"The push for green power could spawn a rush for small hydropower projects in the Northwest."

"In a big win for oil companies, a federal appeals court said it will allow the U.S. Interior Department to move forward with oil and natural gas leasing plans for the Gulf of Mexico that were drawn up by the Bush administration."

"Raw sewage and other pollution continued to foul American beaches in 2008. For the fourth year in a row, more than 20,000 beach closing days were reported in the USA, according to a report released today by the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Washington, D.C."

"The Obama administration is in talks with the Senate to craft a plan to ratify the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, a top State Department official said yesterday."

"HOUMA, La. -- As thousands attended Grand Isle's biggest tourist event this weekend most of its beaches -- and others close by -- were under advisories for high levels of bacteria in the water. State environmental officials say they don't know the cause because there are too many potential contamination sources."

"A coalition of three nonprofit water protection groups are jointly requesting that the Washington Department of Ecology 'abandon its plans to weaken industrial stormwater protections.'"

The mysterious, miles-long "blob" found floating in the Chukchi Sea is not an oil spill or alien life-form, according to early tests, but an unusual algal bloom.

"This year's Atlantic hurricane season could be less severe than usual due to start of another El Nino period in June."

"The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has published a final rule in the Federal Register prohibiting the harvesting of krill in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off the coasts of California, Oregon, and Washington."

"A fast-growing kelp from the Far East has spread along the California coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco Bay, worrying marine scientists and outpacing eradication efforts."

"TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- Long dependent on wellwater and supplies sent hundreds of miles by canal from the Colorado River, this desert city will soon harvest some of its 12 inches of annual rainfall to help bolster its water resources."

The Center for Biological Diversity has filed the federal lawsuit on ocean acidification, charging that the EPA has failed to comply with its mandate under the Clean Water Act to protect Washington State’s ocean waters from excessive CO2.

"When you hear about dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico and the Great Lakes, they’re largely caused by pollution draining from the farm belt. It can take a long time and a lot of money to reduce pollution at factories. So they’re starting to pay farmers to cut pollution instead."

"A bill introduced earlier this month would bring federal oversight of hydraulic fracturing fluids -- chemical mixtures pumped at high pressure into oil and gas wells in order to unlock deposits trapped deep underground."

"An El Nino weather pattern this year appears almost certain, Australia's Bureau of Meteorology said on Wednesday in a revised forecast, raising the prospect of drought in Australia and a even weaker monsoon in India."