After a tornado nearly destroyed Greensburg, Kan., in May, city leaders came up with a revival plan: make it the greenest town in America. Among the projects are new homes and buildings that are more efficient than the ones they replaced.

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The five Great Lakes — Ontario, Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior — are said to hold one-fifth of the world's surface fresh water. The lakes are threatened by fluctuating water levels, invasive species and pollution — and nearby communities are looking for ways to help.

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Paul McCartney got a new hybrid car, but the environmental value was canceled out before he could even start it. Lexus gave him the vehicle, worth $158,000, but instead of sending it by ship, the company had it flown from Japan to England.

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The Bush administration announces on Wednesday that the polar bear will be protected as a threatened species because of the decline in Arctic sea ice from global warming. It's the first time that the Endangered Species Act has been used to protect a species threatened by the impact of climate change.

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The Day to Day host has been beating gas prices, even before they were this high; he pedals to work. He takes us along his 5-mile journey from his home to NPR West and shares his thoughts on why it's the ideal way to start a day.

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Bush administration officials are under a court order to decide by tomorrow whether to add the polar bear to the list of endangered species. The decision will cap a three-year campaign by environmentalists to show that climate change has the potential to imperil wildlife. Critics say any listing is a bad idea.

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Monday's earthquake in China's Sichuan province involved a violent fault line and structures that weren't built to withstand the tremors.

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Despite warning of "tougher times" because of the weak U.S. economy, Nissan Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said Tuesday that the automaker plans to become the global leader in zero-emission vehicles.

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Already one of the poorest countries by many measures, Yemen — a nation of roughly 22 million people — has been struck by severe droughts and depleted water supplies in recent years. Some Yemenis are calling the situation a potential time bomb.

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Around 400 Denver residents, including the city's mayor, are part of an experiment to see if drivers can be trained to drive "greener." A device in their cars will track whether they have bad driving habits that increase fuel consumption, thus contributing more to greenhouse gas emissions.

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Conservation scientist Gary Nabhan says the best way to recover some of America's at-risk species is to eat them. He documents lost and threatened foods in his new book, Renewing America's Food Traditions.

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Researchers studying the impact of climate change on arctic creatures say that the Narwhal — the long-tusked whale that gave rise to the myth of the unicorn — could be in danger. Narwhals hunt in ice-covered areas and may be among the first animals to feel the heat of warming arctic waters.

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The Chaiten volcano in the remote Patagonia region of southern Chile has been dormant for 2,000 years. But for more than a week, lava, ash and huge plumes of smoke have spewed from the volcano. Thousands of people in surrounding towns are being forced to leave their homes and livestock behind.

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When it comes to greenhouse gas emissions, what you eat may be more important than where your food comes from. A new study finds that replacing red meat and dairy products with chicken, fish or vegetables could have the same impact as shifting to an entirely locally-grown diet.

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Researchers report that atrazine, the second-most-applied weedkiller in the U.S., may be able to disrupt hormonal signaling in humans. The herbicide, which has been banned in Europe, is suspected of playing a role in sexual abnormalities in fish, frogs and other aquatic organisms.

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IBM has designed a supercomputer that is water-cooled. It's the first one in the United States, and it is destined for scientists working on models of how climate is likely to change regional weather patterns — one of the most demanding problems in the climate science world.

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The massive City Center development in Las Vegas is huge, expensive and environmentally friendly. It meets the building industry's green building, or LEED, standards. But critics knock LEED's one-size-fits-all point system and the cumbersome certification process.

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With demand for biodiesel on the rise, the market value of fry grease that can be used to make it has tripled in recent years. "Grease bandits" are stealing used fry grease from restaurants and rendering plants, reports Ben Arnoldy of the The Christian Science Monitor.

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The worst-hit areas of Myanmar include Yangon and the Irrawaddy delta region. Marc Rapoport of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees in Burma talks to Michele Norris about the devastation and the challenge of getting outside aid groups access into Burma.

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Aid groups and donor countries are mobilizing to get assistance to the survivors of a devastating cyclone in Myanmar. The United Nations says hundreds of thousand people are in need of help. Getting visas and travel permission from the government of Myanmar is still a problem. The U.S. is among those trying to get in.

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