Federal News Digest for June 27, 2011
Washington Post
Afghanistan poppy killers get scrutiny absent in prior contracts – Michelle Jamrisko reports that U.S. contractors, including DynCorp International, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon among others, with almost $2 billion worth of counter-narcotics business in Afghanistan, will face more scrutiny than they faced for similar work in Latin America over the past decade, which was marked by inadequate competition and little oversight
Obama’s Afghanistan plan gets mixed reviews from grunts at Fort Campbell – Kevin Sieff reports from Tennessee’s Fort Campbell military base to reflect the negative, dismissive view of President Obama’s recent announcement of a major phaseout of troops in Afghanistan
A new way of thinking as sea levels rise – Darryl Frears reports that as fears over rising sea level loom in Virginia Beach — where water is expected to rise 14 to 17 inches in the next century — the Environmental Protection Agency is advising against seawalls and dikes, and urging residents to accept rising sea levels as inevitable
New York Times
Behind veneer, doubt on future of natural gas – Ian Urbana reports that disagreements abound among the United States Energy Information Administration, where some are convinced of natural gas’s prosperous future, but others are skeptical, wary of how this bubble might burst as the housing and technology bubbles did, and concerned about how much natural gas can affordably be extracted
U.S. plans stealth survey on access to doctors – Robert Pear reports that the Obama Administration plans to deploy “mystery shoppers” to gauge general access to primary care doctors, judging how difficult it is for people to get care when they need it
U.S. to provide guidelines to bolster computer security – Riva Richmond reports that the Homeland Security Department will soon release a new system of guidance intended to help make the software behind such services as Web sites and power grids less susceptible to hacking; the guidelines will include a list of the top 25 programming errors that most clearly enable serious attacks
Wall Street Journal
Your mileage may vary – Josh Mitchell and Sharon Terlep reports that the Obama administration may soon require automakers to just about double the average fuel economy of their car and light truck fleets, to 56.2 miles per gallon by 2025
Showdown over use of cancer-drug Avastin – Alicia Mundy reports that Food and Drug Administration scientists are fighting to have their decision to revoke cancer drug Avastin accelerated approval for breast cancer upheld
Biden pushes debt-reduction plan – AP reports that Vice President Joe Biden took a stance against Republican and their attempts at lowering the national debt limit, saying that their approach would only benefit the wealthy
