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America's Endangered Species Under Attack
The Bush administration is proposing new rules that would weaken species protections and eliminate independent scientific review of development projects that could threaten species habit.
The changes ("tweaks") that the President Bush and the Bush Administration are proposing would weaken Section 7 of the landmark Endangered Species Act.
For more than three decades, this key provision of the ESA has safeguarded imperiled species from the impacts of potentially harmful federal projects.
Key to the success of this provision has been the requirement for interagency consultation between "action agencies" that build dams or highways, issue oil and gas leases or timber cutting contracts, etc., and the "conservation agencies" that have the primary responsibility for protecting endangered species (the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries Service).
The conservation agencies have always had the opportunity and responsibility to take a second look at the projects proposed by the action agencies. As a result of taking that independent look, the conservation agencies have often been able to suggest project modifications that avoid harmful impacts to rare species.
The proposed regulatory changes would eliminate the requirement for an independent review by the conservation agencies. The result will almost certainly mean that both harmful impacts on rare wildlife, and opportunities to avoid those impacts, will be overlooked.
Conservation is not the mission of federal action agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Highway Administration, and others. To make sure that their projects (and the projects of many other federal agencies as well) do not cause needless harm to rare species, the existing requirement for independent review by federal conservation agencies should not be abandoned.
Please follow the link for the petition to President Bush. If these regulatory changes are made, it will be as if the Endangered Species Act does not exist... not to mention the horrific impact on the environment.
PLEASE TAKE ACTION!
http://action.edf.org/campaign/esa_action
I will be posting more news release on this issue. The Bush administration is proposing new rules that would weaken species protections and eliminate independent scientific review of de... more -
Hawaii first state to require solar homes
Hawaii has become the first state in the nation to pass into law a requirement that all new homes built after Jan. 1, 2010, be equipped with solar or other energy efficient hot water systems.
Signed into law by Hawaii’s governor on June 26, the bill's introducer, Senate Majority Leader Gary L. Hooser (D-Kauai, Niihau) said, "Hawaii is almost totally dependent on imported oil for its energy needs and estimates show that, with this law, our oil consumption will be cut by 30,000 barrels during the first year and continues to decline exponentially thereafter."
While allowing for other energy efficient choices, the new law is widely seen as a solar hot water mandate and is expected to cut home energy usage in Hawaii by an average of 30 percent starting in 2010.
With the price of oil recently reaching $140 per barrel, Hooser considers Hawaii's move toward cheaper, cleaner energy "a vital decision for our island state."
"While the instituting of broad mandates is never an easy thing to do, the public benefits resulting from the passage of this measure are huge," he added.
Hawaii currently has the highest electricity costs in the nation and it is estimated that homeowners will save $600 annually for a family of four. "The additional disposable income combined with a cumulative multiplier effect of that income circulating in the Hawaii economy, rather than being exported to import foreign oil, will result in significant additional economic activity," Hooser said.
Economics aside, the groundbreaking measure enables Hawaii to lead the nation in the country's growing effort to combat global warming. Hawaii's switch to solar will prevent the emission of over 10,000 tons of greenhouse gas from entering the atmosphere every year.
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Aloha Hawaii! This is the way to go and show leadership as well. Who needs Washington Dc? Hawaii has become the first state in the nation to pass into law a requirement that all new homes built after Jan. 1, 2010, be equippe... more -
Global report card of green countries/US falls short
A global report card on nations doing the most, and least, to clean up the environment.
...the EPI is the best measure we have of how nations are faring in the battle to save the environment, and the findings are striking. As one might expect, the overall rankings place small, wealthy Scandinavian societies at the top, and poor, war-torn African nations at the bottom. But one big surprise is that size is no excuse for poor performance; big and small nations occupy both the top and bottom ranks. And bigger surprises come when you compare nations with peers of similar income, or with neighbors. In the following pages, you'll find chapters on the best—and worst—nations in every income group: the rich, the middle class and the poor.
China in particular has long argued that it is too poor to afford the Western luxury of environmental awareness. The EPI exposes this claim to be bogus. China ranks last among 15 nations in its income group (the fifth decile), behind Vietnam. If Colombia, the group's leader, can afford environmental concern, why can't China?
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In its environmental priorities, the United States is in some ways remarkably similar to China, the EPI reveals. Like China, the United States scores poorly among countries in its income class (the top 10 percent), ranking third from the bottom, due in large part to terrible scores for emissions, which are heavily weighted in the index because of their contribution to global warming. And like China, the weak U.S. emissions scores are due in part to reliance on coal. In the EPI, the United States scores 38 on carbon emissions from electricity generation, compared with an average of 68 for countries of similar wealth. That statistic lowers the U.S. score in emissions per capita, which Yale puts at 56, far below the peer-group average of 74.
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Again, it comes down to moral and political will. Trying to excuse the lack of it by stating anything else is simply bogus. Even in Kenya people are turning to solar and they hardly have an economy to speak of. So the US, China, and other rich countries will be exposed for the morally bankrupt leadership they have all at the expense of this planet and its people just to make gold bars that will serve no purpose without a planet. A global report card on nations doing the most, and least, to clean up the environment. ... more -
Yes You Can Rescue A Rainforest
Half a century after most of Costa Rica's rainforests were cut down, researchers from the Boyce Thompson Institute took on a project that many thought was impossible - restoring a tropical rainforest ecosystem. When the researchers planted worn-out cattle fields in Costa Rica with a sampling of local trees, native species began to move in and flourish, raising the hope that destroyed rainforests can one day be replaced.
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That quality-of-life issue is drinking water. It's in scarce supply where forests have been destroyed, since without tree roots to act as a sort of sponge, rain water runs off the hillsides and drains away.
Erosion is also out of control. "You might drive on a dirt road one year, and then come back the next to find it's a gully over six feet deep," says Leopold. "It's a very serious problem."
Does the experiment's success mean that rainforests will one day flourish again? Fully rescuing a rainforest may take hundreds of years, if it can be done at all.
"The potential for the forest being able to come back is debatable," Leopold says, but the results are promising.
"I'm surprised," he said. "We're getting an impressive growth of new forest species." After only ten years, plots that began with a few species are now lush forests of hundreds. Who knows what the next few decades - or centuries - might bring?
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The will to bring back what was lost is hope in action. Half a century after most of Costa Rica's rainforests were cut down, researchers from the Boyce Thompson Institute took on a proj... more -
Al Gore's Green Message Resonates With Baptists
Amen, Mr. Gore. It seems only logical to me that if you are religious or even a spiritual being who does not associate with organized religion, that you have a bond to this Earth and a charge to keep as its steward. Although, I do not think a moral responsibility for preserving this planet is reserved for religious people alone. Atheists as well that I know also have a deep abiding love for this Earth and for keeping it whole. Therefore, they as well should not be excluded from this message, but it is ironic in particular that we see those who claim to be religious to be the biggest hypocrites when it comes to preserving this planet. So it is good to see this message resonating across all boundaries. Amen, Mr. Gore. It seems only logical to me that if you are religious or even a spiritual being who does not associate with organized ... more
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The Garden
The Garden is a short doc shot in Southern California that explores some of the deep connections that one woman has made with nature through her spiritual journey. The Garden is a short doc shot in Southern California that explores some of the deep connections that one woman has made with nature t... more
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Stewardship
