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Noah talks with James G. Wright, Assistant Metro Editor for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, about aluminum plants on the West Coast, which have discovered they can make more money by shutting down production and reselling the electricity they bought from the Bonneville Power Authority in Washington State. Wright says this is because they locked in the price of electricity with the B.P.A. years ago when natural gas was very cheap. Their contracts allow them to resell the electricity back to B.P.A.

California narrowly avoided cutting off electricity to part of the state yesterday as power reserves fell below critical levels. Rolling blackouts across the state may still be necessary in the near future. NPR's Ina Jaffe reports on how the electricity grid choreographs these rolling blackouts.

California's energy crisis is having significant repercussions in the Northwest, and maybe renewing old animosities, as Tom Banse reports, from Olympia, Washington.

Western governors are meeting in Sacramento today to work out a deal on energy transfers to California. The state continues to struggle for a solution to its energy crisis as they deal with critically low power reserves and nearly bankrupt utility companies. NPR's Richard Gonzales reports.

Historian Clayborne Carson is director of Stanford Universitys King Papers Project, dedicated to editing and publishing all the papers of Martin Luther King, Jr. Carson is the co-editor of the new book A Call to Conscience: The Landmark Speeches of Dr Martin Luther King, Jr (Warner Books) a collection of eleven speeches delivered at turning points in the civil rights movement.

President-elect George W. Bush will be inaugurated a week from tomorrow, and the city of Washington is getting ready for a larger number of protests than is usual. Robert speaks with Terrence Gainer, Deputy Chief of Police for Washington D.C. about the preparations.

Rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, and Guitarist Barbara Lynn. The left-handed guitarist was one of the first female practioners of the instrument. Her signature song is the 1962 hit Youll Lose a Good Thing. The Rolling Stones recorded her song Oh Baby (We Got a Good Thing Going) in 1964. After a lengthy hiatus to raise a family, Lynn made a come back in 1986. Her new album is Hot Night Tonight (Antone Records).

Environmental groups opposed to the nomination of Gale Norton as Interior secretary joined their voices in protest today. They say Norton, the former attorney general of Colorado, expounds theories of land use well outside the mainstream of contemporary legal thinking. But Norton has the backing of conservatives who say she simply follows a strict interpretation of the Constitution and the intent of the founding fathers. NPR's David Welna reports.

Robert talks to Adam Eidinger, an organizer with the Justice Action Movement, which will be taking part in protests against the inauguration of George W. Bush. Justice Action Network has been a part of large protests around the country against the World Trade Organization and World Bank and International Monetary Fund. Eidinger supported Ralph Nader in the November presidential election, and believes Bush's presidency is illegitimate.

Former Soviet Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Dobrynin. He was a key diplomat in many US/Soviet conflicts including The Cuban Missile Crisis.