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In the second part of our series on the oil century, NPR's John Burnett reports on the environmental legacy of oil and gas production. For every barrel of oil and gas produced, some 50 barrels of salt water or brine are created. The salinity fouls the well and the land around it. A lot of big oil companies have sold their leases to smaller independent companies and many of them have decided not to take care of their wells, leaving a large number of orphan wells leaking brine. In Texas, both the government and the oil industry are in favor of plugging up these polluting wells. The state plugs 1300-1500 wells a year. The activists in this case are not environmentalists, but land-owners.

In the second part of a conversation, host Bob Edwards talks to actors Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee. The couple discuss the price they've paid for their political activism and how they've been able to reconcile their personal and professional lives during 52 years of marriage. They also talk about the 1959 Broadway production of A Raisin in the Sun, and their appearances in Spike Lee's movies Do the Right Thing and Jungle Fever. Davis and Dee say they'll be honored Sunday night to receive the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award.

Commentator Merrill Matthews wonders why so many people think George Bush's agenda is "conservative." According to his dictionary, a conservative is one who resists change, but Bush and the Republicans are the ones calling for change and reform these days, not the Democrats and not the "liberals." From tax policy to education to the military, Bush and the Republicans are behaving like liberals and the Democrats with their resistance to change are acting more conservative.

When the German capital was moved to Berlin, a home and office were needed to be built for the Chancellor. The plans were approved by Helmut Kohl, but his successor Gerhard Schroeder has hinted he finds the massive glass-and-steel structure too grand. And now the public is feeling the same way. NPR's Guy Raz reports.

Host Lisa Simeone talks with NPR's national political correspondent Mara Liasson about the continuing controversy over the pardons and commutations announced by then-President Clinton.

Scott speaks with the Math Guy, Keith Devlin, about the mathematics of knots. Knot theory has contributed enormously to both physics and, more recently, the understanding of DNA.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports on what's at stake for President Bush tonight as he prepares to make his case for his tax-cut proposals to a joint session of Congress -- as well as the American people. Meanwhile, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers are already battling over the president's plan.

More people look to the Web for information about religion than for auctions or online banking. Commentator Steve Waldman thinks that this is because the Internet offers anonymity.

NPR's Ted Clark reports on the many problems confronting Colombia's President Andres Pastrana, who meets with President Bush today at the White House. Those problems include the illegal drug trade, insurgent and paramilitary violence, and a troubled economy. Although there are concerns in both countries about American involvement in Colombia, the U.S. is cautiously providing the nation with military assistance.

Ted Clark reports on Colombian President Andres Pastrana's visit to the White House today. He and President Bush talked about drugs, Colombia's civil war and expanded trade which could improve the country's economy and ease the conditions which lead to the drug problem and the war.