The US Department of the Interior, the Department of Energy (DOE), and the US Army Corps of Engineers are quietly laying the groundwork for a renewable energy boom that you might not expect.

FORBES: Administration Lays the Groundwork for Hydropower Boom

After years of wrangling with private landowners, sportsmen and local politicians, the US Department of Interior established the EHNWR on 18 January, solidifying protection for the wildflower-dappled prairie an area key to the survival of the Everglades further south.

BBC: Florida��s newest wildlife refuge

Shell first obtained licences from the US Department of the Interior in 2005 to explore the Arctic ocean off the northern and north-western coasts of Alaska.

BBC: Shell suspends Arctic drilling for 2013

The lawsuit, filed by a coalition of conservation groups, calls on the state of Florida, the US department of the interior and the US army corps of engineers to fulfil the requirements of laws designed to protect the manatee.

BBC: Manatee