tagged w/ Natural Resources
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Gearing up 4 Gorillas: Nokia Mobile Phones Needed!
This group is part of the Gorilla Protection {Wildlife Direct}
http://gorilla.wildlifedirect.org/
This is a post made by Linda in the G4G Blog { http://www.g4g.co.uk/wp/?p=174 }
Hi everyone,
G4G vice chair Kim & myself are off out to Rwanda and DR Congo on the 25th September. We hope to meet the two G4G trucks as they arrive at Rumangabo - which would be very exciting! However, we have quite a bit of excess baggage free at the moment and a call has come in, asking for Nokia mobile phones for the rangers. They get the SIM cards in DR Congo, so no worries about those. May we ask that if you have or know of any Nokia phones lying around unused and/or unwanted, would you please consider sending them on to us & we can take them out - you’ll make a ranger very happy! Nokia is by far the most popular phone in DR Congo.
Kim & myself leave on the 25th September so not long to go - but please think about any Nokias lying in that drawer!
If you don’t mind popping it / them in the post, we’ll def take them out with us.
Post to:
L. Nunn, 87 Chapel Farm Cottage, Gussage St Andrew, Blandford, Dorset, , DT11 8DL
Many thanks in anticipation - we’ll let you know how many we take out…….
Linda
Chair, G4G
Gearing up 4 Gorillas: Nokia Mobile Phones Needed!
This group is part of the... more
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It wasn't much noticed at the time, but three weeks before she was chosen as John McCain's vice presidential running mate, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin played a key supporting role in the latest episode of the Bush Administration's eight-year war on the Endangered Species Act, one of the cornerstones of American environmental law. On August 4 Alaska sued the government for listing the polar bear as a "threatened" species, an action, the lawsuit asserted, that would harm "oil and gas...development" in the state. In an accompanying statement, Palin complained that the listing "was not based on the best scientific and commercial data available" and should be rescinded.
The Bush Administration had not wanted to designate the polar bear as threatened in the first place; now Palin's lawsuit provided cover to backtrack on the decision. The Interior Department had issued the listing only after environmental groups filed two lawsuits, and the courts ordered compliance. While the polar bear population was currently stable, the plaintiffs argued, greenhouse gas emissions were melting the Arctic ice that polar bears rely on to hunt seals, their main food source. A study by the US Geological Survey supported this argument, concluding that two-thirds of all polar bears could be gone by 2050 if Arctic ice continues to melt as scientists project. The listing was the first time global warming had been cited as the sole premise in an Endangered Species Act case, and Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne clearly wanted it to be the last. When Kempthorne announced the polar bear listing on May 14, he emphasized that it would not affect federal policy on global warming or block development of "our natural resources in the Arctic."
A week after Palin's lawsuit, Kempthorne delivered on that pledge. On August 11 he proposed new rules that could allow federal agencies to decide for themselves whether their actions will imperil a threatened or endangered species. The rule reverses precedent: since passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, scientists from the Fish and Wildlife Service have made such determinations independent of the agency involved. Under the new rule, if the Army Corps of Engineers is building a dam, the corps can decide whether it is putting species at risk. To make sure no one missed the point, Kempthorne told reporters that the new rule, which he termed "a narrow regulatory change," would keep the Endangered Species Act from becoming "a back door" to making climate change policy.
Kempthorne's proposal nevertheless seems likely to go forward. An obligatory thirty-day period for public comment expires September 15, after which Interior can begin to implement the rule. Congress could block funding, but few expect that to happen. Lawsuits are certain to follow, but critics say the quickest solution would be for the next administration to withdraw the rule. Barack Obama seems likely to do that; he immediately condemned Kempthorne's proposal. John McCain was silent. But his choice of Palin--who does not believe global warming is caused by humans but does think it's acceptable for humans to gun down wolves from airplanes--suggests that Arctic creatures have much to fear from a McCain administration.
FOR THE REST OF THIS REPORT, PLEASE VISIT: http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080929/hertsgaardIt wasn't much noticed at the time, but three weeks before she was chosen as John... more
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We can't tell you how Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin would do on national defense, but when it comes to defending Alaska's right to shoot wolves, she's not afraid to pull the trigger.
Just ask Rep. George Miller.
Miller, D-Martinez, a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, introduced federal legislation last year to end Alaska's policy of allowing people to shoot wolves from airplanes - a practice used to keep the number of wolves in check so they don't eat all the state's moose and caribou.
Miller - who has strong support from environmental groups around the country - deemed the kills cruel and unnecessary to preserve the moose and caribou population. What's more, he said, they violate federal law banning airborne hunting.
Faster than you can cry wolf, Palin told the East Bay congressman and his Washington pals to butt out.
"Congressman Miller doesn't understand rural Alaska (and) doesn't comprehend wildlife management in the North," the Alaska governor said in a statement issued last September.
Miller is also clueless to the fact that game hunters rely on the moose and caribou "to put healthy food on their families' dinner tables," Palin said.
Miller, however, tells us there are plenty of moose and caribou for native Alaskans to hunt. He says his bill, still waiting to be heard in committee, is really about stopping the state from handing out licenses to sportsmen "in the name of predator control."
"Shooting wolves from airplanes probably doesn't look like a good deal to most Americans," he said.
Wolves aren't the only item on Palin's list. She's also taken on the federal government over polar bears, suing the Interior Department on Alaska's behalf in reaction to the feds' decision to list the animals as threatened.
She believes the listing will cripple oil and gas development in sensitive areas - and, in any case, says the enviro argument that global warming threatens to wipe out the polar bears' habitat is a crock.
In case you were wondering, Miller, who just returned from the Democratic National Convention, doesn't think much of Palin as a vice presidential candidate.
"I just don't get it," he says. "Her incredible lack of experience is serious."
Worth noting: Democrats had good reason to be nervous going into the Denver convention - and the problem looked to be bigger than just the bruised feelings between the Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton camps.
Recent polls of California voters show that going into Denver, Obama's support among key independent voters had dropped nine points in a month - cutting his lead over John McCain to less than 10 points in this bluest of blue states.
A poll by the nonpartisan Public Policy Institute of California showed Obama's lead over McCain dropping to 48 percent to 39 percent among all likely voters - down six points from July.
Obama is still comfortably ahead of McCain statewide, and institute pollster Mark Baldassare noted that a Republican hasn't carried California since the first George Bush in 1988- so odds are Obama will still take the state.
We can't tell you how Republican vice presidential pick Sarah Palin would do on... more
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OJINAGA, Mexico - This hardscrabble Mexican border town welcomed 400 soldiers when they arrived four months ago to stop a wave of drug violence that brought daytime gunbattles to its main street.
But then the soldiers themselves turned violent, townspeople say, ransacking homes and even torturing people.
The frustration boiled over this week. More than 1,000 people marched through the streets carrying signs begging President Felipe Calderon for protection from his own troops.
Ojinaga, across the Rio Grande from Presidio, Texas, is not alone. People in cities on the front lines of Mexico's battle against trafficking say they are increasingly frustrated with military tactics — a shift in opinion that threatens to undermine Calderon's nationwide crackdown.
Reports of abuse
Mexico's National Human Rights Commission says it has documented more than 600 cases of abuse since Calderon sent 20,000 soldiers across the nation to take back territory controlled by drug lords.
Mexico's attorney general argues the cases are isolated incidents. The army says it investigates all allegations and punishes those found to have to violated the law.
But many people say the soldiers have become part of the problem.
A poll published June 30 by the newspaper El Diario of Ciudad Juarez found that only 18 percent of those living in Juarez completely approved of the army's presence. Two months earlier, the number was 65 percent. The poll, by Confirme, had a margin of error of 5 percentage points.
"These guys don't care about anything," said Lalo Lucero, 44, as he watched soldiers in the city detain a neighborhood youth recently. "They came into my house without a warrant, searched through everything and told me to sit on a couch and not say anything."
Battles between rival drug cartels killed 4,000 people nationwide in the first 18 months of Calderon's presidency. At least 10 people have been gunned down this year in Ojinaga, a town of 20,000.
"I'm sure that the army has come here to fight a war against the drug traffickers, and we are very much in agreement with that," said Mayor Cesar Carrasco. "But we also hope that all the authorities will respect the individual rights of every Ojinaga citizen."
Sharing stories
At Wednesday's march, protesters swapped stories of masked soldiers breaking down doors and ransacking homes.
"I'm not against what they do. I'm against how they do it," said Martha Leyva, 44. She said her family was awakened one night in May when soldiers with machine guns but no warrant broke down her door. They said an anonymous call had directed them to her house.
Janeth Lopez, a 28-year-old hairdresser, said she came home last month to find eight masked soldiers rifling through her belongings.
"If they come and knock on the door of your house and you have nothing to fear, you're going to open the door and tell them, 'Come in and look around,'" Lopez said. "But if you're up to no good, you're going to run away."
Case of 'suffering'
Roberto, a 25-year-old man who didn't want his last name used for fear of retribution, said he, five other men and a teenage boy were returning from a nearby town recently when they were stopped by soldiers.
Roberto said they were beaten, bound, blindfolded and taken to a military camp.
He said soldiers wrapped their heads in plastic bags, beat and kicked them, and hung some of the members of the group upside down. Soldiers also forced some of them — including Roberto's 20-year-old cousin — to drop their pants, and then applied pliers to one man's testicles, Roberto said.
"It was always the same question: 'Where did you hide the drugs? Where did you hide the drugs?'" Roberto said. "I told them, 'If I knew, I would say instead of suffering through all this.' "
He said he and his friends were released without charge and reported their detention to human rights officials.OJINAGA, Mexico - This hardscrabble Mexican border town welcomed 400 soldiers when... more
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WASHINGTON - The government has endangered the public's health and safety by failing to clean up abandoned mines on federal land in the West, according to a scathing audit released Friday.
The Interior Department's inspector general found dangerous levels of arsenic, lead and mercury, along with gaping cavities, at dilapidated hard-rock mining sites easily accessible to visitors and residents.
Bureau of Land Management supervisors told staff to ignore the problems, and employees who tried to report contaminated sites were threatened with retaliation, the audit said.
At least 12 people were killed in accidents at abandoned mine sites between 2004 and 2007, and "the potential for more deaths and injuries are ominous," it said.
BLM under fire
The mines are mostly in California, Nevada and Arizona. The California Department of Conservation estimates there are about 47,000 abandoned mines in California. Other surveys have estimated about 500,000 such sites nationwide, where gold, silver, copper, lead and other minerals were mined, often decades ago.
Environmentalists have estimated cleanup costs as high as $72 billion. But the inspector general's audit noted that simple precautions could be taken, such as fences and warning signs. So far, the audit indicates, the Bureau of Land Management has hardly been up to the job.
"BLM's abandoned mines program has long been undermined, neglected and marginalized by poor management practices and insufficient staffing and resources," said the report.
In response, BLM issued a statement defending its abandoned mine program as "highly effective." The statement did not address specific circumstances raised in the audit.
"The BLM has an active program in place to identify and address (abandoned mine land) hazards on its lands," said spokesman Matt Spangler. "The agency worked closely with the IG audit team over the last year in examining the abandoned mine site challenges that it faces. The BLM accepts the IG's recommendations and will work diligently to implement them."
'Quick call to action'
BLM is part of the Interior Department and administers 258 million acres of public land primarily in 12 Western states. The majority of abandoned mine sites within Interior Department jurisdiction are on BLM land.
Last year, 13-year-old Rikki Howard died and her younger sister was injured after they accidentally drove their all-terrain vehicle into an open 125-foot mine shaft near BLM's Windy Point Recreation Area in Kingman, Ariz.
The mine shaft is on a small piece of private property surrounded by BLM land. Only after the accident, BLM provided a fence and warning signs for the site. Yet when auditors visited the area, they found two other deep mine shafts nearby, one unfenced and one only partially fenced, and with no warning signs.WASHINGTON - The government has endangered the public's health and safety by... more
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Here is just a spattering of what awaits the next Administration:
– Climate Change. Throughout our nation’s history, for all pieces of crucial legislation (the 1933 National Recovery Act, the 1964 Civil Rights Act), there was a fleeting legislative moment. That moment is here for climate change. The scientific evidence is overwhelming, the inter-generational impacts make action a moral imperative. Waiting is just not an option. The Bush Administration squandered the last decade. The Obama or McCain Administration cannot squander the next.
– Natural Resources. Where to start? The Bush White House declared open season on the nation’s resources. There was the Orwellian “Healthy Forest Initiative” that reduced wildlife protection, open contempt for the Endangered Species Act, repeal of the Roadless Rule protecting public lands, a U.S. Navy sonar assault on whales, and a “stream buffer rule” allowing Appalachian hilltop mining. Repair of these and many more offenses will require an Interior Secretary of historical significance (think Gifford Pinchot).
– Public Health. OSHA has been decimated, with only one new standard issued in eight years. Permissible exposure levels for numerous contaminants were weakened in the workplace, drinking water and air. We had lead in toys, formaldehyde in trailers, and biphenyl in baby bottles - as well as pathogens in our spinach, lettuce, beef, and now tomatoes. Most American public health statutes are woefully outdated and in need of complete overhaul, starting with the Toxics Substances Control Act (”TSCA”).
– Water. From Georgia to California, climate change is bringing increased drought and water shortages (and ironically, elsewhere flooding). T. Boone Pickens is now buying up most of the aquifers north of Dallas for good reason. Salmon and other fish are disappearing in droves (if fish travel in droves). In cities, the most favored solution to drinking water shortages seems to be recycling sewer water - shades of Solvent Green. Current water policies, such as providing subsidized irrigation water to agri-business giants, need fundamental reform.
– Global Reach. The greatest environmental threats at home now are from abroad. Nearly half the mercury in Midwestern lakes comes from Chinese coal fire power plants. China’s global warming gas emissions now exceed the U.S. From food to pharmaceuticals, imported consumer products present unnecessary health risks. Through far more aggressive trade policies and tougher domestic laws — on what is allowed within our shores and within our stores — we can better protect both the planet and our own citizens.
This election season, there will be no ducking (no pun intended) the environment. Both Obama and McCain will be required to address — with specifics — how they will clean up the Bush mess - and, where they intend to lead the country. FDR had his New Deal in the 1930’s. What is the Obama or McCain Green Deal for 2008? Are their promises of change real or illusory?
If fate and the voters give us President McCain, one hopes for the leadership of Republican Teddy Roosevelt, not the “wink and nod” environmentalism of either Bush. If it’s President Obama, one hopes for the political skill of Lyndon Johnson — since that and more will be required to navigate the Washington, DC special interest thicket. The essential question both will need to answer was posed nearly a half century ago — by Rachel Carson: “Man’s attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we now have acquired the fateful power to alter and destroy nature. The question is whether any civilization can wage relentless war on life without destroying itself.”
Here is just a spattering of what awaits the next Administration:
– Climate... more
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Last week’s decision by a York County water board to delay a vote on whether to sell municipal water to Nestle Corp., the owner of Poland Spring, did not happen in a vacuum.
* Last month in McCloud, Calif., after encountering opposition to what would have been the largest water bottling plant in the country, Nestle announced plans to significantly reduce the plant’s size.
* Earlier this month in Enumclaw, Wash., the city council rejected a proposal to allow Nestle to build another such plant.
* And last Monday, the U.S. Conference of Mayors voted to phase out use of bottled water for municipal employees.
Across the country, opposition to bottled water is building, amid growing concerns about the industry’s environmental impact and rising fears about private control of public water supplies.
“There’s no question that there is a groundswell,” said Ruth Caplan, coordinator of Defending Water for Life, a Washington, D.C.-based campaign that opposes the bottled water industry.
There are several reasons for the backlash to bottled water. Some of it is driven by fears about global warming - given the amount of oil needed to bottle and transport the water.
Some stems from concerns about the chemical makeup of plastic water bottles.
Some of the opposition is a byproduct of the huge price disparity between bottled water and the kind of water that comes from the tap for free.
Here in Maine, some of the local opposition to Poland Spring’s operations has stemmed from the traffic generated by the trucks that transport the water.
Perhaps the biggest factor, though, is a fear that as bottled water becomes more popular, private corporations are gaining more control over a natural resource that is central to life.
“The fundamental issue is, who owns the water?” said Jim Olson, an attorney for Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, which has been engaged in a legal battle with Nestle. “If this company gets to do it, all companies get to do it, and you’re not going to be able to say no in the future.”
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We need to stop the commoditization of this resource which is the lifeblood of the Earth. Water is a human right. It cannot be bought by Nestle at the expense of the poor in countries where water is already scarce. It is a good sign to see people finally standing up to these companies.
Last week’s decision by a York County water board to delay a vote on whether to... more
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The world's population will reach 7 billion in 2012, even as the global community struggles to satisfy its appetite for natural resources, according to a new government projection.The world's population will reach 7 billion in 2012, even as the global community... more
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The Chinese Government purchased Mount Toromocho, in the Peruvian Andes. The Peruvian unit of China's aluminum giant Chinalco on Monday exercised its option to develop the Toromocho mining project, which could boost the Andean country's copper output 25 percent by 2011.The Chinese Government purchased Mount Toromocho, in the Peruvian Andes. The Peruvian... more
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East Africa's Lake Victoria is the world's largest tropical lake — but some experts think it may disappear within twenty years.
Water levels have dropped dramatically in recent years thanks to climate change, hydroelectric dam projects and increasing pressure on the lake's threatened resources. The crisis endangers the livelihood of the more than 30 million people who rely on the lake for food and work. East Africa's Lake Victoria is the world's largest tropical lake — but... more
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"What happens when an oil field as big as any in the Middle East is discovered in the desolate border towns of Montana and North Dakota?"
By Zach Dundas// GOOD Magazine
Photo by Brian Paumier
The story started out in a Montana newspaper, then grew into a minor legend: An unnamed rancher out in the state’s far east, a sparsely populated town along the North Dakota border, received his first royalty check for crude oil pumped out of his pastureland. Oil is the big news in this area, which the locals call MonDak; on both sides of the border, new wells can mean life-changing money for the families who own some of the toughest, driest farm and ranch land in the country.
So the story goes that the farmer opened the envelope and looked at the check, the first quarterly installment. He read the amount, read it a second time, then he sent the check back. He must have thought the damn fools had put the decimal point in the wrong place—$1.1 million, an unfathomable fortune, just couldn’t be right.
The tale circulated this fall in and around Sidney, a town of 5,000 people that anchors a huge swath of eastern Montana’s gold and slate-gray hills. Sidney is not part of the Montana where movie stars buy trophy ranches: temperatures swing from minus 40 degrees in the winter to 110 in the summer, and no one would confuse recreation with the battle to squeeze a living out of the land.
The town also happens to sit at the epicenter of the biggest inland oil discovery in the United States in 50 years. Two miles below the surface lies a stratum of oil known as the Bakken formation, holding an epic haul of crude—some surveys suggest up to 200 billion barrels, a near-Saudi-sized reserve. And since the end of 2000, when new drilling technology and rising prices combined to unleash the find, Montana and North Dakota have become the underground rock stars of American oil, among the few states recording production increases. With oil prices soaring above $100 a barrel, it’s like giant vaults of cash opened beneath the MonDak soil...
Full story at link.
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GOOD Magazine
This work licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.5 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ "What happens when an oil field as big as any in the Middle East is discovered in... more
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Gaza's gas... isn't this home-grown source of energy something the Palestinians should be in charge of?
Yes, but the way things are shaping it'll probably be stolen from them just like their lands, their homes and their precious water.
The Gaza marine gas field lies 25 to 30 kilometers off Gaza's shore. In 1999 the BG Group obtained licences to Israeli offshore concessions, and shortly afterwards was awarded the Gaza licence, for a period of 25 years. BG holds 90% equity in the licence, but this could reduce to 60% if the Consolidated Contractors Company (its current 10% partner) and the Palestine Investment Fund exercise their options.
In 2005, at the time of Israel's 'disengagement’ from the Gaza Strip, the Palestinians decided to drop plans to sell gas to Israel and talked with Egypt instead. The position changed again when Tony Blair, Israel's ever-faithful dogsbody and now the Quartet's special envoy to the Middle East, personally intervened on Israel's behalf. No-one is saying how much Egypt's EGAS was offering and there is speculation that Blair was sent in to persuade the Palestinians to accept a weaker Israeli bid.
After talking with Michael Barron, BG’s Policy and Corporate Affairs Manager, I understand negotiations are suspended because gas prices and commercial terms cannot be agreed. In any case, there needs to be a change in Israel's gas law to enable the Israeli government to act as a seller in its own market, and the necessary procedural steps could take some time. Overarching issues on how funds flow back to Palestine and how they are used, also have to be addressed.
In the meantime the feasibility of supplying the Egyptian market is still being explored.
The Gaza gas field is estimated to hold 1 trillion cubic feet of gas worth some $4 billion in revenue. It would take 4 years to bring on stream. With production at economically commercial levels it is expected to last 15 years and generate $2 billion in profit, half of this for the Palestinians. Israel would take an undisclosed percentage of the product, certainly much more that the Palestinians' requirement.
The plan is to pipe the gas from source direct to an on-shore terminal at Ashkelon in Israel. A separate pipe will run from the terminal to Gaza. BG will be the operator, with Israel providing a raft of assurances regarding uninterrupted supply to Gaza and the West Bank and uninterrupted flow of profits to the Palestinians.
Come again? BG is going to land Palestine’s one and only natural resource on Israeli territory for processing and distribution…? The same Israel that's starving Gazans into submission, blitzing them in their prison-home and trashing their economy? The same Israel that continues to murder and imprison whomsoever it wishes and steal whatever it wants? The same Israel that has no regard for international law and human rights? The same Israel that has blocked the flow of Palestinian tax and customs revenues, humanitarian aid and hospital supplies? The same Israel that will not recognise Palestine or its democratic choices?
Gaza's gas... isn't this home-grown source of energy something the... more
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A festering problem Lloyd reported on last year -- the invasion of British Columbia's forests by voracious mountain pine beetles -- has taken a drastic turn for the worse, according to a new study published in the journal Nature. Werner Kurz of Natural Resources Canada found that the beetles are turning large tracts of forests into carbon sources -- rather than sinks -- aggravating the onset of global warming.A festering problem Lloyd reported on last year -- the invasion of British... more
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The Annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is accepting the participation of You Tube user in its Congress Center viewing and answering the significant suggestion to what companies or individuals must do in order to make the World a better place in 2008.
Most of the conflicts we have in the World today is caused by economic inequality and its consequences.
The idea that corporation, which in many aspects decide the way other human beings and the environment are treated, are considering to take in consideration opinion and ideas of single individuals, like you and I, make me feel quiet optimist about the possibilities of a future with fair way of living for all!
So, it's up to you! You've up to January 27, 2008 to address them!
Make your voice be heard!!!
The Annual World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, is accepting the participation... more
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Traveling to places that might disappear within a generation. A new traveling trend to go places that will go extinct if carelessness about the environment and natural resources continues at the rate is currently going.Traveling to places that might disappear within a generation. A new traveling trend... more
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It's not even real grass.
But in the midst of what may be the worst drought ever in North Carolina, Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are watering the synthetic turfs used by their field hockey teams.
The International Hockey Federation insists.
The universities are not breaking any rules. But like clockwork, as residents in Durham and Chapel Hill see their plants and lawns wither, the sprinklers go on at the UNC-CH Francis E. Henry Stadium and at Duke's Williams Field.
Brad Schnurr, a Chapel Hill contractor who does work in Durham, saw the sprinklers go on one afternoon recently at Duke and drove around the block to make sure he was not seeing things.
"Sprinklers aren't even the right term, they're like fire hoses," Schnurr said. "I was like, 'What is that? What is that?' I couldn't believe it."It's not even real grass.
But in the midst of what may be the worst drought... more
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A study released today shows that the depletion of oil will lead to a risk of war and unrest. A study released today shows that the depletion of oil will lead to a risk of war and... more
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while all these mining accidents are tragic stories...
maybe the earth is just trying to tell us to quit digging, sucking, and stripping it bare.while all these mining accidents are tragic stories...
maybe the earth is just... more
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