solidified high-level radioactive waste. ”

From BBC -- The German Government is committed to phasing out nuclear power within 30 years, but it is allowing the German power generators to honor existing contracts with British Nuclear Fuels, and with Cogema in France. Because environmentalists have always maintained the waste should go straight into permanent storage without being reprocessed, each shipment of waste is likely to be accompanied, on the German leg of its journey at least, by angry protests.

“ The government wants to end nuclear reprocessing by 2005 but will allow shipments until then. The object of reprocessing is to separate out plutonium and uranium from used nuclear fuel rods - in theory to reuse the stuff as fuel. ”

From Department of Environmental Protection -- Reliant Energy has been charged with a $120,000 fine by the Department of Environmental Protection for overfilling a residual waste landfill at its electrical generating plant in Taylor Township, Lawrence County, just south of New Castle, Pennsylvania.

“ During an Oct. 30, 2006, meeting, the company informed DEP that some areas of the landfill had been overfilled.  DEP followed up with an inspection to verify the information and the site was officially put in violation of its permit. ”

From CNN -- While renewable energy seems to be the star child of the green power movement, energy efficiency can provide massive energy savings and reduce carbon emissions significantly. Improving the efficiency of the national electricity grid by merely 5 percent would be the equivalent of eliminating the fuel use and carbon emissions of 53 million cars. The key to increasing efficiency is through smart grids, which use digital technology to eliminate waste and improve reliability.

“ Advocates of a "smart grid" also say that it would open up new markets for large and small scale alternative energy producers by decentralizing generation. "It would give consumers the potential to have a much more complex relationship with their energy supplier," says John Loughhead, Executive Director of the United Kingdom Energy Research Center.  ”

From MSNBC -- Many cities have enacted a ban on bottled waters not because of the water, but to avoid the tremendous costs of eliminating the bottles. People are looking for new, environmentally conscious ways to carry their water.

“ Among the most popular, and certainly the most inexpensive method for at-home use is the water pitcher, which can remove chlorine, sediment, metals, and cysts such as cryptosporidium and giardia, which are from animal waste. PUR is the highest rated, with Brita close behind. ”

From New York Times:A new "tax" on plastic bottles and bags is being proposed in Congress that would encourage consumers to reduce their output of plastics and other toxic wastes.

“ "A national bottle bill can help America quench its thirst for imported oil," he said in a statement. "We can still have carbon dioxide in our fizzy drinks, while cutting down on heat-trapping carbon dioxide in the atmosphere." ”

From MSNBC -- Bottled water is the single largest growth area among all beverages, that includes alcohol, juices and soft drinks. The bottle are rapidly taking over our landfills, and an alternative to plastic disposable bottles must be advocated.

“ But most bottled water is consumed away from home, usually at a park, in an office or even while driving — areas where there's usually no recycling."The opportunities for recycling outside the home are minimal," Franklin says, "and therein lies the problem." ”

From National Geographic --This article explores the negative impact of coastal development and what some people are doing to combat it. The first part discusses a surfer and his wife who became political activists after discovering that sewage being pumped out into the ocean was making San Diego’s water unsafe for humans. The second part follows some marine scholars off the coast of Oregon who are trying to understand and call attention to what’s happening to our coasts and waters. The third part talks about a developer in Florida and his plans for conscientiously building up developments without destroying the natural beauty of the coast.

“ "There will be a time when the sea's dead," says Frye, who once predicted San Diego's waves would be too toxic to surf by 2000. "We're kind of like the Dutch boy with his finger in the dike." ”

From <i>The Miami Herald</i> --A pirate leader, now behind bars, explains why he took to piracy:  Overfishing.

“ In 1991, Eid was scavenging for lobsters along the craggy shores of central Somalia, when the government and its security forces were swallowed up in a coup. The country's endless coastline -- at almost 2,000 miles, it's longer than the U.S. West Coast -- suddenly became an unguarded supermarket of tuna, mackerel and other fish. ”

From <i>The Huffington Post</i> --Somali pirates overfishing and nuclear waste dumped by countries from Europe is what compelled them into policing their waters.

“ But behind the arrr-me-hearties oddness of this tale, there is an untold scandal. The people our governments are labeling as "one of the great menace of our times" have an extraordinary story to tell -- and some justice on their side. ”