tagged w/ Environmental degradation
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On US Interstates, we meet the US empire coming towards us. In this evocative video, we meet confederate ghosts and demons of consumer emptiness. We travel down the highway, propelled by engines of extinction, towards empire's end, where we find ourselves bearing much grief yet are stranded amid ferocious beauty.On US Interstates, we meet the US empire coming towards us. In this evocative video,... more
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"A Greenpeace report has called on the Chinese textile industry to clean up its processes after finding high levels of pollution in the southern industrial towns of Xintang – the "jeans capital of the world" – and Gurao, a manufacturing town 80% of whose economy is devoted to bras, underwear, and other clothing articles."
Look at the horrifying pictures.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/gallery/2011/feb/09/pollution-china-manufacturing-towns#/?picture=371500654&index=0"A Greenpeace report has called on the Chinese textile industry to clean up its... more
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Beyond the Line is a DVD and web film program (www.beyond-the-line.org) that illustrates why and how businesses everywhere are turning the risks of climate & environmental change into compelling business opportunities. The film, produced by Serious Nature, explores how to move beyond the line of business-as-usual and become a winner in the face of the fundamental changes that are already affecting businesses around the world. It shows that there is an undeniable business case for proactive environmental strategies.
Companies moving beyond the line, and featured in the film, include General Electric, Marks & Spencer, Ikea, and Marriott International as well as SME’s like Ecoigo, Green Clean and Terracycle.
The film also features interviews with experts from Carbon Disclosure Project, Environmental Defense Fund, Forum for the Future, World Resources Institute and other organizations that have successfully partnered with companies to help them reduce their environmental impacts and increase their business performance.
Paul Dickinson, Chief Executive, Carbon Disclosure Project, says in his interview “Climate change is like the Internet for business - it arrives one day, it gets bigger every year, it never goes away, and you have to learn to make money from it, or you're going to get eaten for lunch.”
The 55 minute version of Beyond the Line is now available at www.beyond-the-line.org as a DVD, as streaming video or as a download.Beyond the Line is a DVD and web film program (www.beyond-the-line.org) that... more
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Environmental Protections Rolled Back as Western Drilling Surges |
Unlike other industries, BIG OIL & GAS enjoy waivers under the Safe Drinking Water Act, the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, the Resource & Conservation & Recovery Act, the Superfund Act, the Emergency Planning & Community Right to Know Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
Oil and natural gas companies have drilled almost 120,000 wells in the West since 2000, mostly for natural gas, and nearly 270,000 since 1980, according to industry records analyzed by Environmental Working Group. Yet drilling companies enjoy exemptions under most major federal environmental laws.
Oil and natural gas operations have industrialized the Western landscape, punching thousands of wells on pristine lands, injecting toxic chemicals, consuming millions of gallons of water, clawing out pits for their hazardous waste and slashing the ground for sprawling road networks. Every well carries with it the potential for serious environmental degradation.Environmental Protections Rolled Back as Western Drilling Surges |
Unlike other... more
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The Great Pacific Garbage Dump Stretches From California to China
By DARCY BONFILS and IMAEYEN IBANGA
Aug. 6, 2008
The world's largest trash dump doesn't sit on some barren field outside an urban center. It resides thousands of miles from any land — in the Pacific Ocean.
Known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the "dump" is composed mainly of plastic, which isn't biodegradable.
Instead, the plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces in the patch that extends thousands of miles, from California's coast to China.
A series of currents in the Pacific Ocean create a circular effect that pulls debris from North America, Asia and the Hawaiian Islands into a toxic stew. Then it shoots it into a graveyard of 3.5 million tons of trash that's 80 percent plastic.
Moore said he has noticed an alarming trend. The quantities have increased dramatically — more than doubling in five years. And Moore said there is no reason to believe the trend will slow.
And the plastic isn't just floating around in the ocean; new evidence suggests it is making its way into wildlife.
"I found 26 pieces of plastic, all different colors inside one stomach," said marine researcher Christiana Boerger.
Birds also are making a meal of the plastic, and large quantities have been found in their stomachs.
But the biggest debate surrounding the patch isn't its existence or its environmental impact, but rather how to clean it up.
"The experts say there is no silver bullet. We are going to keep looking, but at the moment it is not clear what the best course of action would be to deal with the materials that are already there," said Steve Russell of the American Chemical Council.
Moore, the patch's discoverer, said it's virtually impossible to clean it up. He said that stopping it from growing may be the best approach, which also may prevent other ocean dumps from forming.
Beach cleanups and improved recycling could help.
"The planet is a closed system. So everything that happens on Earth stays on Earth," said Steve Fleischl, president of the Waterkeeper Alliance . "What we need to do is to accept responsibility at the local level and rescue the amount of plastic that comes down our waterways and into our ocean."
Check out the links below for more information on the garbage patch and ocean conservation.
http://www.algalita.org/
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/PageServer?pagename=home
http://www.waterkeeper.org/The Great Pacific Garbage Dump Stretches From California to China
By DARCY BONFILS... more
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