Environment

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** FILE ** About 30,000 participants run along the Potomac River near the Lincoln Memorial during the annual 26.2-long Marine Corps Marathon in 2008. (The Washington Times)

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Thorough-breds graze at the Eagle Valley Farm in Nicholas County near Carlisle, a part of Kentucky's famed Bluegrass region. Politicians in Washington have decreed that the area is in Appalachia, and the move qualifies the community to receive federal funding to bolster its economy. (AP photo)

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Vote harvesting occurs when third parties — like campaign workers — collect absentee ballots from voters and deliver them to election officials. (Associated Press, File)

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American University students face a changing but not hopeless job climate. COURTESY OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITY.

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Erosion control devices line the beach in Galveston, Texas. The geotubes had been covered by dunes before Hurricane Ike hit the island last month. Many parts of Galveston remain littered with debris and are not ready to host the crowds that they usually attract. (Associated Press)

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A television screen at the New York Stock Exchange shows the decision of the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, Wednesday Oct. 8, 2008. The emergency cut led by the Federal Reserve will at least temporarily provide relief for investors who have been battered this week. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

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Vicente Fox (Getty Images)

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AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES China's state television recorded North Korea demolishing its Yongbyon nuclear cooling tower on June 27, 2008. North Korea Wednesday began banning U.N. nuclear inspectors from its main plutonium reprocessing plant. **FILE**

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The world's largest offshore windmill farm, Middelgrunden Windmill Farm, is in the Oeresund, near Copenhagen harbor. This farm's 20 windmills produce enough electricity to cover 3 percent of Copenhagen's power consumption. By 2020, Germany wants to obtain 20 percent of its energy from such renewable sources as wind. (Getty Images)

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A new study says Americans are endangered by flame retardant chemicals through dust and air in their cars, especially in hotter temperatures. Those chemicals are in seat foam to slow down fire if the car bursts into flames.

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Enron Field (Getty Images/File)

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Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (Associated Press)

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Bristol Palin, 17, holds her brother Trig during the campaign rally where Sen. John McCain introduced Bristol and Trig's mom, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, as his vice presidential running mate in Dayton, Ohio, on Friday. Sarah Palin said Monday that her 17-year-old unmarried daughter is five months pregnant. (Associated Press)

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** FILE ** Todd Palin (center) drives his wife, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, to the starting line of the Iron Dog snowmobile race in Big Lake, Alaska, on Feb. 11, 2007. (AP Photo/Al Grillo)

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The Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., is where speeches will be delivered and Sen. John McCain's nomination formalized, but around it is an inviting metropolitan area to explore. (Associated Press)

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As the Soviet satellite Sputnik orbited the Earth in 1957, it launched a U.S. call for science education. (Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)

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After peering into the U.S. from atop the U.S.-Mexico border fence, a man returns to the Mexican side in Tijuana, Mexico. But Indian tribes are calling for a halt to building the fence, arguing it will destroy their traditions and religious practices. (Associated Press)