June 2nd, 2011

Research shakes up seismic knowledge near Northwest nuclear plant

Letters sent as part of the licensing process reveal the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had multiple questions for Energy Northwest about the assumptions it used to develop its response plan for potential accidents. Among the questions: Why did Energy Northwest continue to use 15-year-old studies as the basis for earthquake preparations at the Columbia Generating Station — the Northwest’s only commercial nuclear reactor — when much more up-to-date information about the region’s seismic profile were available from the USGS and Hanford itself? [...]

March 22nd, 2011

Uncertainty, seismic risks and nuclear regulation

This is a copy of a blog post I wrote today at spot.us to update supporters about my work on a story exploring the seismic dangers that could face the Columbia Generating Station near Richland, Washington. Click here to read more about that story and how you can help make it happen.

In more than [...]

June 11th, 2010

Following a war correspondent's footsteps to the oil spill

Will following the footsteps of Melville Jacoby, a World War II correspondent and my grandmother’s cousin, help me cover the gulf oil spill? [...]

April 1st, 2010

All Things Not Considered in NPR's Oil Drilling Coverage

Yesterday afternoon President Obama shocked the country when he announced plans to open parts of the Atlantic and Alaskan coasts to oil drilling. Though the Pacific Coast was left untouched, the move could open up huge expanses of ocean elsewhere.

Many environmentalists treated the news as a betrayal and yet another delay in the move [...]

November 25th, 2009

Making the most of making the media

Finding Community | Stopping to Breathe | False divisions | Continuing the discussion | Other Voices

I arrived in Los Angeles late Monday afternoon. As I landed, I watched the sunset turn the Santa Monica Mountains that golden hue they turn in late fall, caught glimpses of the skyscrapers along Wilshire Blvd., marveled at the [...]

October 21st, 2009

Repurposed

What are you doing this Saturday?

Perhaps you’re taking a stand to help slow climate change by participating in one of more than 4,000 actions in 170 countries being organized by 350.org. The number, as the organization will tell you, represents the parts per million of carbon dioxide thought to be the upper limit for [...]

September 1st, 2009

Mt. Wilson Observed

“Two firefighters die.”

Each thick black letter blazes through the scratchy grime of the plexiglass newspaper rack. They ignite my attention. They singe my mind even after I pass, as I board a 754 Rapid at Wilshire and Vermont and as I disembark in Los Feliz. They smolder as I walk to the library, [...]