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June, 2009
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"The End of the Line" for Fish?
Rupert Murray's new documentary "The End of the Line," based on the book of the same name by British journalist Charles Clover, presents a timely and shocking (but maybe not too surprising) look at the devastating overfishing of our oceans that has occurred over the last century. Through interviews with leading ocean scientists, local fishermen and concerned journalists from Asia to Africa to Alaska, the film explains how the majority of the world's edible fish will go extinct by 2048 if we do not change the way we fish.
Evidently, the world's fish stocks have been steadily declining for the last 20 years, even as more and more boats are sent out each year. Nowhere is this more evident than in the North Atlantic, where cod once filled the waters off Newfoundland. Today, a moratorium placed on cod fishermen there in the early 90s has not yet been lifted-overfishing was so rampant that the fish were brought to the brink of extinction, and even without human interference they have ha...
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What's Happening: Shrinking Gulf Coast, Illegally Harvesting Rain, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
Rising Sea Level To Submerge Louisiana Coastline By 2100
"A vast swath of the coastal lands around New Orleans will be underwater by the dawn of the next century because the rate of sediment deposit in the Mississippi delta can not keep up with rising sea levels, according to a study published today...For New Orleans, and other low-lying areas of Louisiana whose vulnerability was exposed by hurricane Katrina, the findings could bring some hard choices about how to defend the coast against the future sea level rises that will be produced by climate change." [The Guardian]
Related:
Even the mighty Mississippi's sediment won't be enough to save our vanishing coast [Nola.com]
The Legalities of Rainwater Harvesting
"Just as people use the sun to generate power for their homes, many homeowners capture rainfall for a variety of uses — from washing dishes to watering gardens during dry spells. But rainwater harvesting, as it is known, can be quite controversial — ...
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Glass Half-Full - ACES Passes House Test
Hailed as a historic vote that will establish the US as a player in upcoming international climate talks the American Clean Energy and Security Act (ACES) narrowly passed through the House of Representatives last night by a vote of 219-212.The vote followed party lines with only eight republicans voting in favor and 44 democrats voting against. Curiously enough, the bill would not have passed without the support of the eight republicans.
Also known as the Waxman-Markey Bill, the first major environmental bill of the Obama administration will introduce as its centerpiece a soft cap and trade program for greenhouse gas emissions. The voluntary cap and trade program will supercede those programs that have been developed by individual states from 2012-2017.
The contentious cap and trade program is the first of its kind since a similar system was enacted in 1990 in an effort to reduce sulfur emissions that cause acid rain.
Get more from the source... -
What's Happening: Winning ACES, Coal's Human Toll, and more
TOP STORY
In Close Vote, House Passes Climate Bill
"The House narrowly passed an ambitious climate bill [Friday] that would establish national limits on greenhouse gases, create a complex trading system for emission permits and provide incentives to alter how individuals and corporations use energy. The bill passed 219 to 212 after a furious lobbying push by the White House and party leaders won over farm-state Democrats who had complained that it was too costly, and liberals who wondered if it was too watered down to work. Even after that effort, 44 Democrats voted against the legislation." [Washington Post]
Related:
- "How did your rep vote on the House climate and energy bill?" [Grist]
- "One hurdle down for climate bill, 60 more to go" [Grist]
RECOMMENDED READING
Algae Farm Aims to Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel
"Dow Chemical and Algenol Biofuels, a start-up company, are set to announce Monday that they will build a demonstration plant that, if successful, would use algae to turn carbon d...
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Fighting India's Indifference
In Part I of a two-part series, I speak with environmental lawyer M.C. Mehta about India's problems: acid rain causing the Taj Mahal to turn yellow, cities choked with congestion and car exhaust, and the slow death of the Ganges River from pollution.
Continue watching the interview on explore.org - M.C. Mehta 2.
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What's Happening: Waxman-Market Up for a Close Vote, Cash for Trees, and more
TOP STORY
Close Win Predicted For Cap-and-Trade Bill
"The House could vote today on a measure to cap U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, with Democratic leaders predicting a tight victory for a behemoth bill that has grown more complex with each compromise. The heart of the bill, which now runs to 1,201 pages, is a plan to reduce emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. To do that, it would create a cap-and-trade system, in which polluters would be required to accrue buyable, sellable credits for all the greenhouse gases they produce...Yesterday, Democratic leaders said they had gathered enough votes to win passage of the bill, which could be voted on today or tomorrow." [Washington Post]
Related:
- "Waxman-Markey Vote Watch," A tally of likely vote. [Grist]
- "Limits on Emissions Have Wide Public Support" [Washington Post]
RECOMMENDED READING
Environmentalists Rachet Up Campaign Against Oil Sands
"In a broadside aimed squarely at Canada’s energy heartland, a coalition of 18 leadi...
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Cap and trade what?
When the conversation turns to cap and trade, is your first thought: “Oh, that will never work, it’s too complicated?” It’s true, it can be harder to get one’s arms around than a gas tax or even a carbon tax– who doesn’t get taxes, right? – but cap and trade is a familiar, and an effective, means by which to reduce pollution among regulators and industry.
In the 1990s, the U.S. acid rain cap and trade program achieved 100 percent compliance in reducing sulfur dioxide emissions. In fact, power plants took advantage of the allowance banking provision to reduce SO2 emissions 22 percent (7.3 million tons) below mandated levels for the first phase of the program. And on the global warming front, cap and trade is up and running in 10 states in the northeast and mid-Atlantic, which have pledged to work together to reduce climate altering pollution from regional power plants by 10 percent by 2018.
While driving down pollution, cap and trade will also generate a lot of money... -
What's Happening: ACES Vote Tomorrow, Cancer in the Air, and more
TOP STORY
House Aims for Friday Vote on Climate Bill
"Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives hope to debate and pass a climate change bill on Friday, although negotiations were continuing with farm-state lawmakers who have concerns, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said on Tuesday. "It is quite possible and maybe even probable that we will go to the energy bill on Friday and complete the energy bill on late Friday," Hoyer told reporters. He was referring to the legislation that would cut carbon dioxide emissions associated with global warming by 17 percent by 2020 and 83 percent by 2050, from 2005 levels, as well as provide new incentives for producing alternative fuels." [Reuters]
Related:
- "Obama Urges Passage of Climate Bill" [New York Times]
- "Deal Sends Global Warming Bill To House Floor" [Associated Press]
RECOMMENDED READING
Air Has Elevated Cancer Risk in 600 Neighborhoods
"People living in nearly 600 neighborhoods across the country are breathing concentrations ...
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What's Happening: Gulf Dead Zone, Birth Defects in Chinese Coal Towns, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
Large 'Dead Zone' Predicted For Gulf
"A team of NOAA-supported scientists...is forecasting that the "dead zone" off the coast of Louisiana and Texas in the Gulf of Mexico this summer could be one of the largest on record. The dead zone is an area in the Gulf of Mexico where seasonal oxygen levels drop too low to support most life in bottom and near-bottom waters. cientists are predicting the area could measure between 7,450 and 8,456 square miles, or an area roughly the size of New Jersey. However, additional flooding of the Mississippi River since May may result in a larger dead zone." [SPX - TerraDaily]
Birth Defects Show Human Price of Coal
"In Shanxi province, coal has brought riches to a few, jobs for many, and environmental pollution that experts say has led to a high number of babies born with birth defects. Experts say coal mining and processing has given Shanxi a rate of birth defects six times higher than China's national average, which is already high...
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Cleveland Celebrates a River Reborn
Rivers in industrial cities, laden with raw sewage and oil-soaked debris, used to catch fire a lot in the early part of the 20th century, and nobody would give them much mind. But when the Cuyahoga River caught fire in 1969, attitudes had changed, and “the Mistake by the Lake” sparked environmental reforms across the country. Within a year, the Environmental Protection Agency would be established and the first Earth Day would be held. Today, 40 years later, Cleveland is celebrating the Cuyahoga’s rebirth, now home to more than 60 species of fish as well as beavers, blue herons and bald eagles.
And most credit an active citizenry up and down the watershed who for 40 years have worked hard to improve the river. A year before the fire, Cleveland residents voted to tax themselves an additional $100 million for river restoration. Local governments removed dams, which trapped pollution and impeded fish migration. In 1974, President Gerald R. Ford created the Cuyahoga Valley Nationa... -
What's Happening: Cuyahoga Remembered, Greenwashing's Reach, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
From the Ashes of ’69, a River Reborn
"Monday is the 40th anniversary of the Cuyahoga River fire of 1969, when oil-soaked debris floating on the river’s surface was ignited, most likely by sparks from a passing train. The fire was extinguished in 30 minutes and caused just $50,000 in damage. But it became a galvanizing symbol for the environmental movement, one of a handful of disasters that led to the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and to the passage of the Clean Water Act." [New York Times]
American Shoppers Misled By Greenwash
"More than 98% of supposedly natural and environmentally friendly products on US supermarket shelves are making potentially false or misleading claims, Congress has been told. And 22% of products making green claims bear an environmental badge that has no inherent meaning." [The Guardian]
Europe Looks to Africa for Solar Power
"The European project known as Desertec...aims to harvest the sun’s energy — us...
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Jack Johnson Teaches Environmental Stewardship... with Songs
While visiting the North Shore of Oahu, I dropped in on Sunset Elementary School to learn about their unique environmental program. As I walked through the gardens, I saw a young gentleman playing the guitar with a bunch of kids. A lover of music, I walked over with my golden retriever, Lucky, and joined the group.
I thought the gentleman was the music teacher. What a great class, I thought to myself. Well, I ended up sitting through five music "classes." I later learned that the young gentleman was Jack Johnson - the famous musician - who happened to be visiting the school on the same day.
Afterwards, Jack told me about the work of his own foundation, the Kokua Hawai'i Foundation. It was a day of true learning. I hope you enjoy it as much as Lucky and I did.
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What's Happening: Alaskan Polar Bears in Trouble, Urban Rooftop Farming, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
Alaska Polar Bear Numbers Declining
"Polar bear populations in and around Alaska are declining due to continued melting of sea ice and Russian poaching, according to reports released Thursday by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Fewer polar bears have survived in the southern Beaufort Sea, which extends from northern Alaska to parts of Canada, and in the Chukchi and Bering Seas between northwestern Alaska and Russia." [Reuters]
Urban Farming, a Bit Closer to the Sun
"City dwellers have long cultivated pots of tomatoes on top of their buildings. But farming in the sky is a fairly recent development in the green roof movement, in which owners have been encouraged to replace blacktop with plants, often just carpets of succulents, to cut down on storm runoff, insulate buildings and moderate urban heat." [New York Times]
CO2 Levels Highest in Two Million Years
"To determine just how high temperatures may climb and how climate patterns may shift, researchers may n...
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Is Florida's "Turtle Tunnel" Really a Waste?
In a highly publicized report released this week, Senator Tom Coburn of Oklahoma has highlighted a number of projects being funded under Congress's stimulus bill in an attempt to pose a "second opinion" on economic recovery. Specifically, Senator Coburn outlines 100 projects funded by the bill that he deems examples of wasteful government spending and that are "likely to fail."
At number five on Senator Coburn's list is the Lake Jackson Ecopassage, an extensive construction project along U.S. Highway 27 near Tallahassee, Florida. The ecopassage has been in the works for nearly a decade, designed to mitigate turtle mortality along a portion of Highway 27 - a stretch of blacktop that has exhibited an incredibly high level of mortality for nearly 60 wildlife species (including turtles) in the past due to vehicle traffic.
The premise behind the ecopassage is simple: a wall is built along the roadway to "funnel" turtles into a set of three culverts passing underneath the roadway (and t...
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What's Happening: Senate Energy Bill, Montana Asbestos Case, and more
TOP STORY
Expansive Energy Bill Advances In Congress
"A Senate energy bill was voted out of committee yesterday, but not before losing the support of two Democrats and a dozen leading environmental organizations...It is rife with controversy over new offshore drilling plans near Florida, the sharing of federal offshore oil and gas royalties, and a mandate for renewable energy that alternative-energy executives and environmentalists say is too weak." [Washington Post]
Related:
Enviros cringe as Senate committee approves energy bill [Grist]
RECOMMENDED READING
EPA to Pay Medical Bills for People Sickened by Asbestos From Montana Mine
"The Environmental Protection Agency yesterday declared its first-ever "public health emergency," saying the federal government will funnel $6 million to provide medical care for people sickened by asbestos from a mine in northwest Montana." [Washington Post]
UN Warns of 'Megadisasters' Linked to Climate Change
"The United Nations on Tuesday raised the prospect...
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North Shore Community Land Trust: Protecting our Oceans, One Coast at a Time
In addition to being home to some of the most fascinating people on the planet, Hawai'i has majestic mountains, pristine coastline, and incredible ocean habitats.
On a visit to the North Shore, I found an organization that is working hard to preserve all of this natural beauty: the North Shore Community Land Trust.
We talked to Director Blake McElheny, who reminded us on the importance of protecting Hawai'i's coastline.
"Land protection is so important to ocean quality," he said. "Residents and visitors are drawn to the North Shore for the water, but that water is directly impacted by the land," he added.
Mahalo, Hawai'i!
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What's Happening: White House Climate Call, and more
TOP STORY
U.S. Study Projects How 'Unequivocal Warming' Will Change Americans' Lives
"Climate change is already reshaping the United States, according to a new federal report that predicts global warming could have serious consequences for how Americans live and work. Hotter temperatures, an increase in heavy downpours, and rising sea levels are among the effects of "unequivocal" warming, concludes the report by the U.S. Global Change Research Program." [ClimateWire - New York Times]
Related:
- "New US Climate Report Dire, But Offers Hope" [Associated Press]
- "New Report Stresses Immediacy of Global Warming" [Hearst]
- "Report on Warming Offers New Details" [Washington Post]
- "From Bad to Worse" [TIME]
- "Global Warming Affecting Every Corner of the US, Report Says" [Christian Science Monitor]
- "Government Study Warns of Climate Change Effects" [New York Times]
- "White House: Climate Change Happening Now" [NPR]
RECOMMENDED READING
Radioactive Revival in New Mexico
"A resurgence of interest in b...
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Climate and Labor Disputes Unsettle the U.S. Conference of Mayors Gathering
This year’s gathering of the U.S. Conference of Mayors got to a rocky start this weekend in Providence, Rhode Island, where firemen across the state struck in support of the city's firefighters’ union in their contract disputes with Mayor David Cicilline. Joe Biden, San Francisco’s Mayor Newsom and other scheduled speakers steered clear of the conference to avoid crossing the picket line. Conference president Mayor Nickels of Seattle had vowed he wouldn’t cross picket lines and whether he did or did not by entering the conference building was unclear—he says he didn’t, the president of the union says he did.
But while the strike seethed on, the conference raised other contentious issues, including a subtle but real change in its position on climate change that embarrassed Mayor Nickels and those who have worked to keep U.S. cities ahead of the federal government on greenhouse gas reduction policies. In a resolution calling for the involvement of U.S. cities in th... -
What's Happening: Climate Migration, Wind-Powered NYC, Direct Current, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
Making the Case for Climate as a Migration Driver
A new report on human migration and climate change, released as delegates from 182 countries gathered in Bonn over the past two weeks to continue hammering out some preliminary language for a new global climate treaty, made its case plainly: 'The impacts of climate change are already causing migration and displacement,' the document began, adding that by midcentury, 'the prospects for the scope and scale could vastly exceed anything that has occurred before.'" [Green, Inc. - New York Times]
High-Altitude Wind Machines Could Power New York City
"The wind blowing through the streets of Manhattan couldn’t power the city, but wind machines placed thousands of feet above the city theoretically could...The first rigorous, worldwide study of high-altitude wind power estimates that there is enough wind energy at altitudes of about 1,600 to 40,000 feet to meet global electricity demand a hundred times over." [WIRED]
Ob...
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Stop The Ketchup!
In New York City, you can get anything delivered: cat food, diapers, egg salad, fries. But with the greasy fries comes lots of ketchup.
I don't have anything against Heinz or Hunts or Annie's, but I do have a problem with waste. Order a basic grilled chicken sandwich and you get a dozen or so packets of ketchup, mustard and mayo. That's not including the plastic utensils, paper napkins and salt and pepper.
I'd use a few of the quarter ounce packets for dipping, but always have a ton leftover. I tried to save them for the future. But I live in a one-bedroom apartment with my husband, our cat Nina and our son Henry. I only have room for a dozen or so packets.
I tried keeping the ketchup, but it just gets in the way.
Then a lightbulb went off -- a green bulb. Instead of constantly shuffling the packets around my pint-size kitchen, I could return them to the diner where I always order my chicken souvlaki greek salad -- or any diner for that matter. Tossing them was not an option.
But a ... -
Making the Case for Mountain Protection
Almost anyone keeping current with hot-topic environmental news these days has become familiar the environmental history of the Appalachians: man finds mountains; man logs and mines mountains. Some mountains, in the end, are preserved to recover to the state that we see them in today. But we also know that even with the federal protection of wilderness areas and national forests, the mountains are not immune from environmental threats. Mountaintop removal, for example, is poised to become (if it is not already) one of the leading environmental topics of our generation.
In the mountains of north Georgia's White County, however, there are no coal mines. There are no mountains being lopped off for mining, no fill being dumped in pristine valley heads. Instead, environmental threats at this southernmost end of the Appalachian Mountain chain come on slowly - much unlike the drastic measures taking place farther to the north.
White County lies at the transition between the Appalachians and ...
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What's Happening: Slowing Winds, White Rooftops, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
U.S. Winds Are Slowing
"A new study holds potentially unwelcome news for wind power developers: wind speeds in the United States have dropped 15 to 30 percent over the course of about 30 years. And one possible cause, according to the authors, is climate change." [Green, Inc. - New York Times]
Communities At Risk, But Coal Ash Sites Secret
"Dozens of communities nationwide are at risk from a coal ash spill like the one that blanketed a Tennessee neighborhood last year, but the Obama administration has decided not to tell the public about it because of the danger of a terrorist attack." [Associated Press]
White Rooftops May Help Slow Warming
"[Energy Secretary Steven Chu] said that global warming could be slowed by a low-tech idea that has nothing to do with coal plants or solar panels: white roofs. Making roofs white "changes the reflectivity . . . of the Earth, so the sunlight comes in, it's reflected back into space," Chu said. [Washington Post]
DOE Revives Futur...
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What's Happening: Winds Dying, Army Corps Chopping Trees, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
Not So Windy: Research Suggests Winds Dying Down
"The wind, a favorite power source of the green energy movement, seems to be dying down across the United States. And the cause, ironically, may be global warming — the very problem wind power seeks to address." [USA Today]
Army Corps Orders Thousands of Trees Chopped Down
"The Army Corps of Engineers is on a mission to chop down every tree in the country that grows within 15 feet of a levee — including oaks and sycamores in Louisiana, willows in Oklahoma and cottonwoods in California. The corps is concerned that the trees' roots could undermine barriers meant to protect low-lying communities from catastrophic floods like the ones caused by Hurricane Katrina." [AP - Yahoo]
Arctic Indigenous Peoples Being Poisoned by Industry Thousands of Miles Away
"Arctic indigenous peoples often have levels of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in their blood and breast milk that are 10 times higher than the residents o...
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New York's Newest Park: Trekking the Highline
I have to admit that I didn't have high hopes for the Highline--too many rehabbed industrial sites wind up as patchy city parks with gaudily painted girders, the occasional swingset and the uncomfortable sense that under a thin layer of topsoil lie years of toxic waste. And yet it is critical for our cities' well being that we find a way to preserve elements of their industrial fabric in the post-industrial age—not only for their historical value but for the beauty of their craftsmanship, the scale on which they were built and the vistas, both literal and metaphorical, they give us access to. London's Tate Modern is a prime example: A vast, outsized, defunct power station becomes a vast, outsized, vibrant museum with a turbine hall so large it inspires artworks such as Olafur Eliasson's artificial sun, which seemed to create its own apocalyptic weather within the hall's five stories and 36,600 square feet of floorspace.
The Highline Park is built on the elevated rail line that fro...
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The Leaflet: How Rolling Press Is Changing Dead Tree Printing
[Editor's note: OnEarth is partnering with the Green Edge Collaborative to bring you stories of local environmental events and personalities. This post was first published in the GEC's newsletter, The Leaflet.]
For nearly a decade, media professionals have been heralding the death of print. With newspapers going entirely digital and the arrival of fancy gadgets like Amazon's Kindle, it seems the time is nigh. But before you break out your biodegradable confetti, have a look around. People haven't packed away their paperbacks and the entrepreneur you met at last month's Green Drinks very likely handed you a business card. It's safe to say, print is not dead. Accepting that it's here to stay (at least for the foreseeable future), how do we minimize its effect on the environment? One Brooklyn press might have the answer. Rolling Press sits, appropriately, next to a vacant-lot-turned-park created by New York Restoration Project (NYRP), a non-profit that funds green spaces in NYC. In...
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What's Happening: Small Nukes, Cash for Clunkers Moving Along, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
Small Nuclear Reactors in the Offing?
"The nuclear energy revival is so far proceeding slowly, but the reactor models that utilities around the country are now contemplating are about to gain a competitor...The new reactor will be “modular,” meaning relatively small and probably mostly built in a distant factory rather than on site, a technique that could be faster and cheaper — and one that requires a smaller bet by the buyer." [Green, Inc. - New York Times]
House Approves Incentives for Trading In Gas-Guzzlers
"The House approved a plan to give vouchers of up to $4,500 to consumers who trade in their gas-guzzling clunkers for more fuel-efficient models...Under the House plan, trade-ins must be in drivable condition, get no more than 18 miles to the gallon, and be 1984 models or newer. The new car or truck must get better gas mileage; the bigger the difference the bigger the voucher." [Washington Post]
Congress Introduces Twin Bills to Control Drilling and P...
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What's Happening: Shell Settles Over Oil Deaths, State of the Oceans, and more
TOP STORY
Shell Pays Out $15.5m Over Nigerian Killings
"The oil giant Shell has agreed to pay $15.5m (£9.6m) in settlement of a legal action in which it was accused of having collaborated in the execution of the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of the Ogoni tribe of southern Nigeria...In the lawsuit, the families of the Ogoni nine alleged Shell conspired with the military government to capture and hang the men. Shell was also accused of a series of other alleged human rights violations, including working with the army to bring about killings and torture of Ogoni protesters." [The Guardian]
AUDIO
The State of the Oceans
"The head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration gives an update on the state of the oceans. She explains how climate change is affecting the Pacific and Atlantic and what the administration plans to do about over-fished waters." [The Diane Rehm Show - WAMU]
RECOMMENDED READING
Menaces to Oceans: CO2, Plastic Bags, Overfishing
"The world's ...
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The Leaflet: Flatbush Supper Club Serves Up Food, Community, and Conversation
[Editor's note: OnEarth is partnering with the Green Edge Collaborative to bring you stories of local environmental events and personalities. This post was first published in the GEC's newsletter, The Leaflet.]
It's mealtime and you're hungry. But you're not just hungry for food. You're hankering for tasty conversation with other sustainability-minded people. You've got a deep yen for eco-enrichment. You want to pass heaping platters of helpful and healthful ideas around to your neighbors. What do you crave? A Green Edge Supper Club"The Supper Club potluck is the foundation of what Green Edge is all about," says founder Carolyn Gilles. It also was a fitting way for this natural foods chef-turned-green-roots-activist to get started on her mission to create a "Community for a Sustainable Future".
"I hosted the first Supper Club in my apartment in Park Slope. And the idea snowballed," says Carolyn, who estimates that the most recent City Wide Supper Club held at Housing Wor...
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What's Happening: Coal Reserve Estimates Reduced, Amazon Land Uprising, and more
TOP STORY
U.S. Foresees a Thinner Cushion of Coal
"Coal provides nearly one-quarter of the total energy consumed in the U.S., and by Mr. Warholic's estimate, the country has enough in the ground to last about 240 years. A belief in this nearly boundless supply has led officials to dub the U.S. the "Saudi Arabia of Coal." But the estimate, recent findings show, may be wildly overconfident." [Wall Street Journal]
RECOMMENDED READING
Up To 34 Reported Killed In Amazon Land Protest
"Indians protesting oil and gas exploration on their lands battled police in Peru's remote Amazon on Friday, with authorities and Indian leaders separately reporting nine police and 25 protester deaths...Indians have been blocking roads, waterways and a state oil pipeline intermittently since April, demanding Peru's government repeal laws they say make it easier for foreign companies to exploit their lands." [Associated Press - NPR]
Yvo de Boer, Global Climate Butler
A profile of Yvo de Boer, executive secretary...
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Cyclists Bill of Rights
Goodbye May. Goodbye Bike Month, Bike Week and Bike to Work Day. But don't say goodbye to biking or your rights as a cyclist. The Bike Writers Collective in Los Angeles has drawn up a Bill of Rights that every cyclist should have in their possession. Download the PDF and share it with your friends who cycle and encourage your friends who don't cycle to saddle up.Founded by Stephen Box and his wife Enci, the collective - known amongst themselves as the dirty dozen - is drawn from friends and activists who share a passion for cycling and the environment. This passion and activism extends beyond a website and a bill of rights as Stephen and Enci are now both car-free. "We fight for cyclists' rights at City Hall and at the Metro," says Enci. "We are on the Caltrans 7 Bicycle Advisory Committee and work with various city entities to inspire them that biking is not only a sport but, as in our case, a means of transportation."
Alex Thompson helps organize the Santa Monica Critical Mass bike...
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What's Happening: Clean Energy Funding Trumps Fossil Fuels, Less Cow Gas, and more
TOP STORY
Clean Energy Funding Trumps Fossil Fuels
"Global investors spent about $250 billion building new power capacity in 2008, and for the first time the lion’s share of that money went to renewable sources, according to the United Nations Environment Program. Renewable sources accounted for 56 percent of investment dollars, worth $140 billion, while investment in fossil fuel technologies was $110 billion, the U.N. program said in a report" [Green, Inc. - New York Times]
RECOMMENDED READING
Feds Cut Water to California
"Farmers and urban users will see about a 5% to 7% annual reduction from actions intended to help salmon and other fish...Warning that salmon and other fish species are in danger of extinction, a federal agency Thursday issued directives that will guide the way dams, pumps, canals and other waterworks in California operate to help ease pressure on the Pacific coast's collapsing salmon fishery." [Los Angeles Times]
Greening the Herds: A New Diet to Cap Gas
"Since...
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What's Happening: Nuclear Waste Finds a Swedish Home, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
Forest Carbon Credit Programs Already Showing Cracks
"It could save the rainforests of Borneo, slow climate change and the international community backs it. But a plan to pay tropical countries not to chop down trees risks being discredited by opportunists even before it starts...Reuters has uncovered evidence of a multi-million-dollar offer of assistance from carbon brokers to a government agency, and confusion over whether offset sales were from valid projects." [Reuters]
Bigger Role for Concentrating Solar Power?
"Solar advocates have increased their forecasts for the amount of electricity that could be supplied by a technology known as concentrating solar power, saying that C.S.P. may be able to deliver up to 7 percent electricity demand worldwide by 2030 and up to a quarter of those needs by mid-century." [Green, Inc. - New York Times]
Sweden Picks Site to Bury Nuclear Waste for 100,000 Years
"One of the world's first permanent nuclear waste storage sites that can...
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West Virginia Activists Lock Down to Coal Mining Trucks
On top of West Virginia's Kayford Mountain, eight environmental activists with the groups Mountain Justice and Climate Ground Zero locked themselves to huge coal mining trucks over Memorial Day weekend to prevent further destruction of Kayford Mountain for coal.
Using bicycle locks, chains and cables, the activists placed themselves underneath the 16-foot high tires of trucks that are used to haul away the blasted remains of America's oldest mountains. Even the slightest movement of the trucks would have meant instant death for the activists, who calmly sat until arrested by police. The action was one of three non-violent, peaceful protests against mountaintop removal coal mining that followed the Mountain Justice Summer Camp.
Coal companies, using explosive power ten times greater than the Oklahoma City bombing, blast 600 to 800 feet off of the top of biologically diverse, densely forested mountains, dumping the rock and rubble into the mountain streams that provide drinking wate...
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What's Happening: Wyoming Vs. Wolves, Cities' Green Stimulus, and more
TOP STORY
Cities Rush to Turn 'Green' with $3.2 Billion of Federal Green
"Officials in hundreds of cities across the country are scrambling to find ways to spend billions of federal dollars that could make their carbon footprint smaller. Driven by tight deadlines, they need projects that create jobs, promote efficiency and fight global warming. In the process, they are learning that the impending cloudburst of federal cash can be both a "godsend" and a headache." [ClimateWire - New York Times]
RECOMMENDED READING
Wyoming Vs. Wolves: State Sues Government Over Endangered Listing
"A pair of federal judges will decide which states in the Northern Rockies have enough gray wolves to allow public hunting, as the bitter debate over the region's wolves heads to courts in Wyoming and Montana. Environmentalists filed a lawsuit in Missoula on Tuesday seeking to restore protections for more than 1,300 wolves in Montana and Idaho. The Obama administration in April upheld a Bush-era decision to tak...
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What's Happening: Climate Proofing the Netherlands, Wind Ranchers, and more
VIDEOS
Amazon Rainforests Pay the Price as Demand for Beef Soars
"The cattle business is expanding rapidly in the Amazon, and now poses the biggest threat to the 80% of the original forest that still stands. Where loggers have made inroads to the edge of the forest in the states of Para and Mato Grosso, farmers have followed.A report today from Greenpeace details a three-year investigation into these cattle farms and the global trade in their products, many of which end up on sale in Britain and Europe." [The Guardian]
Ranchers Driving Wind Revolution
"The great river of wind that flows from Texas to the Canadian border is one of the finest renewable energy reserves in the world and the American Wind Energy Association estimates that it could power America twice over... The profits are so easy that while energy investments have been plummeting worldwide, the high plains have been distracting the footloose energy giants from their planned offshore wind projects in the ...
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Living in sprawl: the two sides of place.
Several days ago, while watching television during a visit with my 80-year-old grandmother, a commercial played showing a child crossing a V-shaped rope bridge over a stream. Chances are you've seen them or perhaps even crossed one during a high ropes course: a sturdy rope is strung between two trees for walking, and a series of ropes are strung outward from the central rope for bracing and balance. Upon seeing it, my grandmother's eyes lit up.
"We used to have one of those out on Bell's Ferry," she said, "You could cross the river on it, and anyone could come out and use it."
"Wasn't it dangerous?" I asked, remembering how I'd trembled and worried my way across one during a ropes course in college.
"Well, yes. But it was fun!" she exclaimed. "That was before everything around here grew up, though."
It was true, I thought. The area around my hometown, nestled in the sprawling suburbs of metro Atlanta, had certainly grown up, even in the 25 or so years since I had been a child. The wil...
Mowing the Lawn