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An estimated 40,000 rallied on a cold day in Washington, DC yesterday to urge President Obama to reject the Keystone XL Pipeline and destructive energy extraction practices, such as fracking.

In Tuesday's State of the Union, five days before what is anticipated to be the largest climate rally in the U.S. history, President Obama made his message on climate change clear: "For the sake of our children and our future, we must do more to combat climate change." After touting the nation's success in producing more oil and natural gas than ever before, Obama outlined an "all-of-the-above" plan which involves reducing pollution and speeding up the transition to sustainable energy, including wind and solar.

-- By Lisa Graves, Brendan Fischer, and Meher Ahmad

The Obama administration is urging a federal court to overturn a ruling that blocked the government from enforcing a law that could allow the military to imprison American citizens indefinitely, without trial. The Center for Media and Democracy joined an amicus brief with groups across the political spectrum calling for the judiciary to reject such unchecked power to use "indefinite detention."

Katherine Forrest is a federal judge in New York appointed by President Obama to fill the spot vacated by bank battler Jed Rakoff when he went on senior status. Within months of taking the job, Forrest blocked the president and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta from enforcing aspects of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012. The plaintiff, Chris Hedges, and groups objecting to the policy -- including the Center for Media and Democracy -- argued that the law is so broadly written that it could be used to permit the military to arrest U.S. citizens and detain them indefinitely for exercising their freedom of speech and of the press.