Environment

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President Obama speaks Dec. 10, 2012, about the economy to an audience comprised of workers and guests during a visit to the Daimler Detroit Diesel plant in Redford, Mich. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** North Korea's Unha-3 rocket stands April 8, 2012, at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea. (Associated Press/David Guttenfelder, File)

**FILE** This satellite image taken by GeoEye and annotated and distributed by North Korea Tech and 38 North shows the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea, on Dec. 4, 2012. This image was shared with the AP by the 38 North and North Korea Tech websites, which collaborate on analysis of the satellite imagery. (Associated Press/GeoEye via North Korea Tech and 38 North)

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**FILE** A North Korean soldier salutes in front of the country's Unha-3 rocket, slated for liftoff between April 12-16, at Sohae Satellite Station in Tongchang-ri, North Korea, on April 8, 2012. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Sand and rubble sit Nov. 29, 2012, where the boardwalk used to be in Seaside Heights N.J. Seaside Heights, like many other coastal towns, is racing to rebuild its boardwalk from Superstorm Sandy's damage in time for next summer's tourism season. (Associated Press)

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“Why is it that we don’t have a farm bill? It isn’t just the differences of policy. It’s the fact that rural America with a shrinking population is becoming less and less relevant to the politics of this country, and we had better recognize that and we better begin to reverse it.” - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack (Associated Press)

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Prince George’s County looks to join neighboring Montgomery in imposing a 5 cent charge per bag for shoppers who want plastic, a government effort to reduce litter and pollution. (Associated Press)

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Rap superstar Frank Ocean, nominated for six Grammys, was named the mtvU network’s Man of the Year. (Associated Press)

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FILE - In this July 18, 2012, file photo, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack talks about the drought during a press briefing at the White House in Washington. Vilsack has some harsh words for rural America: It's "becoming less and less relevant," he says. A month after an election that Democrats won even as rural parts of the country voted overwhelmingly Republican, the former Democratic governor of Iowa told farm belt leaders this past week that he's frustrated with their internecine squabbles and says they need to be more strategic in picking their political fights. "It's time for us to have an adult conversation with folks in rural America," Vilsack said in a speech at a forum sponsored by the Farm Journal. "It's time for a different thought process here, in my view." He said rural America's biggest assets — the food supply, recreational areas and energy, for example — can be overlooked by people elsewhere as the U.S. population shifts more to cities, their suburbs and exurbs. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

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People look at a dead young male fin whale that washed up Monday between the Paradise Cove and Point Dume areas of Malibu, Calif. on Thursday, Dec. 6, 2012. The rotting carcass near celebrity homes is causing a gigantic cleanup problem as authorities try to decide who's responsible for getting rid of it. Los Angeles County lifeguards planned to try to pull the 40,000-pound carcass out to sea, perhaps at high tide Thursday, said Cindy Reyes, executive director of the California Wildlife Center. (AP Photo/Nick Ut)

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Christopher Geldart, then-director of the Homeland and Emergency Management Agency, waits to testify at a public oversight roundtable on the Emergency Preparedness for the 2013 Presidential Inauguration, held by D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson Thursday, De. 6, 2012 at the Wilson Building in Washington, D.C. Geldart, the deputy mayor for public safety and justice, was part of an argument that briefly turned physical with another man around 12:30 p.m. Saturday outside of the Ballston-area Gold’s Gym, according to WRC-TV, the local NBC affiliate. (Barbara L. Salisbury/The Washington Times)

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**FILE** Hundreds of Bangladeshi mourners watch Nov. 27, 2012, as the bodies of victims of a fire in a garment factory are buried in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The factory did not have any fire exits for its 1,400 workers, many of whom became trapped by the blaze. Investigators said the death toll would have been far lower if there had been even a single emergency exit. (Associated Press)