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The Supreme Court hears arguments about a challenge to the Clean Water Act. The case involves a developer who refuses to apply for a permit to build on wetland-designated property. He says the federal act should not apply to the land, which is 20 miles from Lake Huron.

In the West, new ways are emerging to make ranching compatible with preservation. For financial incentives, ranchers keep their lands away from developers and try to preserve fragile desert landscapes.

About half of the nation's chemical manufacturing capacity resides in the Texas Gulf Coast, now threatened by Hurricane Rita. More than 160 chemical plants are potentially in Rita's path. Environmental groups are concerned, but industry officials say the plants are designed to withstand hurricane winds.

The Senate confirms Priscilla Owen to the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals by a vote of 55-43, ending a four-year struggle. A compromise worked out by a bipartisan group of 14 senators resulted in a process by which at least three Bush court nominees will receive an up or down vote, starting with Owen.

The Bush administration wants to change a rule that requires the rebuilding of depleted fish stocks within a decade. The 10-year rule helped curb an over-fishing crisis when it took effect in 1996. Supporters say the rule is out of date and ineffective; environmental groups strongly oppose the move.

Six years ago, the meeting of The International Monetary Fund and World Bank was targeted by protesters in Washington, D.C. This weekend, the streets of the capitol are quiet. What has changed?

Now that the deadly bird flu virus has spread to poultry in northern Nigeria, experts say it is almost certain to spread further in Africa. Nigeria's poultry population is estimated at 140 million birds, and the nation appears ill-equipped to stamp out the virus.

Burning oil, coal and other fossil fuels releases plumes of tiny, dangerous particles. A new study estimates that eliminating that pollution would save about 50,000 lives in the U.S. each year.

Oil shale is an idea that was tested a generation ago, then abandoned when the price of crude oil plunged. Now, a self-taught inventor is once again eyeing the vast shale deposits of the Rocky Mountains.

The political saga around whether to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is one of tricky legislative maneuvers, late-night votes and passionate lobbying.