Environmental Issues : Resource conservation |
This site contains information from a variety of sources about threats to the supply of our natural resources by virtue of our consumption practices and about efforts to deal with such threats. A feature issue is that of global warming, its causes and effects.
1/3/09 A dam on the Mekong River: Cambodian government opts to go for the big one:: The long-planned damming of the river for hyrdopower production involved alternatives, one of which would be less environmentally intrusive and less disruption of human habitation in the area. Phnom Penh appears to be deciding to proceeding to a larger scale one which would completely "barrage" (cross) the river at one point and would result in re-location of 5,000 people. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45278
INTERNATIONAL
Websites Global Warming: http://42explore.com/globewrm.htm World Resources Institute: http://www.wri.org/
Analysis & views: 1/4/09 Eco-clubs for youngsters: Could the U.S. and Western Europe learn from Argentina?: Begun in 1992 in Firmat Argentina and since spread to many Third World countries, eco-clubs provide an opportunity for teenagers and young adults to be engaged actively in the socio-political concerns of their local communities, especially environmentally-focussed ones. No country in North America or in Europe is listed among the thirty something nations in which eco-clubs have been developed. (Do "we" keep our kids too absorbed in the celebrity and electronics consumer worlds to be concerned with any community actions beyond the point at which the free beer and chicken wings run out in periodic political campaigns that "mobilize" the young?) http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45282 1/3/09 A dam on the Mekong River: Cambodian government opts to go for the big one:: The long-planned damming of the river for hyrdopower production involved alternatives, one of which would be less environmentally intrusive and less disruption of human habitation in the area. Phnom Penh appears to be deciding to proceeding to a larger scale one which would completely "barrage" (cross) the river at one point and would result in re-location of 5,000 people. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45278 12/8/08 Acting locally while thinking globally is the operative description of the "personal crusades" of environmental activism in Latin American countries. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45014 11/24/08 Tijuana estuary near San Diego, a contested areas between U.S. and Mexico and a center for drug smuggling, is about to see its border wall completed, to the consternation of enviromentalists. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44774 11/23/08 Guess what country may be leading the way in a greener way of its finance industy doing business?: Believe it or not, the answer iS China. An Earth First report details the efforts of Chinese lending agencies to make bailouts and other loans contingent on the willingness of borrowers to address the pollution and the energy-intensity features of their operations. This is course reverses the way Chinese industry is sometimes seen in the West as especially careless about environmental concerns. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44811 11/23/08 Forum on Climate Change, meeting in Mexico City, says Latin American countries will need billions of dollars to help them cope with the effects of such changes. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44818 11/21/08 Chilean activist cheer decision by hydro-electric plant to extend the period of environmental impact before proceeding with dam construction in wilderness area of Patagonia. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44791 9/22/08 "Not on our borders" say many wealthy South Africans whose attitudes of self-preservation are threatening a pioneering conservation effort with "green space" developments. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=43938 8/17/08 The environmental story in China is not just about pollution. While the Beijing Olympics have focussed world attention on that aspect of over-development in the country, the story being missed by much of the press is the burgeoning "green" movement in China, especially in the provinces, where local governments are moving against large polluting factories and people are adopting energy-saving innovations like solar-power water heaters. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/267/story/48608.html 8/16/08 Protesters, claiming that new coal plant in Kent will set back UK's efforts to decrease carbon emissions, clash with police after conclusion of a "coal camp." http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/aug/10/kingsnorthclimatecamp.activists 7/30/08 Large chunk of Canadian polar ice cap is broken off. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7532435.stm 7/11/08 For "security" reasons, delegates to 2009 climate conference in Copenhagen will be taken around the city in limousines rather than their walking or biking. http://www.cphpost.dk/get/108221.html 7/9/08 Heads of world's "richest" nations, the G8 summit, respond to the urgency of global warming by pledging to cut world carbon emissions in half....by 2050. By that time none of them will be alive to be "accountable" for the promise, and many of the world's endangered species will no longer to endangered: they'll be extinct. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/09/science/earth/09climate.html?th&emc=t 6/23/08 Plastic waste abatement program expands in Canada as more schools ban sale of bottles of water. http://www.nationalpost.com/most_popular/story.html?id=606616 6/23/08 Governments of UK and Norway are undertaking projects to attempt to reverse the deforestion of the Congo tropical rain forest. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42919 5/23/08 De-foresting of Colombia forests is averted by court ruling against a new law that would have allowed logging without consultation with indigenous people. http://www.latinamericapress.org/article.asp?IssCode=&lanCode=1&artCode=5612 5/22/08 Bad news from the South for the environment:. South America, that is. Venezuela, Bolivia and Brazil, hailed by Chomsky and others for having broken the "yoke" of neo-liberal globalization by their populist agendas, are busily fulfilling the neo-liberal one by their systematic exploitation and exportation of their natural resources, including drastic deforestation of the Amazon. http://www.countercurrents.org/salzman210508.htm 5/15/08 Mayor of Athens Greece joins in movement to convert balconies and rooftops into oases of green in the desert of city concrete. http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.prnt_article?e=C&f=&t=01&m=A03&aa=2 4/8/08 Other automakers are trying to cash in on the "green" halo of the Toyota Prius by building more energy-efficient cars. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/autos_hybrids_dc 3/27/08 "UNPRECEDENTED." British climatologists' description of the melting of the Antarctic ice shelf, as a season of summer melt comes to a close and a wary eye on accelerated global warming must be kept on the Southern Ocean when southern hemisphere summer resumes next January. http://www.countercurrents.org/briggs260308.htm 3/20/08 Melting of mountain glaciers in Peru and other tropical countries is threatening the livelihoods of people who live along the rivers fed by glacial melt. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0320/p17s03-wogi.html 3/16/08 Brazilian government waging a fight, sometimes a seemingly losing one, against the deforestation of the Amazon Basin: Enforcement agents with job of stopping illegal loggers are unable to stem the tide of an increasing number of hectares of forest that are logged. The corruption of some of the enforcement agents is a factor, but even the honest ones are likely to face an overwhelming work load. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0313/p01s05-wogn.html 3/15/08 UN's Human Development Report says that developed nations must give attention to the particular vulnerability of climate change damage to people in less developed countries. http://www.latinamericapress.org/Article.asp?lanCode=1&artCode=5519 2/14/08 Corporate "greenwashing" has spawned a cottage industry of critique among the environmentalist-minded:. One can, for example, visit a website which contains YouTube depictions of the commercials of companies that claim that their products or operations are environmentally friendly and give each such representation a "greenwashing" score for honesty or unacceptable hype. http://www.alternet.org/workplace/76793/ 2/13/08 At the UN, small nations demand that large ones be sanctioned for violating regulations against carbon emissions, which create pollution that damages them. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=41172 2/7/08 "Most of the biofuel that people are using or planning to use would probably increase greenhouse gases substantially": Statement of a lead author of study published in Science Magazine of a panel of scientific experts. They cite the loss of carbon absorption of plants cleared for bio-mass use or for production of crops used in biofuels; also the substantial carbon emissions associated with the refining and transportation of biofuels. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/science/earth/08wbiofuels.html?th&emc=th 1/21/08 Severe oil shortage for Israel is forcing the country to promote fuel efficient and emissions-free electric cars http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/21/world/middleeast/21israel.html?ref=world 1/15/08 Europe is eating the world's oceans and seas...often illegallyY. Depletion of world seafood supplies is encouraged by the voracious appetites of Europeans and the flourishing of illegal operations by global fishing firms which skirt international trade regulations and destroy local fishing industries. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/world/europe/15fish.html?th&emc=th 1/14/08 New scientific report says Antarctic ice is melting faster than expected from earlier studies. http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Science/2008/01/14/report_antarctica_melting_accelerated/3907/ 1/8/07 Glaciologists "a little shell-shocked" as they contemplate the melting of the Greenland ice cap: Indications of much more rapid melting of the cap than had been suggested in earlier global warming studies lead scientists to scramble for more realistic if ominous understanding of the actual rate of that warming and its effects on world oceanic levels. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/08/science/earth/08gree.html?_r=1&8dpc&oref=slogin 12/17/07 Asia Times predicts "bumpy" road map for climate change which was charted in 15-day meeting in Bali. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/IL18Ae01.html 12/14/07 UN plans to set up African global climate study center with assistance from an energy resources institute in New Delhi, India. http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/africa/article05 12/13/07 The last seven years of Santa Claus:. Al Gore's Nobel acceptance speech highlights the reality of global climate change, with the total disappearance of the polar ice cap projected now as happening in perhaps seven years. Unemployment of toy shop elves and extinction of sleigh-pull reindeers may loom on the near horizon. http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20071211_from_oil_wars_to_water_wars/ 12/3/07 Climate change occurrs on an international scale; So who pays the bill for controlling it? Latin American leaders assert that the world's more developed countries, the world's leading polluters, have failed to honor their agreement to pay a major part of the cost of emissions-abatement projects in the underdeveloped world. http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40312 12/3/07 Fulfilling a campaign promise, new Australian PM Kevin Rudd signs on Australia to Kyoto Protocol. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7124236.stm 11/19/07 Creating new plants to fit the altered climate. As climate change proceeds with major changes in temperature and rainfall, especially in more southern areas of the world, agricultural scientists are racing to protect the world's food supplies by developing new varieties of food plants that are adaptable to changed climactic conditions. 11/19/07 World timber barons have traditionally raped world forests without interference. This may be changing, as anti-deforestation activists get better organized in Third World countries whose forests are destroyed; and as U.S. Congress is considering legislation that would make lumber importers like Home Depot responsible for observing regulations against the importation of wood harvested under environmentally-unfriendly conditions. http://www.thenation.com/doc/20071203/north 11/17/07 UK budget cuts lead to reduction in funding for maintenance of national parks and for recycling programs. http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/nov/17/climatechange.carbonemissions1 11/16/07 UN development report documents lack of access of the poor to water resources in Latin America. http://www.latinamericapress.org/article.asp?IssCode=&lanCode=1&artCode=5364 11/8/07 Greenpeace decries the practice in Indonesia of clearing forests and draining wetlands in order to help fulfill world demand for palm oil. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7084306.stm 11/5/07 BBC poll shows that 80% of people in 21 countries are willing to make personal sacrifices to help curb the growth of global climate changes. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7075759.stm 10/23/07 British environmental group rates 60 UK towns on their "green" credentials, and Winchester is at the bottom of the list. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7057346.stm 10/20/07 British oceanographers say oceans are soaking up less CO-2 from the atmosphere than formerly, possibly contributing to global warming. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7053903.stm 10/17/07 Denmark's authority controlling local governments is preparing regulations on energy conservation that would bring local facilities to the level of national ones in their opposition to energy waste. http://www.cphpost.dk/get/103895.html 10/8/07 Greenpeace protesters chain themselves to generators at the first new coal-fired power plant to open in UK in the last 20 years. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/7033164.stm 10/7/07 Can global warming be stopped by "geo-engineering"? - Some "visionary" engineers envision schemes that will permit humans to continue their high levels of carbon gas emissions by "clean up" devices that allow pollution to be collected or dispersed after it is emitted. One such scheme involves attracting carbon to the oceans where marine life will "eat" it, even pumping water from ocean floors to bring new carbon eaters to the surface. Another would duplicate the action of a volcano in creating a cooling layer of sulphuric material above the earth. These and other schemes should be considered dangerous since they may have unintended consequences as they fail to deal with the delicate balance of the earth's ecosystem. They also may complicate global warming by joining denial of global warming with an attitude of "we can go ahead and make a mess because we can clean it up." http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/334444_hari07.html 10/4/07 Appearance of dragonflys and open water near the north end of Hudson Bay in Canada indicate global warming effects of "unimaginable" speed. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20071003.wwarm1004/BNStory/ClimateChange/home 10/2/07 In a city already dominated by the presence of wind turbines and bike riders, some in Copenhagen hope to further reduce the city's gas emissions "footprint" ahead of the city's hosting of the UN Climate Summit in 2009. http://www.cphpost.dk/get/103700.html 10/1/07 More fish and potatoes, fewer seals and dog sleds; The different faces of global warming in Greenland: With more open water and a longer growing season, many return pre-Ice Age agrarian and fishing economy, while ice-dependent Inuit suffer threats to their life styles. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/1001/p01s02-wogn.html 9/27/07 British and other governments are critical of President Bush plan to convene his own climate change conference, seeing it as an effort to derail a UN summit expected to call for stringent standards on gas emissions http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/sep/27/climatechange1 9/25/07 BBC poll shows that 79% of people in the world believe that climate change results from human activity. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7010522.stm 9/18/07 European Union climate expert, in BBC interview, warns that EU failure to meet goal of less than 2 degrees C of global warming will have major envirornmental impact in some regions. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7000449.stm 9/13/07 "When the climate message is strong, attack the messenger." According to a fellow of the Rockridge Institute, this is exactly what John Tierney did in a column in the science section of the New York Times in which he is alleged to have "framed" the global warming issue in a way that makes environmentalists look like people obsessed with dangers that don't really exist. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/09/12/3781/ 9/8/07 Asia-Pacific leaders conclude conference in Sydney by announcing agreement on "aspirations" to curb global warming but with "no commitments." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6984723.stm 8/31/07 A writer on earth sustainability fears we are "overdosing" the earth as some parents fear that they have given an overdose of a medicine to a child, with the same combination of fear, guilt and panic. The antidote to these emotions is that, through our love of the earth, we take care of it as assiduously as our love of our children leads us to do for them. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/30/3500/ 8/27/07 "Not BBC's job to save the planet" say two BBC executives criticizing plans for day-long broadcast of a "Planet Relief" show. http://media.guardian.co.uk/site/story/0,,2156758,00.html 8/21/07 The Heathrow protests: Do they make sense? Writer for Independent/UK says they symbolize how most people will ignore a looming disaster (like a fire) until it has finally overtaken them. These protests tell the population that global warming is having devastating consequences and that air travel is a major source of carbon emission. Common Dreams, in reprinting this article, contains a string of comments from readers that illustrate the range of public reactions to the reality of global warming and ideas on what should be done about it. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/20/3284/ 8/16/07 Twice as many police as protestors are at Heathrow Airport as police claim the climate change protests have been infiltrated by "anarchists." http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2007/aug/16/climatechange.uknews 8/13/07 Climate change impact not on the radar screen for World Bank in making development project decisions. Climate change is a "politically sensitive" consideration that leads the Bank to ignore a determination of how proposed projects will affect the climate. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/08/12/3130/ 8/13/07 Climate change protesters are pitching tents near Heathrow to oppose planned expansion of the British airport. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6943549.stm 8/6/07 British Airways gets injunction against an environmentalist group, Plane Stupid, which had planned to demonstrate on global climate change at Heathrow airport. http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,2142666,00.html 8/3/07 Global warming with a vengeance hits southeastern Europe as heat waves and wild fires sweep the area. http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.prnt_article?e=C&f=13245&t=01&m=A02&aa=1 7/5/07 China is making strides in reversing the trend toward desertification, as its desert lands have finally begun to shrink. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-05/30/content_4618229.htm 7/3/07 Disappearance of Arctic ponds is described as "tipping point" for world global warming. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2007/07/02/onds-arctic.html 6/28/07 UN report says 50 million people in next 10 years may be displaced by encroachments of expanding deserts because of global warming. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6247802.stm 6/15/07 How long will world's oil supply last? Depends on whom you ask. British Petroleum releases a study estimating 40 years in which oil supplies will equal the demand for them. A panel of more impartial scientists says otherwise. Some are proponents of the "peak theory" that projects a point at which supply begins to fall short of demand, resulting in crises of availability and price. The U.S. reached this peak as long ago as 1970, and it now appears that the world supply will peak in the next 4-5 years. While alternatives to oil as an energy source may help lessen the supply/demand gap, each of these has its own limitations as a solution. http://news.independent.co.uk/sci_tech/article2656034.ece 6/11/07 Kifossis River in Greece, a heavily-polluted waterway, is being eyed for regeneration as an "urban wonderland." http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.prnt_article?e=C&f=13237&t=01&m=A06&aa=1 6/8/07 European Union environmental report says world's oceans are in a "serious state of decline." http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6730045.stm 6/7/07 Some Greenlanders are actually benefitting by global warming as the climate change allows them extra time to raise hay and leave their sheep out to graze. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/06/AR2007060602783.html?referrer=email 6/6/07 Ecuador wants international community to compensate it for revenue lost from its refraining from oil drilling in its eco-fragile rain forest http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0605/p06s01-woam.html 6/1/07 Premier of British Columbia and state of California sign "memorandum of understanding" committing their respective governments to cooperation in the promotion of green technology. http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=271dd478-75e3-405c-aa40-fb42fa15ccdd 5/29/07 Canadian government totters on the brink of deciding whether to support German or U.S. plan for carbon emissions controls. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070529.wg829/BNStory/National/home 5/29/07 Organic vegetables market in UK being threatened by government emphasis on air mile associated with transport of foods, as many of these vegetables are flown in from other continents. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;jsessionid=YGMJT/news/2007/05/29/norganic29.xml 5/15/07 Scientists say preservation of Canada's vast forest lands may be key to containing global warming and to preserving world wild life. http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/05/14/tech-scienceborealforest-20070514.html 5/13/07 "Greening" of Nova Scotia begins with approval of several conservationist projects by Otttawa. Environmentalist says it isn't nearly enough. 5/6/07 The global fight against global warming: The world can afford it. So says a UN panel in analyzing the likely cost in slowing development resulting from aggressive actions to curb greenhouse emissions. The economic cost is estimated to be a reduction in world economic output of just over a tenth of one percent per year. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0504/p25s02-wogi.html 5/2/07 Canadian provincial leaders are looking for and failing to find a unified national policy on climate change. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070502.wpremiers02/BNStory/National/home 4/24/07 Greenpeace and McDonald's are unlikely partners in efforts to prevent Brazilian farmers from clearing rainforests to grow soy for a market that has included McDonalds http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/23/AR2007042301903.html?referrer=email 4/22/07 Praying for rain in Australia : Prime Minister John Howard finally wakes up to acknowledge the disastrous effects of global climate change, as an "epic drought" threatens the country and the PM says irrigation of agricultural production will have to be curbed unless rain occurs very shortly; and he urges citizens to "pray" for that rain. http://www.countercurrents.org/marks210407.htm 4/22/07 African climate experts do an "assessment report" of the impact of global climate changes on southern Africa and urges that serious measures be taken to lessen the impact of those changes. http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=vn20070422085921965C370186 4/3/07 Truth and consequences:. The truth is that people in rich nations have created the conditions that encourage catastrophic climate change. The consequences of their behavior are reflected in the vulnerability of people in poor nations to floods, droughts, tsuamis and other disasters. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/04/02/260/ 4/3/07 Mayor of Sydney Australia is taking the country's Earth Hour message of environmental conservation to an international Large Cities Leadership Council which is attempting to develop "green" inititiatives for cities. 3/31/07 Hope for relief from water shortages in Greece may lie in massive underground springs that are found in the vicinity of many coastal areas. http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.prnt_article?e=C&f=&t=01&m=A02&aa=1 3/29/07 Global warming and world eco-systems: It's not just about polar bears and penguins. Massive new report on "climate modelling," issued March 26, predicts the ecological effects of climate change that shows anticipated plant and animal habitat changes from pole to pole, but especially in the tropics. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0329/p12s01-wogi.html 3/29/07 Australian PM John Howard cites the "devastating effects" on country's economy were a climatologist's recommendations for 30% reduction in greenhouse emissions to be implemented. 3/25/07 European Union is holding Greece to tougher standards on gas emissions than the country's Environment Minister is willing to accept. http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.prnt_article?e=C&f=13226&t=01&m=A04&aa=1 3/24/07 Canadian government involving financial incentives for those buying ethanol-burning automobiles even though there are no service stations which sell that fuel. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070324.wxethanol24/BNStory/National/home 3/15/07 Some good news on global warming: Danish scientists say melting of Arctic permafrost is increasing the growing season, promoting new vegetation that may retard CO-2 emissions. http://www.cphpost.dk/get/100846.html 3/13/07 UK government unveils plans for a "legally binding" system to cut carbon emissions by 60% by 2050. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6444145.stm 3/11/07 'We may survive the climate crisis only if we destroy the church of busines'. So argues Bill Henderson in noting the power of the American business establishment to control the agenda of remedies for global warming, not even allowing for consideration of solutions that would challenge the only thing sacred in their religion, the strength of "the economy" and their own profits within it. http://www.countercurrents.org/cc-henderson110307.htm 3/10/07 Extreme management: Coca Cola, British Petroleum and other corporations are showing their "environmentalist" colors by taking middle level executives on "life-changing" training courses in Antarctica. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2030829,00.htmlhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,2030829,00.html 3/8/07 Prime Ministers of Denmark and Sweden push for European Union to pursue global warming initiatives more aggressively. http://www.cphpost.dk/get/100737.html 2/16/07 China announces a national plan to combat climate change. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2007-02/16/content_810675.htm 2/15/07 British billionaire announces a competition to find a technology for "scrubbing" the earth of carbon dioxide; Al Gore will be one of judges. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0215/p12s01-sten.html 2/7/07 In one issue of the UK Independent, the newspaper featured the doomsday predictions on global warming of a group of international climate experts; vigorously promoted the latest in new gas-guzzling vehicles; and, in its travel section, paid homage to eco-tourism by urging people to travel to see the polar bears while polar bears are still there. In other words, finish fiddling that tune before your audience is annihilated. http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=56&ItemID=12055 2/5/07 Alberta Canada expects to replace its voluntary green house emissions with compulsory standards. http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/story.html?id=469642f8-f189-4384-9a8f-6216c70fcb15 2/5/07 Recycling in Athens Greece: much of re-cycled waste actually winds up in a landfill. http://www.athensnews.gr/athweb/nathens.prnt_article?e=C&f=13219&t=01&m=A05&aa=1 2/2/07 In strongest wording ever, international conference of climatologists in Paris says that human activity is "very likely" the origin of global warming. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070201/ap_on_sc/france_climate_change 1/31/07 Study published by Royal Society in Scotland recommends re-introduction of predator wolves in Highlands to help control the problem of deer over-population. http://environment.guardian.co.uk/conservation/story/0,,2002471,00.html 1/24/07 British panel of experts will release next week a report with a very gloomy assessment on the progress of global warming. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1995348,00.html 1/22/07 Ruling Conservative government in Canada will offer up to $5,000 to homeowners for energy conservative practices designed to stem carbon emissions. 1/16/07 Michael Klare: as oil supplies dwindle, as Russia and China rise to prominence in world geo-politics, and as the center of oil production shifts to the global South, look for a rise of Energo-fascism in which there will be a massively increased intrusion of the state on the international stage in the search for market dominance in oil-producing areas, and domestically in increased surveillance of citizens suspected of over-consumption or disloyalty to U.S. hegemony in the global oil market. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/011507H.shtml 1/14/07 Brazilian government planning to sell off large portions of Amazon rain forest for logging operations. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/14/world/americas/14amazon.html?th&emc=th 1/4/07 Report of Union of Concerned Scientists says Exxon/Mobile has spent over $16 million for groups and individuals to try to disprove the "science" of global warming. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070103/ap_on_bi_ge/exxonmobil_global_warming 12/29/06 Canadian Arctic climate expert reports that a huge piece of the Arctic ice shelf has broken away as a floating island, attributes this to global warming. http://www.breitbart.com/news/na/cp_n122847A.xml.html 12/25/06 20 by 2020 in Europe: Ministers of European Union working on a sweeping plan to increase the use of renewal energy from today's 6% to 20% by 2020. http://www.cphpost.dk/get/99669.html 12/25/06 Gift-giving in UK goes green and also public health conscious this year as thousands are giving plantable trees as gifts and London-based organization has a program of Good Gifts, including HIV-AIDS packages for people in Chiang Mai, Northern Thailand. http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/77389.html 12/23/06 Toyota expects to be world's largest automaker next year, based on consumer demand for more fuel-efficient cars. American leaders say U.S. auto industry must emulate Toyota if they want to regain market dominance. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/12/22/AR2006122200020.html 12/21/06 Are we ever gonna get some sleep? Bears in northern Spain have stop hibernating, apparently because of the unnatural warmth of the season as a possible indication of global warming. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1221-01.htm 12/21/06 Global warming is apparently pushing several species of sea creatures further north along British coasts. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1220-03.htm 12/20/06 Green urban living in Germany. In the environmentally friendly town on Vaubon, there are 150 cars per 1000 households (compared to 640 per in the U.S.) and people use a variety of alternative transportation practices to reduce their car dependence. http://www.csmonitor.com/2006/1220/p01s03-woeu.html 12/17/06 Alpine ski industry on thin ice: as global warming happens in the Alps twice as fast as the world average, some predict a catastrophe for ski resorts as early as 2020. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/16/world/europe/16austria.html?_r=2&ref=world&oref=slogin&oref=slogin 12/17/06 These feet are not happy: Antarctica's Adelie penguins (smaller variety---think the Hispanic quartet in Happy Feet) are feeling the effects of global warming as polar ice melts are pushing their habitat further and further south. http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/1216-04.htm 12/12/06 NASA-funded climatologists issue report saying that global warming may turn the North Pole into open seas by 2040. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-2499663,00.html 11/27/06 Conservative government of Canada plans a number of reductions in climate-change projects. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061125.wxclimate25/BNStory/National/home 11/25/06 In both China and the U.S., energy companies are committing to the most carbon dioxide emission intensive technology, burning of pulverized coal, as the major source of production expansion. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/25/opinion/25sat1.html?th&emc=th 11/25/06 UN fails to recommend ban on bottom trawling of oceans, and Canada is described as an "accomplice" in the decision. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20061124.wxtrawler24/BNStory/International/home 11/15/06 It ain't easy peeing green: American environmentalist couple encounter the travails of elimination as they experience the "squat and no tissue" practice in Thailand and the "half flush" toilets in Australia and learn all about natural composting. http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/44202/ 11/14/06 United States is 53rd among 56 nations rated for climate change control efforts. http://www.tbo.com/news/nationworld/MGB7VO0SHUE.html 10/27/06 No country is an island: At speech in Ottawa, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill scolds Canadians for a prevailing attitude of "what can we do about global warming?" when Canada accounts for only about 2% of world carbon gas emissions. 10/26/06 British economist says global warming a mortal danger that requires global response and this response will require strong governmental action, not simply private conservation behaviors nor the working of the free market; the European Union is showing encouraging signs of leadership in this direction. http://www.commondreams.org/views06/1025-30.htm 10/25/06 World Wildlife Federation reports says Britons are living "a 3-planet life style" as their consumption habits are leaving an increasingly large ecological "footprint." http://news.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1577662006 10/14/06 Where and grizzly and Dena native roam: Canada plans to preserve both wild life and indigenous tribe in a vast area in Northwest Territories near Great Slave Lake. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/13/AR2006101301704.html?referrer=email 10/4/06 World drying out? British climate experts predict that global warming will cause a third of world's earth surface to be desert by 2100. http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1786829.ece 9/15/06 Climate expert, commenting on recent studies of huge and unexpected increase in the rate of melt of Arctic ice cap, says that: "An abyss is opening up between the speed at which the climate is changing and the speed at which governments are responding." http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1603667.ece 7/14/06 Mucking in the Canadian tar pits. Northern Alberta's vast tar-sands provide a major strip-mined source of oil. A Calgary energy think tank, Pembina, documents the disastrous environment consequences but, like other environmentalist groups, offers only "meek" opposition to the practice. Why? Follow the money trail of their support from industry-connected foundations. http://canadiandimension.com/articles/2006/07/07/557/9 6/17/06 A new global warming threat emerges: A report indicates that the thawing of hundreds of thousands of miles of Siberian permafrost could unleash billions of tons of carbon dioxide into Earth's atmosphere: http://science.monstersandcritics.com/news/article_1173357.php/Report_Melt_threatens_global_warming 6/17/06 Is this the future of mankind? Polar Bears, already on the brink of extinction, resort to cannibalism as global warming ravages thier Arctic habitat: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/8mED0jsBnrSq8q/Cannibalism.xhtml 5/31/06 High cost in environmental degradation, especially to native Americans in the area, is being exacted by "oil sands" mining by U.S. companies in Alberta, Canada. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/05/30/AR2006053001429.html?referrer=email 5/27/06 Gold mining company to which President George Bush Sr. is a principal adviser plans to mine for gold in the Andes glacier Pascua-Lama, Chile, despite the vehement protests of residents that the project will deprive them of desperately-needed ground water. http://counterpunch.org/dickinson05262006.html 5/17/06 The world's coral reefs are being decimated by global warming: http://www.news24.com/News24/Technology/News/0,,2-13-1443_1934077,00.html 5/15/06 Charity group Christian Aid says West's failure to deal with global warming will result in the deaths of 182 million Africans by end of this century: http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/world/14582490.htm 5/8/06 Chinese scientists warn of looming "ecological catastrophe" in Asia as glaciers in Tibetan plateau melt and the ice cap becomes a desert: http://www.terradaily.com/2006/060502045541.5eumq2oj.html 5/6/06 Global Warming is blamed for the rapid spread of infectious diseases: http://freeinternetpress.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=6801 5/5/06 Pacific Ocean trade winds are dramatically weakening, with dire effects possible, due to global warming. http://www.guardian.co.uk/climatechange/story/0,,1767125,00.html 5/5/06 Global Warming is seen as a greater worldwide threat than terrorism, as climate changes drastically all over the globe: http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php?1&urldate=2006-05-06 4/24/06 Dead Sea is dying rapidly, and Israeli is being urged to apply to its preservation the same "green" policies for which it is noted in dealing with land resources: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0423-02.htm 4/15/06 Melting ice caps resulting from global warming are threatening the survival of walrus pups: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/14/AR2006041401368.html?referrer=email 4/2/06 Greenpeace, citing WTO and other globalization influences, denounces the results of the world bio-diversity conference: http://www.commondreams.org/news2006/0331-01.htm 3/27/06 Atmospheric research experts see possible inundation from global warming by 2100 in London, New York, Tampa, Miami and many other places: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-2100776,00.html 3/22/06 Humans and wildlife in the Arctic are feeling the effects of global warming: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/21/AR2006032101722.html?referrer=email 3/21/06 World Water Forum highlights the privatization of world water suppliers to the huge profit of soft drink and drinking water bottlers: http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/33803/ 3/17/06 Protests break out at World Water Forum in Mexico: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0317-06.htm 3/15/06 Three new books on global warming may signal increased public awareness of the issue: http://www.alternet.org/envirohealth/33481/ 3/13/06 Monitors at Mount Zeppelin Station (North Pole) suggest carbon dioxide levels hurtling toward "disaster" tip-point for global warming: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0312-03.htm 3/13/06 Depletion and pollution in world's rivers is documents in new UN report: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0312-04.htm 3/8/06 World Water Forum to be held in Mexico....and Coca-Cola is a major sponsor??? http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0307-30.htm 3/6/06 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says global warning is a more urgent threat than had been estimated by an earlier Panel: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0306-01.htm 3/3/06 New report in Science says Antarctic ice cap is melting rapidly: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/02/AR2006030201712.html?referrer=email 3/1/06 Britain Defence Secretary warns that climate changes from global warming may trigger wars over access to dwindling supplies of water: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0228-05.htm 2/26/06 Mother Jones report: The Last Days of the Ocean http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2006/03/oceans_index.html 2/23/06 Menhaden, an ecologically-vital fish species, being relentlessly "mined" to produce various consumer products: http://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2006/03/net_losses.html 2/23/06 Self-reinforcing feedback loops between temperature rises and methane gas production are speeding global warming: http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0222-27.htm 2/20/06 Draft "open skies" treaty of United States and European Union would limit nations' ability to maintain environmental rules regarding aviation: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0220-02.htm 2/18/06 Phillipines landslide: Logging made the village a disaster waiting to happen http://news.inq7.net/nation/index.php?index=1&story_id=66626 2/17/06 Greenland's glaciers melting twice as fast as expected, creating new flooding concerns: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/16/AR2006021601292.html?referrer=email 2/17/06 Study cites 30-fold increase in greenhouse gas emissions: http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article345928.ece 2/16/06 Big push for fuel conservation in Japan: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/15/AR2006021502762.html?referrer=email 2/16/06 Ice hockey fans face off against global warming and its threat to winter sports: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0216-09.htm 2/15/06 Arctic climate experts meeting in Winnipeg say global warming now an irreversible trend: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0215-07.htm 2/9/06 Current Warming Period Is Longest in 1,200 Years, Study Says http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/02/0209_060209_warming.html 2/8/06 Indian water rights activists hit privatization and depletion of their water supplies: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0207-02.htm 2/6/06 Organizers of Turin Winter Olympic games work for most "environmentally friendly" event ever; environmentalists are "cautiously optimstic": http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0206-03.htm
Books: Getting Through the Wilderness, fuel crisis and global warming: http://www.authorhouse.com/BookStore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=35002
Video/Film:
Other Media:
NATIONAL
Websites Ocean Champions: Politics and Ocean Conservation http://www.oceanchampions.org/ Sierra Club:
Analysis & views: 12/16/08 Colorado Senator Ken Salazar is said to be in line for appointment as Secretary of the Interior. He has, at best, a mixed record on environmental issues, having for example opposed oil drilling in Colorado but supported it in other people's (off-shore) back yards. Environmentalists lobbied Obama for Rep. Grijalva for the post and some express disappointment though "hope" for a "sympathetic soul" in the office. http://www.latimes.com/news/politics/la-na-interior16-2008dec16,0,1792560.story 12/8/08 "John (nuke bailout) Bryson must bot be new secretary of energy" Harvey Wasserman joins the parade of un-solicited advisers to Barack Obama on the make-up of his cabinet, hoping to shoot down one trial balloon which would make the former head of the California Public Utilities Commission the energy secretary. Wasserman notes how, before he "greenwashed" his views by promoting wind energy, Bryson played a key role both in the de-regulation of electric rates that lead to Enron's boom and bust, and in a bailout of the ailing nuclear power industry. http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/12/07-2 12/8/08 Neighbors and environmentalists oppose the dredging of a canal that would provide boat access between two streams in Anne Arundel County, Maryland. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/annearundel/bal-ar.foxcreek07dec07,0,4078480.story 12/6/08 A litmus test for progressivism in Obama's cabinet? Look for his appointment of secretary of Interior: With the Bush administration's wilderness policy going out in a flame of ignonimy, Robert Lovata says Obama needs a true progressive in this position to balance the otherwise-centrist cabinet. Lovata finds such a person in Congressman Raul Grijalva from Arizona, now being "considered" for the post; he has a sterling record of opposition to the environmental atrocities of the Bush years. It's time for progressive to "hope" again; it still may be that Obama will appoint a "blue dog Democrat" like Mike Thompson of California. http://www.alternet.org/environment/110530/?page=1 FOR ANOTHER VIEW ON THOMPSON, SEE: http://www.willitsnews.com/ci_11049849?source=most_viewed 11/25/08 Clean energy plans in U.S. may have been set back by failing economic conditions. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/world/25climate.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin 11/3/08 Van Jones advocates for a "green growth alliance" that would combine elements of labor, environmental activism, social justice, students, faith activists and green-friendly business into a political alliance that could duplicate the unlikely combination that ushered in the New Deal. It won't be easy, of course, and Jones notes as case in point California's adoption of the Governor's green environmental initiative, only to be reversed by the scare tactics of the state's oil and gas lobby that resulted in the repeal of this action by Proposition 7. http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/11/02-5 10/25/08 U.S. coastal erosion scientists are working to develop various varieties of "living coast lines" that they say will be more effective than earthen bulwarks in containing erosion. http://www.newsobserver.com/2188/story/1268350.html 9/5/08 "The most hydrologically altered landmass on the planet." That would be California, according to Rachel Oliviera. The rampant over-development in the state has created great stress on the limited water supply of the state, as leaders struggle to find some scheme for water re-distribution which will somehow accomplish the impossible, the satisfaction of the water needs of the people of the state. (Florida might want to dispute this #1 rating for California.) http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/09/the-silence-of-collapse/ 7/17/08 Care for a big helping of Kentucky fried earth? That's what we will get, says an environmentalist, if the energy industry expands on a just-announced plan to construct a $4 billion plant in Kentucky that would convert coal into liquid petroleum. While proponents babble on about elimination of "oil dependence" and an "environmentally friendly" production process, there is no present technology that would make liquified coal less productive of global warming, and no chance of such fuel being produced in quantities necessary to create an "independent" fuel supply. http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2008/07/16/10395/ 7/12/08 It's official: There will be no clean air enforcement for the duration of Bush's presidency: An announcement by the EPA and a court ruling cement what has been generally understood: that President Bush will make no changes to environmental regulations during the balance of his presidency, leaving the problem to his successor in the White House. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/12/washington/12enviro.html?th&emc=th 7/11/08 Will the EPA actually be "protecting" the environment anytime soon? Apparently not so, as Bush has decided that, though the Agency is mandated to make determinations about the global warming effects of carbon emissions, any actual such determinations should be on the "agenda" of the next President, not Bush. So, as the lame duck flaps his way into the sunset, the EPA will limit itself to receiving "public comments" over the next six months.(Really, what's the hurry? The world's G-8 powers gave themselves until 2050 to halve carbon emissions.) 7/8/08 Rain barrel sales in North Carolina drop off sharply, despite the return of drought conditions to the area. http://www.newsobserver.com/news/story/1126313.html 6/19/08 Score one for the tree-sitters at Berkeley:. After 19 months of protest at the University of California against plans to remove a grove of oak trees to make way for construction of a new athletic center, a judge rules that the project must be put on temporary hold while its environmental impact is being assessed. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/us/19tree.html 6/14/08 Drill for oil in Florida offshiore because "the Chinese" are doing it ; and urban legend exploded: Vice President Cheney, in support of promoting oil exploration in ANWR as well as the Gulf of Mexico, tells a Chamber of Commerce crowd that China is drilling in areas in which U.S. companies are forbidden to drill. Republican Senator Mel Martinez, among others, challenges the veracity of this claim, calling it an "urban legend" and the Vice President's office admits the error. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/40994.html 6/14/08 Police and climate warming protesters have pitched battle as protestors stop a train loaded with coal headed toward a power plant in Britain. 5/26/08 Acting locally on the environment: Oberlin leads the way again:. Students in a "sustainability" dorm in the Ohio college compete with one another on who can take the shortest showers and share refrigerators between adjacent rooms, among the projects designed to model a reduced carbon emissions footprint on the planet. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/education/26green.html?th&emc=th 5/26/08 U.S. meterologist changes his mind, now says global warming is not a cause of increased hurricanes in Atlantic Ocean. 5/25/08 From where is the most effective environmentalist action coming today? In Joshua Frank's view not from the likely actions (as opposed to the green-washing rhetoric) of presidential candidates the like of Obama or McCain, not from big environmentalist organizations like the Sierra Club that have effectively been co-opted by the corporate hegemony. Rather the "action" today is coming from grassroots efforts in, for example, local initiatives that have stopped coal-burning power facilities "one plant at a time." http://www.counterpunch.org/kojeve05242008.html 5/25/08 "Energy survivalists" plan to save themselves and their families by their personal consumption habits, not to save "the planet." http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004437267_enviro25.html 5/23/08 Western cattle ranchers fuming over proposed change in Clean Water Act that would re-define the word "navigable" to further limit the water that they can divert to use in their cattle operations. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/2008-05-21-water-law_N.htm 5/15/08 Polar bear the first victim in the war on global warming. Secretary of the Interior announces a "threatened" status for the polar bear, based on observations that its Arctic ice cap habitat is rapidly melting away and that the bear faces possible extinction in 45 years. The bear is the first species so designated as threatened because of global warming, can penguins be far behind? http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2008/05/15/polar_bears_get_protection/ 5/15/08 Higher crop prices are encouraging Wisconsin farmers to maintain farm operations rather than participate in the state's green conservation program. http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=749516 5/10/08 Environmentalists win victory in Minnesota as state judges rule against allowing state power lines to be extended to receive electric power from coal-burning generator plant in South Dakota. http://www.twincities.com/ci_9211943 4/28/08 You don't have to be Al Gore to be a climate hero:. Orion Magazine publishes an article by a writer who cites the Bystander Effect, well demonstrated in psychological studies, of people witnessing an emergency in a crowd being enervated by the very number of non-responding people in the crowd. It takes only one alert-sounder to break the cohesion of bystanding and mobilize response to the emergency. The author describes her own personal efforts at advocating and practicing small scale responses to the climate change emergency. Her type of "heroism" on the climate is available to any citizen activist and may be a vital part of the ultimate solution of the problem. http://www.orionmagazine.org/index.php/articles/article/2957/ 4/11/08 To some Libertarians, global warming is a (way) inconvenient truth:. The "free market" whose benevolent power the libertarian philosophy glorifies is described by this writer as the very cause of the worldwide climate crisis, as unregulated choices in fuel consumption have had the aggregate effect of humanitarian catastrophe. With the libertarian hostility to action in the "public interest" (including regulation of economic activity), some are constrained to question the very "science" of global warming in order to protect their political philosophy. (And you're now a libertarian, Mike Gravel? Say what?). http://www.dissidentvoice.org/2008/04/climate-reality-bites-the-libertarians-in-the-arse/ 4/9/08 Rise in food prices is encouraging U.S. farmers to take land out of "conservation" and back into production of food products. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/09/business/09conserve.html?th&emc=th 4/2/08 "Criminal activity at the border does not stop for endless debate or protracted litigation": Homeland Security Director Michael Chertoff so justifies federal government's decision to allow waivers on environmental impact reviews associated with building of border wall between U.S. and Mexico. Wall construction can now proceed without those pesky "debates and litigation" about environmental concerns, which are trumped by "security" ones. 4/2/08 Water plentiful now in Rhode Island after recent rains, but anticipated drought in August leads officials to take pre-emptive actions to avert disappearance of water reserve. http://www.projo.com/news/content/newwaterlaw_04-01-08_QH9HSAK_v27.38f7762.html 3/28/08 U.S. labor unions are beginning to embrace the "green revolution " more fully . But, as a recent conference co-sponsored by United Steelworkers and Sierra Club illustrates, the devil is in the details of plans to convert to a more environmentally-friendly work economy without putting American workers at an undue disadvantage from implementation of the plans. http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/17006 3/22/08 Restaurants in Boston area are joining the national reaction against bottled water as "bad for the environment," with one restaurant near Harvard offering waiters with pitchers of water described as "Cambridge filtered" tap water. 3/17/08 Use of transit and car-pooling are becoming increasingly popular in Alaska as residents are reacting to the rising cost of gasoline. http://www.adn.com/matsu/story/347435.html 3/17/08 Plans for sand and gravel mining on Maryland's Eastern Shore are raising environments' concerns for protection of wetlands. http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.gravel17mar17,0,4001251.story 2/6/08 Georgia loses latest skirmish in water war with Florida and Alabama: Federal court rules that Georgia cannot increase the retention of water in Lake Lanier without prior approval of Congress, a ruling that would guarantee a higher rate of run-off to locales in the other states. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/06/us/06water.html?th&emc=th 1/21/08 "The key to our staying in business is to keep the environment pristine" says an employee of a company that operates eco-tours to the Arctic and Antarctic. There's a dialectic in here somewhere, as the very success of such a company is predicted on a "mass" of people going to see vanishing species or threatened historical sites. However green their "footprint" aims to be, the arrival of tourists invariably compromises the "pristine" quality of the environment. Some companies just brashly acknowledge this and move toward the fast-buck solution: hurry, hurry and see the polar bear and the penguin before their polar habitats melt away http://www.countercurrents.org/leahy180108.htm 1/11/08 Private purchasers are out-competing cash-starved public agencies in bid to buy up conservation lands in the American west. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0111/p01s03-uspo.html 1/8/07 Great Lake states are struggling to hold onto their relatively plentiful water supplies in the face of fears of diversion of water to parched west and midwest. http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0107/p03s03-uspo.html 12/30/07 American wilderness West becoming playground and battleground as off-the-road vehicle riders invade areas where such use is prohibited. http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695240000,00.html 12/8/07 "Good to the last drop": Water mining the New Mexico desert. Under a proposed implementation of the "Rio Grande" Compact," water miners would be allowed to mine billions of gallons of water from the NM aquifer, to be transported to the Rio Grande River for use in Texas industrial processes. In a variety of "judicial activism" practiced by Republican courts in both New Mexico and Michigan, a citizen has no standing before a court to protest the action unless he/she has can demonstrate a "personal injury" from the protested project. So much for the "injury" to the environment and the likely process by means of which New Mexico would be drained to the last drop by the miners as mere interested "citizens" have to stand by because they are not "personally" involved. http://www.counterpunch.org/verluis12072007.html 11/16/07 Science and politics clash over global warming at the Smithsonian. Some scientists allege, and the curator denies, that the museum ordered changes in a 2006 exhibit on global warming, fearing investigations by congressional committees. This is one of several controversies about the scientific integrity of the institute, including an on-going uncertainty over whether to accept a large grant from the American Petroleum Institute. 11/11/07 Massive Walk Against Warming demonstrations, calling for significant reduction in greehouse gas emissions, are occurring in Melbourne, Sydney and across Australia. http://www.latinamericapress.org/article.asp?IssCode=&lanCode=1&artCode=5359 11/9/07 Congress accomplishes its first over-ride of a Bush veto, in a bill related to development of water resources. http://www.truthout.org/docs_2006/110807R.shtml 10/25/07 University studies in New Mexico indicate likelihood of global climate changes producing diminishing water supplies in Rio Grande watershed. http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2007/oct/24/study-climate-change-will-mean-less-water-rio-gran/ 10/22/07 Cost of removing coastal Alaskan villages imperilled by global warming over the next decade is said to be "staggering." http://www.adn.com/front/story/9398619p-9311989c.html 10/21/07 What happnened to Al Gore's Nobel prize? A cartoon. http://www.mcclatchydc.com/215/gallery/20290.html 10/10/07 Environmentalists return from trip to Arctic Greenland and give an alarming report on the progress of melting of the polar ice cap. As one indication, they observed fissures or "moulins" in glaciers that were pouring Niagara Falls level torrents of water into the ocean. How alarming? They raise the spectre of ocean level rises that could inundate New York City and other east coast areas in a previously unbelievable time. http://www.alternet.org/environment/64735/ 10/6/07 California Governor Schwarzenegger's plan to build 2 large dams and expand an existing reservoir to boost the state's water supplies is criticized as contrary to his image as a champion in the fight to reduce gas emissions. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/10/06/MN4KSJAM5.DTL&tsp=1 9/17/07 Environmentalist Bill Fletcher eavesdrops on some conversations of his teenaged daughter and her friends and finds they are expressing a level of despair about the earth's future suvivival that makes them literally unwilling to bring more children into the world. Even when this "elephant" is not being discussed, its has a uniquitous mental presence http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2007-08/28fletcher.cfm 9/9/07 In america, smaller families are living in bigger houses. In 1950, the average home had 290 square of feet of floor space per family member, in 2003 it was 900 square feet. Despite the "housing bust," McMansions and other big houses continue to be built and, though developers typically describe them as being built to "green standards," the energy consumption of these "mansions" makes them anything but green. http://www.alternet.org/environment/61523/?page=1 9/8/07 Saving a species (Coral) may be an opening to saving the planet (from global warming): Recent settlement concerning implementation of the Endangered Species Act encourages environmentalists to hope they might use species protection as a wedge to legislate against carbon emissions practices that have species-endangering effects. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0907/p03s03-usgn.html?s=wklyenv 9/5/07 Hudson River in New York is being given a high-tech 24/7 monitoring system to warn of any threats arising from ecological changes along the river. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0905/p03s03-usgn.html?page=1 8/25/07 A Vermont "right to dry" movement is part of a nationwide effort to promote energy conservation by state laws against neighborhood association bans on backyard clotheslines so that wind and sun can replace machine drying. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0824/p01s03-ussc.html?s=wklyenv 7/11/07 Will Laura Bush plant a Victory Garden"? Eleanor Roosevelt did this during World War II, symbolizing the commitment of the U.S. government and people to an "austerity" level of consumption that would free resources for the war effort. Maybe (just maybe) the country, with leaders of environmental vision (remember Jimmy Carter turning off lights in the White House?) could lead America from the orgy of luxury consumption that threatens to engulf the world. http://www.alternet.org/environment/55925/?page=2 7/9/07 Nantucket Island is a sand castle waiting to be washed to sea and the wealthy residents of the island are sinking millions of dollars into the sand buckets and scoops to try to hold back the inevitable. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/us/08island.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin 7/9/07 "There are people at this event who are not picking their trash" As Live Earth comes and goes with live concerts around the world, their promoters like Al Gore tout them as the beginning of a great environmentalist movement, while critics say many participants were "there for the music" and the message fell on deaf ears. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0709/p12s01-wogi.html?page=2 7/7/07 Allowing wildfires to burn to promote a natural forest ecology ignites a debate in Utah on firefighting strategies. http://www.sltrib.com/ci_6319909 7/4/07 22 years after building a sewage treatment plant with required wetland replacements, the sewer district and environmentalists in St. Louis are still in dispute about the number of acres of wetland required by the agreement. 6/22/07 Senate passes energy bill that raises fuel emission standards for automakers, but fails to impose excess taxes on oil company profits or provide incentives for conversion to alternative energy sources. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/22/us/22energy.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin 6/22/07 Corporate America joining the "green" revolution by changing autos driven by their employees to more fuel-efficient ones. http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0622/p01s01-usec.html 6/20/07 Auto industry representatives are lobbying Congress against increase in fuel efficiency standards. 6/12/07 Missouri city yields to environmentalists' objections and drops plan for annexation of a wild life preserve donated to the state by the Busch family. 6/11/07 Alaska legislators considering a deal that would would exchange 62,000 new acres of wildlife refuge for an easement for a 7 mile road to a remote part of the state. http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/rural/story/8967942p-8883675c.html 6/8/07 When Chevron and Wal-Mart become "eco-friendly" leaders, should activists celebrate or worry about a corporate "greenwash" of the environmental movement? Philip Mattera leans toward "worry," as he notes that this is the second round of such "greening" activity, the first having been launched in the early 1990s in the wake of Valdez and other disasters. This time, there is much less skepticism about the motivations and sustainability of these new commitments, and it seems that corporate America has co-opted and controlled the enviromental movement far more that the movement has influenced corporations. http://www.tompaine.com/articles/2007/06/06/the_greenwashing_of_america.php 6/4/07 Land preservation purchases begin to move in a Maryland county as the prices paid for these purchases from farmers are doubled. 6/1/07 Joshua Frank, a frequent contributor to CounterPunch.Org, weighs in on the controversy raised by CP editor Alexander Cockburn in recent articles critical of Al Gore and the whole concept of imminent damage from carbon emissions and global warming. Frank notes that the scientists cited by Cockburn to support his skepticism are individuals who are subsidized in various ways by the self-interested coal and gas industries. http://www.countercurrents.org/frank010607.htm 5/27/07 U.S. rejects draft German proposal for upcoming G 8 summit which would establish mandatory gas emissions standards for the world's countries. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/25/AR2007052501952.html?referrer=email 5/27/07 Alaskan native village of Newtok is rapidly becoming an island as a result of global warming and the melting of permafrost. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/27/us/27newtok.html?th&emc=th 5/15/07 Bill introduced in Congress would make Rocky Mountain National Park a designated wilderness after decades of efforts to accomplish this. http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_5896255 4/29/07 Evolution of a new mosquito breed in Maine woods in response to global warming illustrates how species with short life spans can adapt more quickly than those like mammals with long life spans. http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2007/04/29/in_mosquito_a_small_tale_of_climate_change/ 4/22/07 Dane County Wisconsin getting high marks for its "green" program of energy conservation in its public buildings. http://www.madison.com/tct/news/index.php?ntid=130509&ntpid=2 4/14/07 |