Environment

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In “Promised Land,” John Krasinski is an activist who sees risks in allowing a gas company to start fracking on town-owned land. (Associated Press)

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This image provided by the U.S. Coast Guard shows the Royal Dutch Shell drilling rig Kulluk aground off a small island near Kodiak Island on Jan. 1, 2013. A Coast Guard C-130 plane and a helicopter were used to fly over the grounded vessel. Severe weather did not permit putting the marine experts on board the drilling rig, which is near shore and being pounded by stormy seas. (Associated Press/U.S. Coast Guard)

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Jane Goodall, famed for her work with chimpanzees in Africa and for her efforts on behalf of endangered species everywhere, serves as grand marshal of the 124th Rose Parade in Pasadena, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

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The mobile drilling unit Kulluk is towed by the tugs Aiviq and Nanuq in 29 mph winds and 20-foot seas 116 miles southwest of Kodiak, Alaska, on Sunday, Dec. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/U.S Coast Guard, Chris Usher)

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This image provided on Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011, by NASA shows the agency's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity using its camera to take this picture showing the rover's arm extended toward a light-toned rock, "Tisdale 2," during the 2,695th Martian day on Aug. 23, 2011. The solar-powered rover beamed back images of the horizon, soil and nearby rocks that are unlike any it has seen during its seven years roaming the Martian plains. (AP Photo/NASA)

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John Smith (right), a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, joins others in expressing support for the Kemper County coal plant. They earlier opposed the plant because contractors for Atlanta-based Southern Co. were excluding union members. (Associated Press)

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Parking lots at Mississippi Power’s Kemper County energy facility near DeKalb, Miss., are filled as 2,600 construction workers build a plant designed to use a soft form of coal called lignite in a gasification process to generate power. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** This file image provided by NASA shows the base of Mount Sharp on Mars. The Curiosity rover is set to drive toward the mountain in mid-February after drilling into a rock. The image was taken by Curiosity's 100-millimeter Mast Camera on Aug. 23, 2012. Scientists enhanced the color in one version to show the Martian scene under the lighting conditions we have on Earth, which helps in analyzing the terrain. (AP Photo/NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS, File)

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**FILE** Firefighters gather around a burning house after they were let back into the area to battle the blaze on Dec. 24, 2012, in Webster, N.Y. A gunman ambushed four volunteer firefighters responding to the fire, killing two and ending up dead himself, authorities said. (Associated Press/Democrat & Chronicle)

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Clemson University student Nathan Weaver, researching ways to save a dwindling species, placed a fake turtle on roads to count the number of drivers who intentionally ran over it. What he found, he said, "was a bit shocking." (Associated Press)

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President Obama walks past a Marine honor guard as he steps off the Marine One helicopter and walks on the South Lawn at the White House in Washington on Dec. 27, 2012, as he returned early from his Hawaii vacation for meetings on the fiscal cliff. (Associated Press)