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August, 2009
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What's Happening: Ted Kennedy's Environmental Legacy, and more
TOP STORY
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, Champion of the Environment and Clean Energy, Dies at 77
"He was a great champion of progressive causes, and his death is a great loss, particularly for health care reform...His legacy on “Protecting the Environment and Promoting Energy Efficiency” is below. How many Senators would even mention “energy efficiency” among their achievements?" [Grist]
RECOMMENDED READING
More Sun for Less: Solar Panels Drop in Price
"For solar shoppers these days, the price is right. Panel prices have fallen about 40 percent since the middle of last year, driven down partly by an increase in the supply of a crucial ingredient for panels, according to analysts at the investment bank Piper Jaffray."
Water-Use Saga: The return of Glen Canyon
"The 170-mile Glen Canyon in Arizona was dammed in 1965. The Colorado River backed up, creating one of the largest reservoirs in the United States, Lake Powell, etching about 2,000 miles of shoreline as it flooded the...
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Explore: Water
In honor of the World Water Week gathering in Stockholm, Sweden, explore has put together a short compilation of videos from our library that highlight water-related issues in India, China, Costa Rica, and the Arctic.
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What's Happening: Energy Sprawl, Saharan Solar for Europe, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
China Racing Ahead of U.S. in the Drive to Go Solar
"President Obama wants to make the United States 'the world's leading exporter of renewable energy,' but in his seven months in office, it is China that has stepped on the gas in an effort to become the dominant player in green energy -- especially in solar power, and even in the United States...Backed by lavish government support, the Chinese are preparing to build plants to assemble their products in the United States to bypass protectionist legislation. As Japanese automakers did decades ago, Chinese solar companies are encouraging their United States executives to join industry trade groups to tamp down anti-Chinese sentiment before it takes root." [New York Times]
Renewable Technologies Increase Energy Sprawl
"Millions of hectares of land will be needed to meet growing energy demands in the United States over the next two decades, according to new 'energy sprawl' estimates. The researchers behind the study say...
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Reclamation, Restoration and Mountaintop Removal
My first taste of reclamation came as a grad student while on a fieldtrip along Colorado's "Uranium Highway." We stopped in the ghost town of Uravan, a former Uranium/Vanadium boomtown. And except for a couple buildings, everything had been torn down, the tailings ponds evaporated, land reclaimed or in the process of being so. It was then that I learned that reclamation and restoration were not the same thing. Above the once upon town sat tailings sites. Instead of a rust-colored desert environment, meticulous patterns of white and black rock zig-zagged across the hilltop, laid out like some sort of interpretive landscape project.
Reclamation, I thought, was supposed to help clean up after we'd finished using the land. It was supposed to help return the land to itself. I've seen many reclaimed sites since that fieldtrip, and have yet to come across one that resembled nature's design.
That's not to say that reclamation is a lost cause or a sham, just that it can be better. Now scienti...
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On the Horse Butte Bison Controversy
In the Aug. 5th article, "Horse Butte bison controversy spills into court", attorney John Bloomquist is quoted as saying, "We have two livestock producers whose herds, whose livelihoods and whose economic viability, whose entire operation, is at risk if the DOL does not properly manage bison".
According to DOL attorney, Norman Peterson, bison were on the landscape (Zone 2) in 1988. In 1999, Mr. Myers chose to graze his cattle there anyhow. What about his personal responsibility for judicious management?
Nine years under the direction of the DOL, believing they were managing bison properly, Montana still lost its brucellosis-free status. The DOL didn't fail, necessarily. It just proves wildlife management is beyond their scope of expertise.
I believe it's time for Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks to "take the bull by the horns" and be re-instated as the governing authority over bison stewardship. Understanding brucellosis is a threat to many livelihoods, DOL will continue hav...
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What's Happening: Wolf Hunts, Climate Trials, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
Wolf Hunts May Kill Hundreds -- Spurs Demand, Ire
Starting today, hunters can walk into any license vendor in Idaho and buy a tag to kill a gray wolf...Montana, another state with a growing wolf population, already approved a 75-animal quota for its wolf hunt, which gets underway September 15 and lasts until November 29. Both hunts come just months after the predators were removed from protection under the federal Endangered Species Act." [National Geographic News]
New Clues in the Mass Death of Bees
"In late 2006, something strange began to happen to America's honeybees. Colonies that were once thriving suddenly went still, almost overnight. The worker bees that make hives run simply disappeared, their bodies never to be found. Over the past couple of years, nearly one-third of all honeybee colonies have collapsed this way, which led to a straightforward name for the phenomenon: colony collapse disorder (CCD)...The bees may be dying not from a single toxin or dis...
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The Wild Dolphin Project
Now that The Cove - the documentary about dolphin slaughtering in Japan - has officially rolled out to most U.S. cities, people's awareness about dolphins' precarious position on this planet has risen to new levels.
Films like this are incredible in that they can literally shock viewers into action - and it has certainly worked. As one reviewer wrote, "Rarely does an investigative documentary have such immediate impact that it results in observable change," referring to the claim that the movie is responsible for mercury-tainted dolphin flesh being taken out of school lunch menus in Japan.
What we like most about The Cove, though, is that it turned people's minds and hearts back to the dolphins - a species that has enchanted us for years. There are so many fascinating things about these highly social and intelligent creatures, from the unique way they communicate to their ability to form friendships for life.
So I wanted to share with you some of the things we learned from a trip ...
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Shark Week Special: Jaws Helps Navy/Shipping Industry
Does something seem fishy to you? That might be because Shark Week just started Sunday, August 2nd. The immensely popular weeklong Discovery Channel special, dedicated to nothing but sharks, is hard to miss.
The common conception out there is that sharks are ocean-dwelling, flesh-eating machines. This is not a misconception, but that doesn't mean we can't learn from these creatures. This post features an interesting new story on how sharks are invading the US Navy (selachophobics, don't be alarmed).
Some of you may be familiar with the term biomimicry. It is a scientific field that relies on nature for inspiration in developing new inventions to solve human problems. One such example of biomimicry can be found in Zimbabwe. The Eastgate building, located in the capital city of Harare, is also referred to as the "Anthill." The nickname comes from its unique architecture. The Eastgate building is designed with the self-cooling mounds of termites in mind. A termite mound remains at a con...
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What's Happening: Tropical Parasites Arrive in U.S., Cuban Urban Organic Ag, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
Developing World's Parasites, Disease Hit U.S.
"Parasitic infections and other diseases usually associated with the developing world are cropping up with alarming frequency among U.S. poor, especially in states along the U.S.-Mexico border, the rural South and in Appalachia...Government and private researchers are just beginning to assess the toll of the infections, which are a significant cause of heart disease, seizures and congenital birth defects among black and Hispanic populations." [Wall Street Journal]
In Brazil, Paying Farmers to Let the Trees Stand
"Mato Grosso means thick forests, and the name was once apt. But today, this Brazilian state is a global epicenter of deforestation. Driven by profits derived from fertile soil, the region’s dense forests have been aggressively cleared over the past decade, and Mato Grasso is now Brazil’s leading producer of soy, corn and cattle, exported across the globe by multinational companies...But until now, ther...
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What's Happening: New Endangered Species, Nile Delta Drowning, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
Electric Cars: China's Power Play
"But the government in Beijing has made it very clear that it considers electric and plug-in vehicles a priority for Chinese companies, and it's willing to spend. The Chinese State Council announced in January that it would spend $1.6 billion over the next three years to develop alternative fuels, and there's already an $8,800 subsidy for local governments and taxi companies that buy electrics and hybrids — which is more than the U.S. government offers. And China already makes more lithium-ion batteries — the energy-dense technology key to new electric cars — than any other country on the planet." [TIME]
Nile Delta: 'We are going underwater. The sea will conquer our lands'
"[A Nile Delta farmer] understands better than most the menace of coastal erosion, which is steadily ingesting the edge of Egypt in some places at an astonishing rate of almost 100m a year. Just a few miles from his home lies Lake Burrulus itself, where Nile...
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Protect Endangered Fish, Save the Fishermen
Today a group called the Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is planning to present a petition urging the government to eliminate environmental protections for salmon and other endangered fish in order to pump more water from the threatened Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta ecosystem as the solution to our central valley water crisis. Whoa!
Let me start off by saying that this is NOT about a “worthless 2 inch minnow,” or an “inconsequential little worm," as some have described the Delta smelt –- it is about salmon! Protecting the delta smelt also helps protect salmon. Fishermen know that what’s good for the smelt is good for salmon and good for the health of the estuary.
I’m a commercial salmon fisherman and sometimes when I say that, people believe that I take folks out on sportfishing excursions, that’s not the case. I go out on my boat and harvest a great public resource for those who don’t have the means or ability to go out there themselves. When I come back to port, I... -
"Window Farmers" Growing Food in Tiny Apartments Year-Round
A "Window farm" craze is sweeping New York City. To grow herbs and vegetable plants year-round, New Yorkers are building hydroponic drip systems which they suspend like photosynthesizing curtains in their apartment windows.With the goal of making it possible for New Yorkers to grow some of their own food even if they don't have access to their own patch of dirt, my collaborator, Rebecca Bray and I started the windowfarms project. We built the first windowfarm in my Brooklyn apartment in February of this year and within two months I was getting a salad a week from my kitchen "greens and beans" garden.
Our first goal is to get as many people as possible growing some of their own food, for the sake of all of our health, our sense of self-suffiency, and our environment.
Toward that goal, we have put downloadable "how-to's" for a couple of different systems up on our site here. The easiest version holds three plants, costs about $15 for parts, and can be assembled in about an hour. The... -
Ladybug Swarm Turns Green Mountain Red
Lady bugs unite! When a friend of mine posted some photos she took while on a hike on Boulder's Green Mountain, I couldn't believe my eyes. I saw entire tree trunks covered in red. The red was lady bugs, a mass gathering of a gardener's best friend, as they search for mates and prepare to hibernate for the winter. Now this was something I had to see for myself.
Of course, not everyone can make the hike to Green Mountain, but hopefully you can live a little vicariously through this slide show, and learn a little something new about this "cuter" member of bug-dom.
There are more than 400 species of lady bugs, (or as they're more officially known ladybird beetles), in North America. This year has been an unusual one for lots of natural phenomena in Colorado -- a wet, cool summer has led to an endless green summer and multitudes of wildflowers -- and this year's lady bug gathering is no exception. Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks estimates that this could be a record-setting year fo...
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What's Happening: Entrepreneurs in the 'Dead Zone,' U.S.-Mexico Border Conservation, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
Entrepreneurs Wade Into the 'Dead Zone'
"Every spring, fertilizer runoff from the U.S. Mississippi River floods into the Gulf of Mexico, causing a massive algae bloom that leads to a giant oxygen-deprived "dead zone" where fish can't survive. Now, this annual problem is getting new attention, not from marine scientists but from entrepreneurs looking for a new domestic source of fuel. And one start-up sees fish themselves being part of the process." [Wall Street Journal]
U.S. and Mexico To Work on Border Conservation
"When the United States and Mexico talk of cooperation over their shared border, that usually means working to stamp out drug trafficking and gun running. But this week the two neighbors put their shoulders behind a gentler effort: safeguarding a unique area of wilderness straddling the Rio Grande River. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and Mexico’s Environment and Natural Resources Minister Juan Elvira on Tuesday announced a plan to enh...
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What's Happening: Another Mountaintop Removal Mine Approved, Bottled Water Boom Tapped Out, and more
TOP STORY
Obama EPA Approves Another Mountaintop Removal Mine
"The Obama administration late last week quietly approved one of six major mountaintop removal permits that were said to be undergoing close scrutiny by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Without announcing the move publicly, EPA gave the nod for the federal Army Corps of Engineers to issue a Clean Water Act permit for CONSOL Energy Inc.'s Peg Fork Surface Mine near Chattaroy in Mingo County." [The Charleston Gazette]AUDIO
Recent Hurricanes Not Matched Since Middle Ages
"The past decade has been the most intense period of hurricane activity since the medieval ages. The new study, using data from the earth and oceans, found that conditions were ideal for hurricanes about 1,000 years ago." [All Things Considered - NPR]
RECOMMENDED READING
How Green Is Rail Travel
"According to a [new study], some train systems should be seen as nearly on a par with travel in large aircraft in terms of greenhouse gases emitted for each ...
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Guerrilla Gardening in Gowanus
Seemingly oblivious to the ongoing debate about the best way to clean up the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, an urban garden is thriving near the notoriously toxic site. It's the subject of a quirky profile in the New York Times.
"Seeing cottage flowers growing in front of graffiti is such a strange juxtaposition ....They're grown from seed. They're opportunistic. It's an insurrection on the sidewalk," one person was quoted commenting about the sunflower-filled plot.
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Bangladesh to receive additional $130 million for rural energy project
The World Bank has approved $130 million in financing to support rural access to energy in Bangladesh. This new funding builds on the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development Credit and is targeted toward three programs for the south Asian country on the Bay of Bengal. Financing will focus on solar home systems in rural areas, compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL) and additional energy distribution networks.
With more than 250 000 rural applications worldwide solar home systems are a cost-effective way to improve rural quality of life. The plan in Bangladesh is to provide electricity to 300 000 households through solar home applications. "Many of these households in poor areas are too remote to connect to the electricity grid and would never receive electricity through conventional electrification methods," states Rob Floyd, Acting World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh.
In areas of the country with the highest electricity demand 10 million CFLs will be distributed to re...
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What's Happening: Voters Want Climate Bill, 230 MPG Volt, and more
TOP STORY
New Zogby Poll Shows 71% Support for Waxman-Markey
"A new Zogby poll of 1,000 likely voters commissioned by the National Wildlife Federation found that 71% of respondents supported the energy and climate bill the House just passed. That is, 45% “strongly favored” it, and 26% “somewhat favored” it. Some 28% were opposed, 19% “strongly” so." [Wall Street Journal]
AUDIO
Can Corals Survive In A Warming World?
"Coral reefs are the rain forests of the oceans, teeming with diverse and postcard-perfect fish, towering sponges and multicolored coral. And like rain forests, they are in jeopardy. Global warming is a long-term threat to the world's coral reefs. And this summer, the risk to Caribbean corals could be acute. Federal scientists warn that the seas could be unusually warm. And warm water can be deadly for corals." [All Things Considered - NPR]
RECOMMENDED READING
Environmental Demands Grow for U.N. Peacekeeping Troops
"Increasingly -- and controversially -- [U.N. Peacek...
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China vs. The Environment
China's economy is developing at a breakneck speed, with coal-fired power plants working round the clock to provide the energy for growth, releasing huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Experts predict that China, now the world's largest emitter of CO2, will produce even more in years to come.
Wen Bo, a leading Chinese environmentalist, sheds light on his approach to raising environmental awareness in his home country.
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What's Happening: Climate Spam, Zoning the Oceans, and more
TOP STORY
Selling Americans on a 'Green-Collar' Economy
"Van Jones may have one of the hottest assignments in the Obama administration -- selling the notion of a new "green-collar" economy -- but in a country burdened with a 9.4 percent unemployment rate, it's not easy. The Special Advisor to the President for Green Jobs talks about the challenges and myths of creating green jobs." [Washington Post]
RECOMMENDED READING
Attack of the Climate Spam?
"News Web sites that allow reader comments are experiencing "climate spam" -- generic, marginally relevant comments on climate news stories denying that human activities are causing climate change or the need to do anything about it. The same comments are posted verbatim on multiple sites. The comments repeat the talking points of PR firms paid by fossil fuel industries -- and they are anonoymous." [Christian Science Monitor]
Time Running Out For December Climate Pact-U.N.
"About 180 nations met for U.N. climate talks on Monday amid warnings ...
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Costumes for Climate Change
Over at Grist, there's a slideshow, "climate activism as performance art," depicting the lengths to which people have gone to get their eco-messages heard. The visuals are easily divided into two general categories: aerial shots of people arranging themselves into words, wind turbines, and in one case a whale, and photos of activists dressed up as crowd-pleasing charismatic species like polar bears and penguins (and whales again). Of course, there's something charming and eye-catching about seeing a group of "whales" protesting in front of the White House, but what a statement it would make to have a group of individuals garbed as the myriad other species threatened by climate change (though it might be hard to find a coral reef costume). -
What's Happening: Climate's Security Implications, America's First Solar Power Tower, and more
TOP STORY
Climate Change Seen As Threat To U.S. Security
"The changing global climate will pose profound strategic challenges to the united states in coming decades, raising the prospect of military intervention to deal with the effects of violent storms, drought, mass migration and pandemics, military and intelligence analysts say. Such climate-induced crises could topple governments, feed terrorist movements or destabilize entire regions, say the analysts, experts at the pentagon and intelligence agencies who for the first time are taking a serious look at the national security implications of climate change." [New York Times]
RECOMMENDED READING
First U.S. "Power Tower" Lights Up California
"In southern California's Antelope Valley, 24,000 silver-bright mirrors have been positioned to reflect light on two 50-meter-tall towers. And at 11:08 A.M. local time Wednesday, this concentrated light heated steam in those towers to turn a turbine—the first 'power towers' in the U.S. to con...
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Wild Mountain Gorillas of Rwanda
On a trip to Rwanda, we were fortunate to have as our guide Craig Sholley, a Senior Director of the African Wildlife Foundation, who has been intimately involved in the preservation of African wildlife for more than 30 years.
Watch the video, Gorillas...98.6% Human to see our incredible encounters with four families of wild mountain gorillas, a species with only 720 remaining members.
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What's Happening: Climate Cloud Ships, Mercury in Corn Syrup, and more
RECOMMENDED
Cloud Ships on Course to Beat Climate Change
"They sound like ideas from a Jules Verne novel, but giant engineering schemes designed to alter the climate offer the cheapest way of avoiding catastrophic global warming, according to a growing number of scientists and green-minded entrepreneurs...One relatively cheap solution, however, is gaining favour among many different groups and is endorsed today by an independent study that compares the costs and benefits of all the main ideas. A wind-powered fleet of 1,900 ships would criss-cross the oceans, sucking up sea water and spraying it from the top of tall funnels to create vast white clouds." [London Times Online]
More Wildfire, More Bad Air
"An expected rise in wildfire in coming decades is bad news for western lungs...Smoke from wildfires contains two main kinds of carbon particles: black soot, or elemental carbon, and lighter-colored particles, called organic carbon aerosols, which are a mix of chemicals." [Los An...
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Nature - Can't Live With It, Can't Live Without It
E.O. Wilson, one of ERTHNXT's founding philosophers and current Advisory Board member, coined the term "biophilia" to describe humans' deep connection to nature (my words - he calls it our "innate tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes.") Ironically, I am most reminded of how potent biophilia is when I'm most disconnected from nature - say, in a windowless conference room or a dark school corridor. I suppose these environments are thought to help focus us on the task at hand by not allowing distractions from the outside world.
But I believe the opposite is true - being disconnected from sunlight, greenery, the sky, can be almost painful. And yet adults and more importantly, kids, are increasingly disconnected from nature.
A few statistics from the Children & Nature Network bear this out:
- Children today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation;
- Children spend more of their diminishing free time in structured activities: children's ...
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Urban campaign launched to Green the Block
The White House in moving forward with its clean energy economy knows that it is imperative that marginalized groups are not left behind. With $60 billion already invested in green jobs all Americans must be informed and have access to the new opportunities available.
Green the Block is a new campaign to engage and ensure that vulnerable communities are part of the process. Organized by Green For All and the Hip Hop Caucus this new initiative will "encourage education, legislative advocacy, private-sector development and youth activism." Launched on August 4, Green the Block will target communities at risk and provide them with the requisite tools to access the benefits and opportunities that arise from clean energy investments.
Green the Block is a movement to build a clean-energy economy where everyone has a chance to succeed," said Phaedra Ellis-Lamkins, CEO of Green For All. "That starts with making sure that those who are often left out and left behind - low-income people and c...
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What's Happening: The Parkinson's-Pesticide Link, Arctic Soup, and more
TOP STORY
Pesticides in Well Water Linked to Parkinson's
"Now pesticides in private well water have been linked to Parkinson's disease, adding to the list of long-term health risks for people in agricultural areas. Rural residents who drink from private wells are up to twice as likely to develop Parkinson's from certain pesticides, including methomyl, chlorpyrifos and propargite, a UCLA study has found." [Los Angeles Times]
Related:
- Parkinson's: The Pesticide Link: An OnEarth feature article from Summer 2009
RECOMMENDED READING
Psychological Barriers Hobble Climate Action
""Psychological barriers like uncertainty, mistrust and denial keep most Americans from acting to fight climate change, a task force of the American Psychological Association said on Wednesday...While most Americans -- 75 percent to 80 percent in a Pew Research Center poll -- said climate change is an important issue, it still ranked last in a list of 20 compelling issues such as the economy or terrorism, the task fo...
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Ditch Plains, Montauk, New York
Montauk, at the very end of Long Island past the Hamptons, has been a popular surf spot for decades. East of town, Ditch Plains is the main surfing beach with the most reliable waves. With three parking lots and an expanse of sand, it's crowded with families and surfers all summer long. These photos were taken east of the third parking lot, near the break. A drainage pipe jutts out onto the beach, delivering runoff from the lawns and streets right onto the beach.
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Into the Big Empty: Energy Boom and Bust in Wyoming's Red Desert
Journey into Wyoming's Red Desert, a little known wilderness the size of Denali National Park that brings the steppes of Mongolia to America's backyard. Here, energy companies vie for the desert's riches in a world of 50,000 pronghorn, herds of wild horses and some of the most unforgiving landscapes of the West. Come learn of this place and the struggles to protect it as you travel Into the Big Empty.
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Closing the Farm Fertilizer Loop: A Q & A with Jack Oswald
Americans crops are grown with fossil fuels. The nitrogen fertilizer spread by most of our country's farmers is chemical ammonia made from natural gas, and more than half of it is imported from overseas. Jack Oswald, a member of Environmental Entrepreneurs, wants to get the fossil fuel-based chemicals off our our fields and replace them with bio-based fertilizers made with local agricultural byproduct. His company, SynGest, is building a plant in Iowa that can convert corncobs and other crop waste (biomass) into enough bio-ammonia to fertilize 500,000 acres of farmland - and he has plans on the drawing board to build many such plants in agriculture-heavy states across the country. Carrie Ruelhman recently sat down with him to talk business, energy policy and the environment.
Q. How did you become affiliated with E2?
A. My wife knows E2 co-founder Nicole Lederer, from back in college. When I heard about E2, I was intrigued. I started going to various events. I realized I was meeti...
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What's Happening: DEET Dangerous, Climate Calculus, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
Is Shale Gas the Climate Bill's New Bargaining Chip?
"Natural gas from shale formations is the new magic phrase in the oil and gas industry, as new technologies have led to stunning increases in potential resources and anticipated profits...With new discoveries of the fossil fuel in massive but difficult to drill shale deposits, advocates claim that climate legislation means a job boom for gas engineers and drillers, and revenue for producers. They say a cap on greenhouse gas emissions could lead power plants to switch to gas from coal, which emits about double the carbon dioxide of gas." [ClimateWire - New York Times]
Common Insect Repellent Affects Nervous System
"One of the world's most common insect repellents acts on the central nervous system in the same way as some insecticides and nerve gases, according to a study released on Wednesday. Moderate use of the chemical compound, called deet, is most likely safe, the researchers say. But experiments on insect...
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What's Happening: Beijing Again Smoggy, Is 'Clunkers' Green?, and more
RECOMMENDED READING
Giant Ocean-Trash Vortex Attracts Explorers
"The Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, situated in remote waters between California and Hawaii, is created by ocean currents that pick up millions of tons of the world's discarded plastic. As much as 10 percent of the 260 million tons of plastic produced annually ends up in the oceans, much of it in trash vortices like the Pacific garbage patch. This summer, two separate expeditions will set sail for the patch to document the scope of the problem and call global attention to disastrous ocean pollution." [National Geographic]
Related:
- US Scientists Study Huge Plastic Patch in Pacific [Reuters]
Beijing's Smog Back Year After Olympics
"One year after staging a mostly pollution-free Olympics, Beijing has seen its skies shrouded in haze again, highlighting what observers call a mixed Olympic legacy on the environment. Amid fears the city's chronic smog could damage athlete's health, Beijing took drastic steps to prevent that last...
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Burning ICE in NYC’s Union Square
On Saturday morning, nestled amongst the stalls of the Greenmarket at NYC's Union Square, 21,000 pounds of ice could be found slowly melting. Set up by artist Chin Chih Yang, the bulk of the ice--thirty-six rectangular blocks weighing about 16,000 pounds--was stacked into a cube from which the whine of an embedded alarm occasionally sounded. Surrounding the chest-high cube were a several ice benches, offering passers-by a place to plop down, cool off, and, hopefully, reflect upon global warming.
The day couldn't have been better for an interactive art installation about climate change. Although the temperature--in the low eighties--wasn't record-breaking, the heat radiating off Union Square's cement expanse was enough to penetrate the soles of one's shoes.
By 3:45 p.m., the central ice cube was beginning to display a number of holes in what originally were solid walls of iceberg blue. Increasingly, the "aahs" of those settling onto the icy benches were accompanied by the sound of i...
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Saving the White-Shouldered Ibis and a Way of Life in Rural Cambodia
For the white-shouldered ibis, lives are ones marked by a dangerous flirtation with species extinction. Fewer than 500 remain in the world. But the once common bird's number is not up just yet, as the ibis finds a chance for survival within the open pasture and cropland created by small-scale farms of Cambodia. The partnership could help save both the bird and a traditional way of life in Southeast Asia.
Farming and cattle grazing create ideal forage land for the birds and opens a clean line of sight for spotting predators and prey. These findings, published this month in the journal Animal Conservation draw attention to the friendlier side of human impacts. But plans for large-scale development in western Siem Pang, Cambodia, threaten both the farmer's way of life and one of the ibis' last hopes for survival.
Scientists, conservation groups and the Cambodian government are currently looking at ways to mediate impacts. "The Forestry Administration in Cambodia is supportive of a pro...
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How to dispose of your used tires
OK, I'm not going to say that this is going to be easy but I just saw the coolest waste baskets for sale in Paris for 99euros. NO I did not buy a 99 euro waste basket but I can't wait to find some used tires to make one of my own.
Tire treads were cut to about 3 inch withs all the way around the tire. They were then woven togther to make basically a rubber basket.
Like I said, "This isn't going to be easy, especially since I presume any tire I find may be steel belted and may be a beast to cut through but I'm going to try." I'll use tin snips to cut up my first tire and of course I'll be wearing gloves so my hands aren't bleeding by the end of the day.
OK, there are greener things we could all do like buy energy star appliances but that presumes a person has the coins too purchase energy star appliances which I have noticed are roughly double the price of non energy star appliances. What a racket that is!
Meanwhile, write your congressperson to make energy star applia...
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What's Happening: Home Pesticides Linked to Childhood Cancer, Eco-Islam, and more
TOP STORIES
Home Pesticides Linked to Childhood Cancer
"A new study of children in the Washington, D.C., area and published in the journal Therapeutic Drug Monitoring links one form of childhood cancer to exposure to common organophosphate pesticides used around the home to kill bugs. Children with lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and their mothers were more likely to have higher levels of organophosphates and their metabolites in their urine than healthy pairs, and mothers who reported household use of chemicals were more likely to have children with ALL. There is no evidence that the cancer is caused directly by pesticide exposure -- but it does present the first evidence of a linkage in a non-agricultural setting." [The Daily Green]
Climate Change Lobby Letter Forged
"As U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello was considering how to vote on an important piece of climate change legislation in June, the freshman congressman’s office received at least six letters from two Charlottesville-based minority...
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Cash for clunkers motors on after bump in the road
The Car Allowance Rebate System otherwise known as "cash for clunkers" is receiving a $2 billion tuneup after the House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to jump-start the program in a 316-109 vote on Friday. A much need injection of cash was necessary after CARS had already siphoned off the $1 billion that was budgeted for the program within a week of its launch.
"I want to thank leaders in the House of Representatives for working quickly and in a bipartisan way to pass legislation that will use Recovery Act funds to keep "Cash for Clunkers" going," said President Obama. "The program has proven to be a successful part of our economic recovery and will help lessen our dangerous dependence on foreign oil, while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving the quality of the air we breathe. I urge the Senate to act with the American consumers in mind to pass this important legislation."
White House and Transportation officials had been sending mixed messages late in the week ...
Mowing the Lawn