Monday, October 6, 2008
Wolffish, Tom Allen, Everglades, marine reserves, deforestation
California's governor signed a bill to help reduce suburban sprawl and, explicitly, its resulting greenhouse-gas emissions, though he also vetoed one to charge 'pollution taxes' on incoming container ships (San Francisco Chronicle).
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/10/01/BAGF139266.DTL
*The Conservation Law Foundation petitioned for Atlantic wolffish, which are "ugly," jeopardized by bottom-trawling and eat various commercially important creatures, to be listed and protected as Endangered. Unsurprisingly, this is not going over well. [Yes, the article has a distictly biased tone. Check out the CLF website if you want to see their side.] (Bangor News)
http://bangornews.com/detail/90249.html
A coalition of environmental groups proposed having 30% of Oregon's territorial sea 'enclosed' in a mix of marine reserves and limited-fishing protected areas (The Oregonian)
http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/122282970711550.xml&coll=7&thispage=1
The deforestation rate in Brazil was reported to be three times what it was last year [though that could partly be due to counting of partial cuts, not just clearcuts, as described in a NYT article from May, which I'll send you if you want] with several forces blamed (Associated Press)
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jj6FM7gVo9zif1KOjAtBzGUmUn7QD93GPQD81
...And the Environment Minister will press criminal charges on the top 100 "illegal loggers," a list topped by the government's Institute for Colonization and Agrarian Reform, which has given lots o' land to farmer-settlers.
http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=31&art_id=nw20080930082104253C481389
Grist
Interview with Maine Senatorial candidate Tom Allen about politics and environmental issues [rival Susan Collins allegedly couldn't be reached to give her opinions, but I'm pleased whenever Maine issues are discussed in the broader media]
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/9/25/14133/7205
In case you missed Thursday's debate: a rundown of Biden and Palin's statements about energy and climate change.
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/9/29/8245/94809
New York Times
As of Monday, Congress was in deadlock over renewing tax breaks for development of renewable energy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/washington/30energy.html?ref=science
The National Research Council reported that efforts to restore the Florida Everglades aren't working.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/30/us/30everglades.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin
Monday, September 29, 2008
Monkeys, mercury, lakes, carbon trading
A coalition of western states and provinces proposed beginning its own controversial carbon cap-and-trade system (Los Angeles Times).
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-na-climate24-2008sep24,0,3099901.story
European Union legislation would require industrially-used mercury to be stored after use instead of exported (eGov Monitor)
http://www.egovmonitor.com/node/21173
The Government Accountability Office reported that the EPA is shirking its duty to control pollution from factory farms (Associated Press).
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gdDdJvrh2hGb5mQ3Fbz6UHrx-gewD93CRQVG0
A Maine government panel is investigating ways for more Mainers to switch from oil to wood for home heating without bad side effects [This also made the front page of AOL News on Saturday morning--cool!] (Bangor News)
http://bangornews.com/detail/89972.html
New York Times
*How a biologist saved the white-headed langurs (monkeys) in a Chinese nature reserve by working with the nearby humans.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/science/23monk.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin
This summer's hurricanes destroyed numerous barrier islands in the Gulf of Mexico, and others continue eroding rapidly.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/science/23islands.html?ref=science
A bill currently in the House would ban most removal of Great Lakes water from the lakes' watershed, to preempt the threat of drainage by other regions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/23/us/23lakes.html?ref=science
Grist
The first Northeastern carbon-credit auction was on Thursday, though results aren't out yet
http://grist.org/feature/2008/09/24/rggi/index.html
More discussion of the current energy bill, notably that its tax credit extensions for renewable-energy developments have stayed in so far...
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/9/23/15321/7486
...although they may still be lost [check out the "Sources" links for more detail]
http://www.grist.org/news/2008/09/26/house_tax/
Monday, September 22, 2008
Eco-News: endangered species, energy, seaweed, Chicago and more
Gray wolves in the northern Rockies were returned for now to the Endangered Species list after their removal and subsequent killings in March prompted protests and lawsuits from environmentalists (Associated Press).
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h0YqdJtE9K1Ejlz-RuOF8RH8wl1QD9385EUO0
The EPA officially vetoed a massive pumping project proposed to drain wetlands for farming in parts of the Mississippi delta [The Gulf Restoration Network, which sent me this article, was much happier about it than some of the interviewees here.] (Wall Street Journal)
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122040280744093353.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources proposed removing gray wolves and bald eagles from the state's Endangered Species List (Heartland Institute)
http://www.heartland.org/policybot/results.html?artId=23700
Many coastal residents of Washington County have protested the local harvesting of rockweed by a Canadian company, and a recent meeting of the two groups continued the debate (Bangor News).
http://bangornews.com/detail/50482.html
Los Angeles Times
Proposed changes to the Endangered Species Act would eliminate the requirement for federal agencies like the Army Corps of Engineers to consult scientists at the Fish and Wildlife Service or Marine Fisheries Service before deciding whether their activities would harm endangered species. The public comment period runs until October 14. [This is a one-sided opinion piece, but I haven't found anything more objective. Maybe you can.]
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-wetzler14-2008sep14,0,4365686.story
A federal court ruled that the EPA must set pollution standards for runoff from construction sites (Los Angeles Times).
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cleanwater19-2008sep19,0,4915271.story
New York Times
A major energy bill under consideration by Congress would, among other things, allow offshore oil drilling around much of the nation...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/washington/11cong.html?ref=science
...although, according to this biased but intelligent analysis (not from the NYT), there would still be obstacles to drilling.
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/9/11/12542/0324
A major study published in Science promoted catch-share systems as powerful means of preventing global fishery collapses [and some people are now touting them as THE solution to overfishing]...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/science/19fish.html?ref=science
...although they're controversial and do have some issues
http://tierneylab.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/18/how-to-save-fish/#respond
The Nature Conservancy bought a famous 14,600-acre tract of the Adirondacks to be used for recreation and eventually preserved (and then maybe sold to the state or used for sustainable timber cutting.)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/nyregion/19adirondacks.html?ref=science
Ten northeastern states will begin a cap-and-trade system for carbon dioxide emissions, (the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, or RGGI) but its potential for reducing said emissions is debated.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/16/us/16carbon.html?ref=science
Ambitious plans are in the making for cutting Chicago's greenhouse-gas emissions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/19/us/19chicago.html?ref=us
European goals for increased biofuel use were revised in an effort to support renewable fuels while reducing competition for food crops.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/12/business/worldbusiness/12biofuels.html?ref=science
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Offshore oil-drilling ban halfway lifted
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/bush-lifts-ban-on-offshore-drilling/20080714140209990001
Monday, July 7, 2008
Orangutans and solar panels
http://news.aol.com/story/_a/orangutan-populations-declining-sharply/20080705090009990001
For afficionados, a debate on solar power: environmental impacts, big vs. small, rooftop vs. open-desert etc.
http://grist.org/news/2008/07/03/BLM/
Monday, June 9, 2008
Oysters, inhalers, nuclear waste, scary news
What I said last week is official: the USDA will stop tracking agricultural pesticide use (Associated Press)
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jOv_zmzZkXkBWLHq5KSkc7WaHZNQD90QJCA80
Bangor News
Another public comment period opened for the Plum Creek plan
http://bangornews.com/news/t/city.aspx?articleid=165236&zoneid=176
Maine could acquire a new, permanent site for nuclear waste storage.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=165181&zoneid=5
New York Times
Worsening drought, increasingly water-intensive farming and resort development combine to spell bad news for southern Spain.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/world/europe/03dry.html?ref=europe
The Senate debate on a current major 'climate bill' might have been funny if it weren't so depressing.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/washington/05climate.html?ref=washington
Deforestation is serious in Papua New Guinea
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/03/science/earth/03fore.html?ref=science
Washington Post
Asthma-treatment inhalers using CFCs will be phased out in the US by the end of 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/30/AR2008053002208.html
Oysters in the Chesapeake Bay have declined over the past decade for many reasons, despite costly government attempts to restore them.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/01/AR2008060102499.html
Monday, June 2, 2008
Guano, plankton, poisons, oil, mountaintop removal and more
A California company announced that it had made chemically-authentic "crude oil" from algae, which it hopes to produce commercially within five years. (Los Angeles Times)
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-greencrude29-2008may29,1,4627837.story
A North Carolina state representative introduced a bill to ban burning of coal acquired by mountaintop-removal mining (Grist).
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/5/28/17123/6269
The USDA is apparently no longer tracking pesticide use on US crops or making information about it available (Ethicurean).
http://www.ethicurean.com/2008/05/22/pesticide-info/
Reuters
One outcome of the UN Covention on Biological Diversity: a moratorium on 'ocean fertilization' for attempted carbon sequestration through induced plankton blooms (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL2981194420080530
The EU will make sharpish quota cuts to some of its fisheries [To read about some of the results, go to bbc.co.uk and search "fishery quotas."]
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSL3089767920080530?sp=true
New York Times
The White House (under court orders) published a report that global warming is "very likely" caused by humans and its impacts are likely to be rawther bad.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/washington/30climate.html?ref=science
A dam is being removed sloooowly from a Montana river to prevent release of heavy-metal-contaminated sediment built up behind it, which is also now being cleaned up.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/science/27dam.html?ref=science
Seabird guano, in high demand for organic fertilizer, is running out on the Peruvian islands where it's harvested. Some blame overfishing of anchoveta, which the birds eat, for livestock feed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/30/world/americas/30peru.html?pagewanted=1
Science and politics clashed again over Brazilian deforestation
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/world/americas/25amazon.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=americas
DDT in Antarctic glaciers may be leaking into the sea as they melt.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/science/earth/27obddt.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin
Bangor News
Update on the Plum Creek saga
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=164947&zoneid=500
Two animal welfare/advocacy groups threatened to sue the Maine DIF&W for setting trap restrictions that haven't prevented incidental snaring of endangered Canada lynx.
http://bangornews.com/news/t/news.aspx?articleid=164948&zoneid=500
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