The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife proposed last week that Puget Sound’s orcas be added to the state’s list of endangered species, citing a dramatic decline in resident whales.

Next month the National Audubon Society board will be answering to a new constituency – their own disgruntled members.

The Environmental Protection Agency last week proposed adding another 11 sites to its Superfund program for cleaning up the nation's worst toxic waste contamination. Environmental groups, however, were not ready to pat the administration on the back, charging instead that more should have been done.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has failed to provide adequate protection to minorities and low-income families who are disproportionately affected by pollution, according to a report released last week by EPA's Inspector General (IG).

Toyota announced last Tuesday that Ford would use some of its hybrid engine technology, in a pact that underlines the Japanese auto giant's strong lead in eco-friendly gasoline-electric systems.

An international coalition of BP investors announced the filing last week of a special resolution to be considered by company shareholders at the annual general meeting in London next month. The coalition, led by the U.S. Public Interest Research Group Education Fund, is calling on the company to adopt a public policy against drilling in protected and sensitive areas.

In the drought-stricken farm belt of southeastern Colorado, down-on-their-luck farmers and wide-eyed environmentalists alike are looking forward to the day when many more Americans derive their electricity from the wind, an ultimately renewable, pollution-free source of energy. And the state-funded Colorado Green Project is helping make this vision into a reality.

In yet another example of the dire state of the world’s oceans, the World Conservation Union announced last week that it will be adding 10 species of sharks and rays to its global "Red List" of endangered species. Researchers cite overfishing throughout the world’s oceans as well as soaring demand for shark fin in Asia as the primary culprits in the global decline of shark populations.