Environment

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A worker does the preparation work for welding the first section of the South Stream pipeline in Anapa, Russia, on Dec. 7, 2012, when Russian energy giant Gazprom was due to launch the construction of the pipeline, which is expected to be delivering up to 63 billion cubic meters of Russian gas to Europe annually, starting in 2015. (Associated Press)

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Tsunami evacuees watch TV news flashing a tsunami warning at their shelter Takata Junior High School that stands on a higher ground in Rikuzentakata in Iwate Prefecture on Dec. 7, 2012, after a strong earthquake struck off the coast of northeastern Japan. It is the same region that was hit by a massive earthquake and tsunami last year. (Associated Press/Kyodo News)

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“Japan needs to be pushed. Japan needs to talk to Taiwan, Japan needs to talk to China.” — Yann-Huei Song of Taiwan’s Institute for European and American Studies (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)

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Al Gore wants to see more action on climate change from President Obama. “Our democracy has been hacked,” he says.

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Joel Biddle, a Key West, Fla., resident who contracted dengue fever, opposes a plan to release genetically modified Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to control the spread of the disease. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)

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**FILE** President Obama is greeted Oct. 31, 2012, by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie upon his arrival at Atlantic City International Airport in Atlantic City, N.J. Obama traveled to the region to take an aerial tour of the Atlantic Coast in New Jersey in areas damaged by superstorm Sandy. (Associated Press)

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Van Metre Homes is building 76 single-family homes at Village Run at Stone Ridge in Aldie. The Manchester model, which has 3,132 square feet, is priced from $542,990.

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Space Shuttle Atlantis, here in 1995, is docked with the Russian space station Mir as the two spacecraft orbit the Earth. NASA looks lost in space and without a clear sense of where the agency is going, an independent panel of science and engineering experts said in a critical report released Wednesday. (NASA via Associated Press)

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“I think Americans understand why clean energy is important and what the role of government is in helping make sure ... that the country gets the benefits of it.” - Arno Harris, chairman of the Solar Energy Industries Association and CEO of Recurrent Energy. (Rod Lamkey Jr./The Washington Times)