"Australia lifted protection levels on Friday for the world's largest surviving marsupial carnivore, the Tasmanian devil, listing the animal as endangered due to a deadly facial tumour outbreak."

"U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a 'green new deal' on climate change on Thursday and urged for a final push in negotiations ahead of a key summit to be held in Copenhagen in December."

"A new $6 million federal grant could be the first step toward declaring a public health emergency in asbestos-contaminated Libby, Mont., the state's senior senator said Thursday."

"The U.S. government will reverse a Bush administration policy and increase the role of scientists in setting air standards for criteria pollutants harmful to human health, Lisa Jackson, the administrator of the EPA, said."

"The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Thursday approved a funding plan for a major transmission project expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and deliver about 1,200 megawatts of Quebec power to New England."

"Forecasters from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say they are expecting an average Atlantic hurricane season this year, with four to seven hurricanes."

The Cape Wind project to build a wind farm in Nantucket Sound won approval of a key permit from Massachusetts.

"A measure requiring utilities to generate a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources, such as wind and solar, overcame a legislative hurdle in the U.S. Senate on Thursday."

"The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed the Waxman-Markey climate and energy bill by a vote of 33-25 on Thursday evening. It’s a landmark occasion, the first time a serious climate bill has made it this far in the House."

The Environment Report's Lester Graham interviews Interior Secretary Ken Salazar about problems and challenges he faces.