From the still-troubled economy to one of the worst natural disasters ever in Vermont, 2011 was "a difficult year," Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a year-end interview. In a new column, the senator looked ahead at 2012 and ways to help create jobs, transform America's energy system and tighten the reins on Wall Street.  

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View the Vermont year in review

U.S. ECONOMY: Official unemployment finally dipped below 9 percent in November. The real jobless number stood at about 15 percent when those forced into part-time jobs and those who gave up looking for work altogether are taken into account. Millions of Americans remained buffeted by foreclosures, joblessness and benefit cutbacks, like a 25 percent reduction in home heating aid for the elderly, disabled and families with young children. It was, Sanders said, "a difficult year."

TROPICAL STORM IRENE: Tropical Storm Irene poured up to 11 inches of rain on already-waterlogged Vermont in August. Six people were killed by the storm, which also left thousands homeless and destroyed more than 500 miles of roads and 200 bridges. "We should all be grateful for the efforts of state and local officials, first responders, the many hundreds of volunteers, and members of the National Guard who all did such an extraordinary job in the cleanup and recovery effort," Sanders said.

CONGRESS: In November, the so-called super committee failed to agree on a deficit-reduction package of at least $1.2 trillion -- potentially triggering automatic spending cuts starting in 2013. "The American people do not want to reduce the deficit but they don't want to do it on the backs of the middle class, working families, the sick, the elderly and the children," Sanders said. He founded the Defending Social Security Caucus, which helped prevent Social Security benefits from being rolled back as part of a misguided deficit cutting deal. 

OCCUPY WALL STREET PROTESTS: It began Sept. 17 with a protest at a New York City park near Wall Street, and within weeks spread to scores of communities across the U.S. and abroad. The movement depicted itself as leaderless and shied away from specific demands, but succeeded in airing its complaint that the richest of Americans benefit at the expense of the rest. "The protesters have struck a nerve," Sanders said.

OSAMA BIN LADEN'S DEATH: In May, a nearly 10-year manhunt ended with a nighttime assault by a helicopter-borne Navy SEAL squad on the terrorist leader's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Bin Laden was shot dead by one of the raiders. "I hope the death of Osama bin Laden and the growth of democratic movements in the Muslim world marks a momentous turning point, which leads the region toward peace and prosperity," Sanders said.

WAR IN AFGHANISTAN: On Capitol Hill, the death of Bin Laden triggered renewed calls for the United States to speed up its withdrawal from Afghanistan, the nation that harbored Al Qaeda before 9/11.  Sanders was asked about Bin Laden and Afghanistan at a book-signing event in Washington, D.C.  "My view didn't really change the day before he was killed or the day after," Sanders said. "After 10 long years, I believe that the time now is to bring our troops home as quickly as we possibly can."

WAR IN IRAQ: After almost nine years at a cost of about 4,500 American fatalities and $1 trillion, the last American combat troops were withdrawn from Iraq in December. A huge contingent of U.S. civilian government workers and contractors will remain behind.  In 2002, then-Rep. Sanders voted against giving President Bush a blank check to wage the war. Today, large majorities in the U.S. public favor the withdrawal from Iraq.

JAPAN'S TRIPLE DISASTER: A 9.0-magnitude earthquake off Japan's northeast coast in March unleashed a tsunami that devastated scores of communities, leaving nearly 20,000 people dead or missing and wreaking an estimated $218 billion in damage. The tsunami triggered the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl in 1986 after waves knocked out the cooling system at a nuclear power plant. Sanders is a member of the Senate committee that oversees the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.  He has faulted the NRC for foot-dragging on staff recommendations to improve safety at U.S. plants.

EU FISCAL CRISIS: The European Union was wracked by fiscal turmoil. In Greece, austerity measures triggered strikes, protests and riots.  Italy's economic woes toppled Premier Silvio Berlusconi in November.

ARAB SPRING: It began with demonstrations in Tunisia where a longtime strongman was deposed in January. From there, the protests spread and sparked a revolution in Egypt that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February, fueled a civil war in Libya that led to Col. Moammar Gadhafi's death in October, and fomented a bloody uprising in Syria.

SAVING AMERICAN DEMOCRACY AMENDMENT: Sanders in December introduced a constitutional amendment to void a Supreme Court ruling that unleashed unlimited corporate cash in American political campaigns. The ruling two years ago in a case called Citizens United vs. the Federal ElectionCommission would be overturned by the amendment that Sanders proposed in early December. Rep. Ted Deutch is the author of a companion measure in the House.

U.S. POSTAL SERVICE: The U.S. Postal Service in December agreed to hold off on closing nearly 4,000 post offices and sorting centers.  "What I feared very much is that the post office unilaterally would start making drastic cuts to processing plants, rural post offices and slow first-class mail service before Congress can pass postal reform," Sanders said.  He led negotiations on Capitol Hill with the postmaster general that led to the moratorium.

STOP THE TAR SANDS PIPELINE: A controversial proposal to build a Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline, once on the verge of winning U.S. government approval, was put on hold and faces outright rejection. The project that would cause major harm to the environment was delayed after Sanders raised questions about conflicts of interest in the way an environmental study was conducted for the State Department.  At year's end, Republicans in Congress tried to force President Obama to decide the fate of the pipeline within 60 days.  Signals from the White House and State Department are that the pressure tactic could backfire.

THE FEDERAL RESERVE: A Sanders provision in the Wall Street reform law ordered the Government Accountability Office to investigate the Fed's performance during the financial crisis. The GAO said the central bank provided a jaw-dropping $16 trillion in total financial assistance. The probe also found that at least 18 current and former Fed board members were affiliated with banks and companies that received emergency loans. Sanders assembled an all-star team of economists to help him reform the Fed.

MADE IN AMERICA: The National Museum of American History in June opened a gift shop that sells only American-made merchandise. The change came "thanks to a determined senator," Diane Sawyer said on ABC World News. About this time one year ago, Sanders had gone shopping for gifts for his grandchildren at the museum. He noticed a counter stocked with small busts of U.S. presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama manufactured in China and other low-wage countries.  Sanders returned to the history museum for the grand opening of a gift shop that had been newly restocked with made-in-America merchandise. "I'm proud to see that in a short period of time, there have been changes," he said.