"Tens of thousands of people gathered Sunday on the National Mall in Washington to observe the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and to urge Congress to pass climate and energy legislation."

"Pollution before the first Earth Day was not only visible, it was in your face: Cleveland’s Cuyahoga River caught fire. ... The challenges to the planet today are largely invisible -- and therefore tougher to tackle."

Michigan activist Lynn Henning, who endured abuse as she campaigned against water pollution caused by manure spreading, received the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.

The Discovery Channel plans to air a series about former GOP VP candidate Sarah Palin and the natural resources of Alaska. Now Friends of the Earth is urging people to protest the half-term governor's policy allowing the shooting of wolves from airplanes -- by sending in haiku.

"One U.S. senator and a core of young organizers turned April 22, 1970, into the day the environmental movement was born."

"Environmental groups launched a complaint against Canada under the North American Free Trade Agreement Wednesday, saying the country has failed to enforce anti-pollution rules governing its vast oil sands."

"A Brazilian rancher accused of ordering the murder of U.S. nun and Amazon defender Dorothy Stang was found guilty and sentenced to 30 years in prison."

"Environmental activists this week are stepping up a battle to protect U.S. EPA's ability to regulate greenhouse gas emissions, staging demonstrations and lobbying lawmakers at their local offices."

"TOKYO -- Prosecutors Friday indicted an anti-whaling activist from New Zealand for illegally boarding a Japanese harpoon boat as part of a protest against the ship's whale hunting expedition in Antarctic seas in February."

"BELEM, Brazil — A top activist for land reform in Brazil's Amazon has been murdered, police said Thursday."

"Tomato plants throughout much of the Northeast were hit last summer with a devastating fungal disease called 'late blight.' ... But as the climate gets warmer this year, green thumbs probably won't face the same threat."

Trucks full of gunmen sought to kill 64-year old Sister Leonora Brunetto, who had spent decades trying to keep ranchers from stealing Amazon land. "Impunity in the Amazon because of a weak judicial system and corruption among local officials is endemic, a problem not only for people like Brunetto, but for the Brazilian government trying to preserve a rain forest the size of the U.S. west of the Mississippi. More than 20 percent of the forest already has been destroyed."

"Europe's best known landmarks -- including the Eiffel Tower, Big Ben and Rome's Colosseum -- fell dark Saturday, following Sydney's Opera House and Beijing's Forbidden City in joining a global climate change protest, as lights were switched off across the world to mark the Earth Hour event."

"Honorary Sierra Club President and Presidential Medal of Freedom winner, Dr. Edgar Wayburn died late Friday night at his home in San Francisco in the presence of his family. He was 103."

"No one can accuse Naomi Davis of lacking ambition. She wants simultaneously to rebuild black America and save the planet -- one neighborhood at a time. She knows she cannot do either alone. Her plan is to recruit and train an army. A green army."