tagged w/ Current Environmental News
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Most people may drink only two litres of water a day, but they consume about 3,000 if the water that goes into their food is taken into account. The rich gulp down far more, since they tend to eat more meat, which takes far more water to produce than grains. So as the world's population grows and incomes rise, farmers will if they use today's methods need a great deal more water to keep everyone fed: 2,000 more cubic kilometres a year by 2030, according to the International Water Management Institute (IWMI), a research centre, or over a quarter more than they use today. Yet in many farming regions, water is scarce and likely to get scarcer as global warming worsens. The world is facing not so much a food crisis as a water crisis, argues Colin Chartres, IWMI's director-general.
The solution, Mr Chartres and others contend, is more efficient use of water or, as the sloganeers put it,; more crop per drop;. Some 1.2 billion people, about a fifth of the world's population, live in places that are short of water (see map). Farming accounts for roughly 70% of human water consumption. So when water starts to run out, as is happening in northern China, southern Spain and the western United States, among other places, farming tends to offer the best potential for thrift. But governments, whether to win votes or to protect the poor, rarely charge farmers a market price for water. So they are usually more wasteful than other consumers even though the value they create from the water is often less than households or industry would be willing to pay for it.
The pressing need is to make water go further. Antoine Frarot, the head of the water division of Veolia Environnement, a French firm, promotes recycling, whereby city wastewater is treated until it can be used in industry or agriculture. This costs about a third less than desalination, and cuts pollution. He expects his recycling business to quadruple in the next decade. Yet as Mr Frarot himself concedes, there are many even cheaper ways to save water. As much as 70% of water used by farmers never gets to crops, perhaps lost through leaky irrigation channels or by draining into rivers or groundwater. Investment in drip irrigation, or simply repairing the worst leaks, could bring huge savings.
end of excerpt.
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I believe that irrigation holds the solution to a great part of the global water crisis. In many parts of the world sprinkler irrigation is still the most used method of irrigation because it is the most available and least expensive. This method however is very wasteful, and using it in places where pervasive drought is common is not cost effective. In order for us as a species to mitigate the crisis we will surely face regarding water if present behavior persists we will have to change how we do things. Regarding the irrigation of crops it will be how they are irrigated, when they are irrigated based on changing weather patterns, and also in focusing on areas looking towards less water intensive crops in drier areas.
It is unfortunate that the very places where the most water intensive crops are grown such as cotton, rice, and corn (India, China, Africa, and the Southwest US ) are experiencing the most pervasive droughts and desertification now. As population increases towards 9 billion and resources become scarcer, farmers will most certainly have to devise ways of conserving water to get optimal growth and yield from a limited resource.
Through shifting the emphasis on crop varieties grown in these areas if possible and by changing irrigation methods from sprinkler to drip irrigation, trillions of gallons of water could be saved. Also in places where weather patterns are changing and are seeing more rain, rain catchement systems will be invaluable in helping to catch excess rain and use it for irrigation purposes.
more at the link.Most people may drink only two litres of water a day, but they consume about 3,000 if... more
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India will host the next Live Earth concert to raise funds for lighting homes with solar energy in places where people do not have access to electricity, organizers said.
The December event will see rocker Jon Bon Jovi and Bollywood's biggest superstar, Amitabh Bachchan share the stage, and is described by organizers as one of the biggest events held in India.
The concert will be held in India's financial capital Mumbai on December 7, Live Earth founder Kevin Wall said in Mumbai.
"(Former Vice President) Al Gore asked me whether we could do this in India, and I said yes," Wall told Reuters in Mumbai. "This is going to be huge."
"Jon Bon Jovi is just one name and Mr Bachchan is just one name, but there will be a lot of international artists," he said.
Wall, who organized a series of concerts last year with the former vice-president, said the event in India would be telecast live in more than 100 countries.
Gore, who spoke via satellite this week during a news conference held in Mumbai on Thursday said India could provide the leadership required to bring about changes in world policies on climate change.
The proceeds from the concert will go to the "Light A Billion Lives campaign," supported by Nobel Prize-winner Rajendra Pachauri, the chairman of the United Nation's Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
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Photo credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26162736@N07/2469499562/
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We can work around the world to mitigate the climate crisis. We must not be myopic in our view or distressed thinking that only one person sitting in a white house in Washington Dc can or will do it. This goes so far beyond just one president, one American election, one year, or one time. This crisis must make us see our similarities as humans on this Earth which is the only home we will have and act together.
While political will in Washington Dc is indeed a great part of that progress, it is not in my view something to place all hopes on. We can and must take it upon ourselves to do all in our power to bring solar energy and other alternate sources to other developing countries like India so that their economic progress will begin on a more sustainable footing, and hopefully that message will then spread around the globe including our own country. This is the good message Live Earth brings and the message we must take upon ourselves to spread to others. We are the ones with the power, and with that power we can do great things when mobilizing for a good and noble cause. India will host the next Live Earth concert to raise funds for lighting homes with... more
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Sunrise Solar has announced the introduction of a Solar Light Brick for the integration of solar technologies into traditional construction materials.
This innovative technology includes advanced solar cells, an energy storage device and a crystal lighting system that surrounds the energy module in a square or rectangle.
The imbedded solar cell generates electricity when the sun shines and stores it in the storage device. The light is automatically activated after dark. The solar brick can be designed to light in any color.
Potential applications include rural airfields, building lighting, safety lights and decorative lighting. The solar brick can operate without any connection to the electrical grid and can be imbedded in construction materials.
"As we continue to introduce innovative solar products that deliver dynamic energy solutions that can be applied today, we are proud to introduce the 'solar light brick'," said Mr. Eddie Austin, Chairman and CEO of Sunrise Solar Corp.
"This creative product can provide lighting and decoration with no connection to a power grid and can be imbedded in a wall or concrete slab as an integrated part of the structural design."
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Imagine the possibilities.
Sunrise Solar has announced the introduction of a Solar Light Brick for the... more
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Will this verdict set the precedent for climate activists to stand up more vigorously in protesting climate change and the plans of coal and oil companies? I sure hope so. It is time for governments to be made aware that people are onto them. That when they say they want renewable energy we know they mean "clean coal" and nuclear and not TRUE renewable energy because it doesn't bring them $$$$$$$ in their campaign coffers. We are on to their lies and their smoke and mirror tactics to keep to the status quo... and we aren't going to be silent any longer. If scaling a chimney to write a warning will save one life from the effects of climate change or cancer, I will do it myself. This is also an issue of Democracy as well as environment. These plants being built are without the consent of the governed and part of deals made behind closed doors, and therefore, the governed have every right to protest them for the betterment of the whole, their families, and this planet. For these companies to continue to build coal plants knowing what they do to our health and our environment knowing there are cleaner, safer, better ways is simply willful negligence.
Photo credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8068270@N04/2414246369/
From the article:
The Maidstone verdict has changed all that and could prove a turning point both for the protest movement and industrial policy. It gave the clear political message that 12 people with - one must assume - no great scientific knowledge, had listened to the evidence of one of the best scientists in the world and concluded that climate change is now so serious and so urgent an issue that it is legally justifiable for people to invade a power station and do £30,000 worth of damage.
Out of the blue, the environmentalists say, the legitimacy of the government to pursue an expanding coal policy has been undermined and it may have become impossible for E.ON, the German owners of Kingsnorth, to go ahead with a new plant without fitting a £500m carbon capture and storage plant to collect and dispose of the greenhouse gases.
What is particularly galling for the backers of coal-fired power stations is that, because of the amount of damage alleged to have been done at Kingsnorth, the case went to a jury rather than a magistrate. The crown prosecution service and many corporations know that campaigners who challenge the law by non-violent action are being regularly acquitted by juries. In the past decade, prosecutions of protesters against GM crops, incinerators, new roads and nuclear, chemical and arms trade companies have all collapsed after defendants argued that they had acted according to their consciences and that they were trying to prevent a greater crime. Greenpeace itself has a four-nil record against the crown using the same defence and was widely known to be seeking a jury trial to present complex arguments about coal and climate change.
"They were pretty confident that a jury would listen to them more than the government," said one lawyer yesterday. "It gives them a platform. I doubt that we will see another climate change jury trial for many years."
"We are seeing a pattern emerging. The public is increasingly speaking through the courts," says Martyn Day, a partner with Leigh Day solicitors, which specialises in environmental cases. "These cases are a good guide to public mood and politicians should take close heed of them. It shows that society is greatly concerned about what is happening with the environment and that it is suspicious of government and business when they say they are acting responsibly.
"We're looking at a society which is far more in tune with the environment than in the past. Politicians and companies have not understood that most people now understand the issues. There's a feeling that government and the authorities have not been paying sufficient heed, and that the courts are righting the balance," he said.
Will this verdict set the precedent for climate activists to stand up more vigorously... more
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Here in my house, acoustic issues are life threatening events, a trespass and therefore a crime. When the legislative made graffiti a crime, many people did learn to use their personal energy towards a better and safe direction. That also helped abate graffiti and improve the neighborhood quality of life. Now it is time to draft our acoustic policy to follow this same direction. Just in case you are really interested in making San Francisco a first class City so people that come here as a tourist will have something good to talk about abroad. If you are in doubt of the benefits, just remember that Tourism it is a multimillion dollar business that greatly benefits the wealth of this City.
Here in my house, acoustic issues are life threatening events, a trespass and... more
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These metal fingers are the source of a fierce debate that has gripped this small town and others across Maine, forcing residents to choose between Poland Spring - a company with a century-old history in the state - and their newfound environmental and social sensibilities.
For more than a hundred years, the company has drawn waters from Maine springs and marketed it to the world as just possibly "the best tasting water on earth." But now McMahon and others are part of a growing movement raising questions about the homegrown company's corporate parents - Nestlé Waters North America purchased it in 1992 - and the very concept of bottled water, which uses plastic and oil to deliver a product that many can get from their faucet.
As the company seeks to tap new springs, a number of towns have begun to push back against locating water-extraction sites on their land, forcing this quintessentially Maine company to consider the once unthinkable: looking to other states for its water.
"We're a Maine company," said Mark Dubois, Poland Spring's natural resource director. But if the industry continues to grow, he said, the company is going to need more water.
"We might have to force our hand," he said.
Later this month, Shapleigh residents will decide whether to put a moratorium on water pumping, which would freeze Poland Spring's plans to test the town's water. In Ogunquit, selectmen are considering a citizen petition they received in opposition to water extraction. Nearby Wells residents are set to vote in November on a 180-day moratorium, much like the one in Shapleigh, while they prepare an ordinance that would set ground rules for pumping.
But the issue is greater than extraction alone. Poland Spring, the nation's third-leading brand of bottled water, after Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo, is facing mounting pressure on other fronts.
Take Back the Tap, a national organization that encourages people to eschew bottled water, recently launched a campaign in Portland.
Activists in Kennebunk are boycotting Poland Spring in protest against Nestlé, after the company tried to purchase water from the local water district for bottling. At a war protest in early August, organizer Jamilla El-Shafei asked participants not to bring Poland Spring water.
"There is definitely a movement afoot," El-Shafei said. "They're trying to corporatize and commodify water. . . . Water should be in the public trust."
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Nestle' like other multinational companies doesn't care one whit for the citizens of these towns. All they care about is profit. They place their pipes in the ground that does not belong to them and suck the lifeblood out of it to make their wallets fatter. It is great to see residents of these towns standing up to them as they think because they are corporations their size entitles them to anything they can buy off. I am sure the vote to take place there will be close, and actually, I am wondering who they may be applying pressure to to allow Nestle' to win this vote. Of course, if they are actually frozen out of Maine there are other states they will target. And people will have to stand up to them anywhere they go in this country. We can no longer afford to give our precious water away to hungry greedy companies considering that water is becoming more precious to us in many areas of this country due to drought and waste and the fact that it is a public trust not a private commodity.These metal fingers are the source of a fierce debate that has gripped this small town... more
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Forest scientists have come to a surprising conclusion regarding old growth forests and their majestic, mature trees: They're not just relaxing in their arboreal old age, but are still actively taking in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The new study suggests that protecting old growth forests may be just as important as planting new trees in efforts to reduce carbon dioxide levels and fight global warming.
Previously, researchers believed that only young, fast-growing trees absorbed enough carbon dioxide to be considered significant carbon sinks. Old, crowded forests don't allow for much new growth: The only new growth occurred in the small spaces that opened up when large old trees died and decomposed, releasing their accumulated carbon. The forests at large were therefore considered to be carbon neutral, and accounted as such in climate models [Nature News]. But the new study shows that the slow but continuous growth of old trees means that they continue to suck up more carbon than they release.
For the study, published in the journal Nature, researchers examined over 500 studies of forests around the world. They calculated that primary forests in Canada, Russia and Alaska alone absorb about 1.3 gigatonnes of carbon per year, about ten percent of the net global carbon exchange between the ecosystem and the atmosphere. These forests need to be protected not just because they help to absorb carbon dioxide, but also because destroying them could release huge stores of greenhouse gases. Old-growth forests accumulate carbon for centuries and contain large quantities of it, [lead researcher Sebastiaan] Luyssaert said. If these pools of CO2 are disturbed, much of this CO2 will move back into the atmosphere, he added [AFP].
The new findings suggest that old forests should be included in any policies intended to mitigate global warming. Study co-author Beverly Law says that the findings argue for including credits for preserving old growth forests in the Kyoto Protocol and cap-and-trade schemes for controlling greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming [AP].
Forest scientists have come to a surprising conclusion regarding old growth forests... more
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The United Nations on Friday launched a bid to designate Iraq's famed marshlands, which were ravaged by Saddam Hussein, a World Heritage site after a four-year restoration project.
The swampy southern region is believed by some to be the inspiration for the biblical Garden of Eden. Saddam drained the marshlands after the end of the first Gulf War to punish Iraq's Shiite majority for an uprising.
The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) wrapped up a four-year project funded by Japan and Italy that restored more than half of the marshlands. Iraqi authorities took over plans for further rehabilitation.
Attending a final meeting on the project in Kyoto, Japan, UNEP chief Achim Steiner said the agency would work with UNESCO, the UN's cultural body, to list the marshlands as a World Heritage site.
Narmin Othman, Iraq's environment minister, said her government also planned to make the marshlands a national park, according to a UNEP statement.
"Because of what Saddam Hussein did, the marshlands were in danger of completely disappearing, as was the centuries-old culture of the Marsh Arabs," Othman said, according to the statement.
"It had become an ecological but also a human tragedy," she said.
Italy has agreed to fund the effort to list the marshlands as a World Heritage site, which would entail drafting plans to ensure the area's preservation, UNEP spokesman Nick Nuttall said.
The last available satellite images showed that around 58 percent of the marshlands had been restored.
The marshlands stretched across some 20,000 square kilometres (7,700 square miles) in the 1970s. Most residents are Shiite Muslims, who form the majority in Iraq but were marginalised until the US-led invasion overthrew Saddam in 2003
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Declaring the marshlands of Mesopotamia a World Heritage site will allow them to be preserved for future generations.This is truly remarkable in that only a couple of years ago it did not look good for the marshlands to be restored. However, with Iraq in the throse of a severe drought with Iraq also concerned over dams being built in Turkey that will divert water from the Tigris and Euphatres rivers, we will have to see if the UN can make this happen. For me on the one hand it is wonderful because it will protect a diversified ecosystem and also bring a truly human and environmental tragedy full circle. On the other hand, having people unable to farm due to drought and diversion of water from dams makes it a hard decision to make on a moral level. But perhaps it would be better to designate it as a World Heritage site to keep it as part of the rich history of Iraq and in the hands of Iraq, rather than other interests looking to loot it for its diversity and resources. It will be good to see the Iraqi people have something of beauty and diversity to take pride in amongst the turmoil of these past years.The United Nations on Friday launched a bid to designate Iraq's famed marshlands,... more
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A federal appeals court yesterday rejected a Kentucky regulation for coal-mining discharges into waterways and ordered the Environmental Protection Agency to re-evaluate the rule.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit also rejected the EPA's approval of five other water pollution regulations. They included a rule dealing with how much pollution from a concentrated animal feeding operation may be discharged into some lakes, streams and rivers.
The decision sends the regulations back to the EPA to be rewritten.
The decision came as a result of a lawsuit filed in 2004 by the Kentucky Waterways Alliance, an environmental group. The alliance sued the EPA during the decade-long dispute over the Clean Water Act, saying the agency approved rules for Kentucky that had so many exemptions that they were practically useless.
The court is requiring the EPA to reconsider Kentucky's exemption for coal-mining discharges. The exemption allows coal mines to dump in areas with good water quality if the state finds a social and economic need for the dumping.
Kentucky's regulations also exempted a variety of pollution discharges into waters in which fish, shellfish and wildlife live.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Russell upheld the regulations in 2006.
The appeals court found that the EPA, in approving the exemptions, failed to explain why their effect would be insignificant.
The appeals court did uphold the EPA's approval of the method Kentucky uses to select waterways meriting special protection.
Judge Deborah Cook wrote for the majority of the three-judge panel that the state gave the EPA a letter saying how it planned to interpret the clean water regulations, a move that doesn't meet the requirements of the federal Administrative Procedures Act.
"This securing an informal commitment from a state agency rather than requiring the state to amend its regulations violates the federal approval procedure," Cook wrote.
Senior Judge Eugene Siler joined Cook in ordering the EPA to rework the regulations.
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The EPA is supposed to stand for Environmental Protection Agency. I think it should be changed to Environmental Plundering Agency.
"The appeals court found that the EPA, in approving the exemptions, failed to explain why their effect would be insignificant."
How convenient. Good to see courts standing up to this blatant disregard for our environment.A federal appeals court yesterday rejected a Kentucky regulation for coal-mining... more
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San Jose is now home to the largest solar testing facility in North America and we're getting a sneak peak! ...San Jose is now home to the largest solar testing facility in North America and... more
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A recent NBC/WSJ poll revealed that runaway energy costs is the #1 issue Americans feel most personally affects them.
Clearly there is a pressing need to let more people know about solar energy -- and how it helps families and businesses save on monthly utility bills.
That's why the American Solar Energy Society is organizing the largest grassroots solar event in history.
It's called the National Solar Tour and it offers you the opportunity to tour homes and buildings to see how neighbors are using solar energy and energy efficiency to combat rising energy costs.
As many as 150,000 people will be participating in 46 states across the U.S.
ASES coordinates the National Solar Tour in partnership with dozens of outstanding organizations. Most tours take place on October 4, though tours vary by location so be sure to check the listings for the latest details.
Last year more than 115,000 attendees visited some 5,000 buildings in 2,900 participating communities. Now in its 13th year, this event will take place in nearly every state in the U.S. so we invite you to get involved.
In addition to learning more about solar energy, an increasing focus of the National Solar Tour is on energy-saving techniques and sustainability through building design, energy efficient appliances, and use of green materials during remodeling. Solar tours also provide helpful, real-world examples of costs and how to save money with federal, state, and local incentives.
Ultimately the National Solar Tour inspires people across the nation to go solar and make sustainable energy choices that help lower costs, support energy independence, and reduce carbon emissions.
From their email.
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Let the sun shine in.A recent NBC/WSJ poll revealed that runaway energy costs is the #1 issue Americans... more
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Robert Redford was so struck by a story of Texas mayors, ranchers and other citizens who stood up against plans for a batch of new coal-fired power plants that he narrated a film about it.
The actor and founder of the Sundance Film Festival is lending his voice to a 34-minute documentary called "Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars." The film is being shown in seven cities in Utah and Nevada next week.
Redford's hoping the story inspires others to face off against the "mythology" of nonrenewable resources and consider renewable energy alternatives.
"It makes no sense going in a direction that represents yesterday," Redford said in an interview with The Associated Press this week.
The story centers on a fight that started in 2006 over 19 proposed coal-fired power plants in central and east Texas. The plans galvanized a diverse group of citizens who might otherwise have divergent political viewpoints: ranchers, environmentalists, business leaders, legislators, lawyers and more than a dozen local mayors.
Redford, who has been involved with environmental causes for decades, said he was inspired by the group's unifying interests around clean air and a healthy environment. The coalition opposing the plans grew to include 36 cities, counties and school districts.
"To me, that was a sign of changing times," said Redford, who spends about six months a year in Utah.
Eventually, the company that proposed 11 of the new plants agreed to build only three.
The film, produced by The Redford Center at the Sundance Preserve and Austin, Texas-based Alpheus Media, has already been shown in Texas. Supporters are bringing it to Utah and Nevada where several new coal-fired plants are being proposed.
"It's very relevant to what's going on not only in Utah but the rest of the country," said Tim Wagner, director of the Utah Smart Energy Campaign. "We want people to understand when they see this film that they can get involved, they too can make a difference."
Redford said he sees what happened in Texas as an indication that a tipping point has been reached in how the public perceives coal-fired plants.
"That's breaking apart now because the reality is seeping through like grass coming through the sidewalk," he said.
The screenings next week will be followed by panel discussions about pollution, global warming, renewable energy in the West, ways to minimize energy use and "economic opportunities of the clean energy economy."
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Robert Redford is an environmental icon whose work has brought great change in understanding and in perceiving the problems we face regarding it. Lending his voice to this movie will hopefully inspire other citizen groups to do what politicians will not: stand up to dirty big coal. That is where we will see the most change... right out here, bringing it there.Robert Redford was so struck by a story of Texas mayors, ranchers and other citizens... more
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This month, Ecuador will hold the world's first constitutional referendum in which voters will decide, among many other reforms, whether to endow nature with certain unalienable rights. Not only would the new constitution give nature the right to "exist, persist, maintain and regenerate its vital cycles, structure, functions and its processes in evolution," but if it is approved, communities, elected officials and even individuals would have legal standing to defend the rights of nature.
It sounds like a stunt by the San Francisco City Council. But Ecuador is engaged in nothing less than an effort to redefine the relationship between human beings and the natural world. And as crazy as it may seem, the movement to give nature legal rights didn't start in Ecuador's Amazon forest or its Galapagos Islands -- it started years ago in the United States, in cities and towns seeking to fight off coal mines, incinerators and factory farms. Aided by the Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund in Pennsylvania, about a dozen municipalities have abandoned the old-fashioned way of halting development -- through the appeals process -- and are placing outright bans on environmentally disruptive activities.
For example, in Pennsylvania, Southampton prohibits corporate ownership of farms, and Wayne passed an ordinance that gives the town the power to keep out corporations with criminal histories. The Defense Fund gets much of the credit (or the blame) for these decidedly anti-business, grass-roots efforts. It even offers ready-made ordinances to protect ecosystems. Ecuadorean officials called the group when they were crafting the new constitution, and now it's fielding calls from Australia, Italy, South Africa and Nepal, which is writing its first constitution.
No other country has gone as far as Ecuador in proposing to give trees their day in court, but it certainly is not alone in its recalibration of natural rights. Religious leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Dalai Lama and the Archbishop of Constantinople, have declared that caring for the environment is a spiritual duty. And earlier this year, the Catholic Church updated its list of deadly sins to include polluting the environment.
Ecuador is codifying this shift in sensibility. In some ways, this makes sense for a country whose cultural identity is almost indistinguishable from its regional geography -- the Galapagos, the Amazon, the Sierra. How this new area of constitutional law will work, however, is another question. We aren't ready to endorse such a step at home, or even abroad. But it's intriguing. We'll be watching Ecuador's example.
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I would vote yes.This month, Ecuador will hold the world's first constitutional referendum in... more
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The thawing of permafrost in northern latitudes, which greatly increases microbial decomposition of carbon compounds in soil, will dominate other effects of warming in the region and could become a major force promoting the release of carbon dioxide and thus further warming, according to a new assessment in the Sept. issue of BioScience.
The study, by an international team of researchers, more than doubles previous estimates of the amount of carbon stored in the permafrost: the new figure is equivalent to twice the total amount of atmospheric carbon dioxide.
The authors conclude that releases of the gas from melting permafrost could amount to roughly half those resulting from global land-use change during this century.
Researchers refine earlier assessments by considering complex processes that mix soil from different depths during melting and freezing of permafrost, which occur to some degree every year.
They judge that over millennia, soil processes have buried and frozen over a trillion metric tons of organic compounds in the world's vast permafrost regions.
The relatively rapid warming now under way is bringing the organic material back into the ecosystem, in part by turning over soil, said the researchers.
The thawing of permafrost in northern latitudes, which greatly increases microbial... more
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With the apparent effects of global warming already being felt among Pacific island nations, Australia and New Zealand are being urged to do more to prepare for climate change refugees.
"In Tuvalu and Kiribas we're already starting to see the effects of king tides and storm surges on the coastline, but in particular, on people's crops," says Damien Lawson, national climate justice coordinator from Friends of the Earth Australia.
"People on the islands are not going to just be affected when the sea rises up and covers their land. They're already affected by sea water encroaching through the ground water and having a big effect on their capacity to grow crops," he says.
Global warming is regarded as one of the major factors causing sea level rise. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change expects seas to rise by between 18 and 59 centimetres by the end of the century.
As a result, inhabitants of low-lying Pacific island nations are among the most vulnerable to the effects of global warming.
A report released in July by Make Poverty History -- a coalition of more than 60 aid, community and faith-based organisations, including Friends of the Earth -- noted that two villages on Kiribati have already been abandoned due to climate change.
Additionally, some 2,000 people on Papua New Guinea's isolated Carteret Islands -- which are disappearing beneath the waves -- are preparing to be evacuated to Bougainville, 86km to the southwest. They are regarded as some of the world's first climate change refugees.
With more pacific islanders expected to be forced to leave their homes over the coming decades as seas rise, calls for Australia and New Zealand to prepare to aid environmental refugees are growing louder.
Prior to the 39th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) -- held on Aug.19-20 in Niue -- representatives of more than 100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the region released an open letter addressed to the prime ministers of Australia and New Zealand, Kevin Rudd and Helen Clark.
"We welcome the past acknowledgement of the problem the Pacific faces and expressions of a willingness to help, but now is the time for action. Therefore we call on the Australian and New Zealand governments to recognise the urgency of climate change and the particular threat it poses to the peoples of the Pacific," wrote the NGOs.
Among the actions demanded by the NGOs -- which also includes a call to reduce carbon emissions -- is that Australia and New Zealand establish a plan to assist climate change refugees.
"The primary focus should be on mitigation, then adaption within the Pacific and then resettlement within the Pacific," says Lawson.
But the NGOs also want the region's two largest nations to develop an extension of their immigration quotas specifically for climate change refugees.
Lawson told IPS that putting a plan in place now to cater for the anticipated increase in refugees from the Pacific who may ultimately require resettlement outside their own homelands can avert problems associated with a rushed implementation of such a scheme in the future.
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Again, regardless of what you may believe is causing climate change which is a moot point at this juncture, there are and will be climate refugees as a result of rising sea levels, melting glaciers, water shortages, and other events such as desertification, drought, wildfires, floods, etc. Is it not time to plan for what will happen in the event of thousands to hundreds of thousands of refugees moving to other areas? Should the Southwest US become a desert in the next half century, where will the people who live there go? Will we be prepared? And what should be the criteria for resettlement in another area?With the apparent effects of global warming already being felt among Pacific island... more
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Want to know how much money your elected representative in Washington, D.C., received from the coal industry? A North Carolina environmental group is pledging to put that information right at your fingertips.
A new Web site tracks and lists the amount of donations that federal politicians receive from coal interests. Follow the Coal Money, at www.followthecoalmoney.org, is the latest salvo in what is turning out to be an increasingly heated battle over the future of coal in the nation's energy policy.
I'm not saying it is a big corporate conspiracy, but what (the money) is being spent for, it is being spent for a good reason, said Matt Wasson, director of programs for Appalachian Voices, which runs the site.
Coal is once again front and center as the nation's top leaders debate energy policy. Both presidential candidates have pledged to take actions to curb global warming, yet at the same time energy use is on the rise, thanks in part to new technology. For example, one Australian study found that a Playstation 3 uses five times the amount of energy as a five-foot high refrigerator.
Coal remains among the cheapest and most abundant energy-producing natural resource. Yet concerns over its environmental impacts have helped stop plans for new coal-burning power plants across the nation.
The coal industry is fighting back by ramping up its public relations efforts. Over the past year it has quadrupled its budget for its primary political campaign, called the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity, according to news reports The campaign has run advertisements on TV touting the benefits of coal and maintains its own Web site at www.americaspower.org.
Follow the Coal Money is partly a response to that campaign. Its mission is touted on the front page: As Congress debates how to address two of coal's biggest problems mountaintop removal and global warming you can find out how polluters are influencing lawmakers with their dirty coal money.
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I believe it is simply a given that politicians are too devoid of true moral insight as to understand the amount of damage this form of energy continues to do to the planet and the health and safety of human beings. This is why I have little faith that any sort of comprehensive climate bill will pass in Congress regardless of who sits in the White House. In order for that to happen they would have to have a moral epiphany... or, see that the people have taken it upon themselves to bring the alternate energies we need to sustain ourselves and this planet to market. Solar and wind are booming now, but you won't hear that from the corrupt Congress that continues to collect the money of the coal and nuclear industries while touting how much they are for the environment... even as they work to kill tax incentives for those very alternate energy sources they claim we need.
The site Appalachian Voices put together now allows you to follow the members of Congress who talk out of both sides of their mouths to see how much they are taking from coal and to hold them accountable for it as they are accomplices in the continued erosion of our environment. Hopefully louder voices will be heard on the part of the people knowing they have the power to then tell these representatives that if they continue to side with the destruction of our planet in the form of pollution and it's contribution to climate change that we the people have the power to see to it that they do not serve us any longer. It has to begin with us, because it sure isn't going to begin with them.Want to know how much money your elected representative in Washington, D.C., received... more
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Mediterranean Union was launched by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy in concurrence with the European Union. This new international organization will include sixteen non-EU states from around the Mediterranean and all the twenty seven EU countries will be its member too. But why are we discussing political unions in an alternative energy site? Because Mediterranean Union will not only tackle various issues such as regional upheavals, trade, counter terrorism, security immigration pollution etc. but the organization will take up the energy issue too.
As usual people are reacting in skeptical manner saying that Sarkozy wants to trade nuclear power expertise with North African gas reserves. But some are thinking in a positive way too, for instance, the possibilities of solar energy generation. They think that the Union can help a lot in trapping the solar potential of the African nations and transferring that energy to Europe. Scientists from the various European countries are planning for a new supergrid on the sharing basis for member states. The supergrid will use new DC (HVDC- high voltage direct current) lines for the transmissions of power over long distances. Energy losses in DC lines are far less than the AC lines. Denmark and UK can export wind energy and Iceland can export geothermal energy whenever they have surplus energy. But the supergrid’s main function would be to send out renewable solar energy from the Saharan desert to Europe. The scientists want to build a series of huge solar farms in the Saharan desert and connect them to the supergrid.
The grid proposal was seconded by Nicholas Sarkozy and Gordon Brown. This proposal tries to answer the skeptics who claim that renewable power will never be economically viable because the weather is quite unpredictable. This proposal tries to cancel out that element of unpredictability if the wind is not blowing hard enough in the North Sea, it will be blowing somewhere else in Europe, or the sun will be shining on a solar farm somewhere.
Scientists are enthusiastic about harnessing the Sahara solar rays because the sunlight in this area is more intense: solar photovoltaic (PV) panels in northern Africa could generate up to three times the electricity compared with similar panels in northern Europe. The project will take huge investment in terms of time and money. The estimated cost would be €450 billion. By 2050 scientists are thinking of generating 100 GW from the Saharan desert. Much of the money will be used in developing the infrastructure for grid networks. If high voltage cables between North Africa and Italy would be built or existing cables between Spain and Morocco would be used, the infrastructure of these countries too will need restructuring.
August 22nd, 2008Mediterranean Union was launched by the French President Nicolas Sarkozy in... more
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First it was trains, planes and automobiles. Then lawnmowers, leaf blowers and barking dogs. Now it's loud music, big-screen televisions and home theaters.
If we were playing "Jeopardy!", the question would be: "What noise is driving people nuts?"
By James & Morris Carey
Home & Garden
http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080830/LIVING02/808300312/1007/LIVIN
First it was trains, planes and automobiles. Then lawnmowers, leaf blowers and barking... more
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SARASOTA, FL - Sarasota police are starting a new crackdown. They're trying to get people who pump up the volume to turn it down. And the penalty will be tough. SARASOTA, FL - Sarasota police are starting a new crackdown. They're trying to... more
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The Animals can teach us something.
What is excessive in our society today?
Do you know how to recognize when some people passed over the limits?
Would you respond if they do?
The Animals can teach us something.
What is excessive in our society today?
Do you... more
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