Pandas, climate projects, humpbacks

brought to you by Sasha Paris  

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine.  

Human Ecology in Action.

Two important ongoing events--the major energy bill going through Congress and the climate conference in Bali--are changing to frequently for me to keep up with them in this bulletin. But you can probably keep an eye on them through whatever news source you use.


Humpbacks are a new target planned for the "scientific" Japanese whale hunt (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/25/weekinreview/25revkin.html?ref=science

A group of Oregon tree growers are starting a certification system for "eco-friendly" [but not necessarily organic] Christmas trees (Associated Press)
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gsSlSkhHIEEbVDd_Vgv2Fih0kB8wD8T3KSCO0

Transcript of a Clinton-Edwards-Kuchinich forum on what each would do to curb climate change. Very long, but worth checking if you have enough time and interest. (League of Conservation Voters)
http://lcv.org/newsroom/press-releases/transcript-global-warming-and-america-s-energy-future.html

Editorial on how, in many places, carbon might be better sequestered in soil-building grasslands and wetlands, not trees. (The Ithaca Journal)
http://theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071207/OPINION02/712070306/1014/OPINION

Fatal roundworm infestations have been indicated as a major and growing threat to wild giant pandas (AOL News)
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/parasite-killing-endangered-pandas/20071205091909990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

National Public Radio (text of broadcasts)
Florida researchers are developing turbines to generate quantities of electricity from the Gulf Stream, along with other ocean-energy projects
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16713781

On one page, two reports from the big climate conference in Bali: paying countries not to cut rainforest may return to the table as an offset option; the US still refuses to set solid emission limits. (The latter may be outdated)
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=16827590

Bangor Daily News
Hearings on Plum Creek have begun, with varying imput
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=157265&zoneid=500

Another big land deal has been made, which will purportedly benefit wilderness protection, recreation and working forest.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=157214&zoneid=500

Banned bullets, water rerouted

brought to you by Sasha Paris  

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine.  

Human Ecology in Action.

A gigantic pumping system to drain wetlands in the Mississippi Delta for intensive commodity-crop farming has "re-surfaced" in federal plans. [Several envronmental groups have expressed outrage to me about this] (NY Times editorial)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/opinion/06tue3.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

*A decision to reduce the water flowing out of a drying lake which nourishes Atlanta has angered people in Florida, where fisheries and endangered mussels will be impacted sby the lowering of their river. (Orlando Sentinal)
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-water1707nov17,0,7413506,print.story

A new law prohibits the use of lead ammunition in areas designated for California condors, to help curb rampant, deadly ingestion of the stuff by these jeopardized birds (Defenders of Wildlife).
http://www.defenders.org/newsroom/press_releases_foldSeverer/2007/10_13_2007_calif._gov._signs_condor_bill.php

Waters, endangered and dangerous

brought to you by Sasha Paris  

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine.  

Human Ecology in Action.

Fishermen's Voice
Northeastern groundfishing groups have, through Earthjustice, petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service to keep huge, indiscriminate herring trawls out of areas otherwise closed to protect groundfish (cod, haddock etc.).
http://fishermensvoice.com/

A look at river herring: their anadromous lives, their importance to both marine and riparian ecosystems here, and the varied reasons for their decline.
http://fishermensvoice.com/1107wherehavealltheh%237417E.html

Reuters
A Russian oil tanker sank in a storm on Sunday, spilling massive amounts of oil into the Black Sea and endangering large populations of birds.
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/storm-sinks-ships-spills-oil-in-black/20071112092309990001

Island nations are racing to escape, or adapt to, the imminent threat of rising seas
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/24530

China's massive Three Gorges dam is slowly devastating both the surrounding landscape and the lives of people who must remain there.
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/24525

Differently-shaped longline fishing hooks, instigated four years ago by the World Wildlife Fund, appear to be lowering accidental-catch mortality of sea turtles in Latin America.
http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/24530

Petroleum, periwinkles, Plum Creek, agriculture

brought to you by Sasha Paris  

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine.  

Human Ecology in Action.

Congress overrided GWB's veto of a bill funding numerous water-management projects, including wetland and coastal restoration, and authorizing some others. (Associated Press)
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/congress-hands-bush-first-veto-override/20071108131109990001?ncid=NWS00010000000001

A container ship hit the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on Wednesday, spilling 58,000 gallons of fuel oil, much of which is still spreading through the sea there despite concentrate efforts to remove it and rescue tarred birds. (San Francisco Chronicle)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/11/11/MNSETAB1P.DTL&tsp=1
[This is one of the most recent articles; many more can be found on this and other news sites]

A bill currently being considered by the Senate would prohibit oil and gas drilling, as well as mining, on 1.2 million acres of Wyoming land. (The Wilderness Society)
http://www.wilderness.org/WhereWeWork/Wyoming/BridgerTetonLeasesHalted.cfm?TopLevel=Teton

On the continuing debate over ship-speed laws proposed to prevent strikes of North Atlantic right whales (Washington Post).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/20/AR2007102000533_pf.html

The federal government is quietly considering a new set of offshore protected areas in the Gulf of Mexico, and some stakeholders are concerned about being denied opportunities to give imput on it (Times-Picayne)
http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-5/1193723467112420.xml&coll=1&thispage=1

The US Department of Agriculture set a voluntary standard for grass-fed ruminant (cow, sheep, goat) meat. (USDA press release)
http://www.ams.usda.gov/news/178-07.htm

New York Times
*An editorial by Michael Pollan about the big Food and Farm Bill still being crafted in congress. His thesis statement: for environmentally and nutritionally beneficial add-ons to do much good, commodity subsidies as currently done have got to go.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/opinion/04pollan.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&oref=slogin

Massachusetts leaders proposed a bill to mandate a [small] percentage of biofuel into all of the state's home heating oil and diesel fuel, phased-in over the next several years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/us/06boston.html?ref=science

Report: acidification of seawater, caused by increasing levels of absorbed CO2, disrupts the shell-thickening defense mechanism of our own common periwinkles.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/06/science/06obsnai.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin

Bangor Daily News
A $35.5 million bond for land conservation, land-working communities and state-park improvements was endorsed in Tuesday's elections.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=156268&zoneid=500

The Washington County wind farm under consideration last week has now been approved by LURC.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=156306&zoneid=500

Hearings on Plum Creek's proposed development around Moosehead Lake have been finally scheduled, for December; the plan still is still being met with disapproval, and not only by environmental groups.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=156336&zoneid=500

Logging, coal, worms, parrotfish

brought to you by Sasha Paris  

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine.  

Human Ecology in Action.

Starting this week, I'll be putting an asterisk (*) next to articles which I think display especially interesting interplay of environmental and social/economic (i.e human) issues. There are two in this week's bulletin.


Kansas was the first state to deny a power company a permit to build new coal-burning plants explicitly because of concerns over CO2 emissions (Wichita Eagle/Associated Press).
http://www.kansas.com/news/state/story/205677.html

Wyoming's governor spoke out on the need to reduce carbon emissions...and then authorized a new coal-burning plant with no measures for increasing 'cleanliness'. (Casper Star-Tribune)
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2007/10/20/news/wyoming/24c5daaa3f9b465487257379008188c5.txt

*The Nature Conservancy bought 161,000 acres of Adirondack wilderness...and, to the chagrin of some, they'll continue to allow large-scale logging on much of it. A variety of other stakeholders are also looking to influence how the land is used. (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/29/nyregion/29adirondacks.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin

Several conservation groups are threatenening to sue the Fish and Wildlife Service for denying Endangered Species protection to giant Palouse earthworms in Idaho (Environmental News Network)
http://www.enn.com/press_releases/2233

Portland Press Herald
International Paper (a company) seeks a deal to feed China's pulp demand with Siberia's vast forests
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=143849&ac=PHbiz

In case you're still in a morbid mood from Halloween: a look at "green" cemeteries in Maine and elsewhere.
http://pressherald.mainetoday.com/story.php?id=143467&ac=PHnws

BBC News
*The residents of a Spanish fishing town are calling for the establishment of a local marine reserve to help boost depleted populations of several target species and get the bonus associated with certified-sustainable products.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7067795.stm

Protecting parrotfish, which eat algae that flourish in nutrient-polluted water and overgrow coral, is looked to for curbing the destruction of Caribbean reefs.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7069933.stm

Bangor Daily News
A large wind farm is being considered for northern Washington County, but has been met with local opposition.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/penobscot.aspx?articleid=156049&zoneid=183

Alternate lobster-gear rope--sinking only partway--is being sought to appease whale protections while not snagging lobster traps.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=155823&zoneid=500