Tarsiers, 'organic' standards, opened lands, more new rules

brought to you by Sasha Paris  

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine.  

Human Ecology in Action.

California's governor ordered his state's utilities to be using 33% renewable power by 2030, and is trying to promote development of such power by addressing obstacles to it--including environmental regulations (GreenTechMedia)
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/schwarzenegger-renewable-energy-permitting-process-too-complicated-5198.html

Pygmy tarsiers were recently seen for the first time since 1921, which could impact use of their Indonesian rainforest home [Check this out if only for the photo--they look so weird!] (LiveScience)
http://news.aol.com/article/gremlins-discovered-after-85-years/252936?icid=100214839x1213667800x1200811873

Bark beetles continue to kill off pine trees across the western US and Canada [I've seen this in New Mexico...it's really depressing.] (New York Times)
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/18/science/18trees.html?pagewanted=1&ref=science

The BLM opened 1.9 milion acres of formerly-closed land around Bristol Bay, Alaska, to mining and oil drilling, despite the area's focus on salmon fishing (Bristol Bay Times)
http://thebristolbaytimes.com/news/show/3871

The USDA drafted rules setting minimum requirements of pasture access and grass intake for cows producing certified-organic milk. The public comment period ends Dec. 23 (Associated Press)
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2008-11-18-organic-milk-cows_N.htm

Washington Post
They also drafted standards, to which many people object, for "organic" farmed fish.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/19/AR2008111903787_pf.html

The EPA is easing restrictions on point-source air pollution near national parks.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/18/AR2008111803813_pf.html

New rules and imperiled species: lots of both

brought to you by Sasha Paris  

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine.  

Human Ecology in Action.

This week's news seemed better sorted by subject than source. I've named the publisher if it isn't evident from the URL.

The Bush Administration is making a lot of last-minute changes to environmental policies and regulations
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/11/4/105841/607

A less flagrantly biased version of the above, if you insist
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/30/AR2008103004749_pf.html

Among these changes:
Waiving requirements for pollution discharge permits to farms (including factory feedlots) that "claim" not to pollute water.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27521859/

Officially opening 360,000 more acres of eastern Utah to oil and gas leasing (Salt Lake Tribune)
http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_10902372

Designating two huge new marine reserves in the south Pacific, which Cheney and some others don't like [Great political move--pleasing environmentalists without threatening the lands or livelihoods of continental Americans]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/03/AR2008110303042_pf.html

Endangered species were also discussed muchly this week:
Ten thousand smuggled sea-turtle eggs were confiscated in Malaysia, and some "may still hatch in a conservation area." [Would they just be buried and left there?] (San Francisco Chronicle/Associated Press)
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/11/04/international/i000940S21.DTL

A fungal disease was blamed for winter die-offs of little brown bats in parts of the northeastern US
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/science/04obbats.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin

On three seriously-declining species and current attempts to save them: axolotls (giant, awesome-looking Mexican salamanders) Mississippi gopher frogs and Tasmanian devils (all from Associated Press)
http://news.aol.com/article/mexican-water-monster-nears-extinction/235275

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27502386/

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27522837/

"Big Ethanol" (to quote Grist) is struggling. [OK, not a "species" but I threw it in here anyway]
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/business/05ethanol.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Ivory auction, amphibians, Utah, final candidate comparison

brought to you by Sasha Paris  

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine.  

Human Ecology in Action.

The BLM proposed leasing designated-"wilderness" areas in eastern Utah for oil and natural-gas drilling (Washington Post)
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/30/AR2008103004662.html

BBC News
*Four southern African nations are holding a huge, once-a-decade legal auction of ivory to China and Japan. Debate is ongoing on whether this will help or hurt elephant populations. [It began on Tuesday and, according to Grist, raised $1.2 million by Friday]
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7693816.stm

Study: Yellowstone's amphibians are declining rapidly as local wetlands dry out.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7693381.stm

Grist
On the impacts of corporate-driven biofuel developments in Mozambique and elsewhere.
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/10/29/71244/835

McCain (& Palin) and Obama on endangered-species issues [I'm sure you're tired of election-related news, but these topics are rarely mentioned.]
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/10/29/84235/424

eBay, electric cars, ethanol, orcas, mining, geothermal

brought to you by Sasha Paris  

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine.  

Human Ecology in Action.

Over 190 million acres of public land in twelve western states will be opened to geothermal-energy drilling [which is not pollution-free, according to some Grist bloggers] (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSTRE49L75320081022

Plans for new, wetland-destroying phosphate mines in Florida met strong opposition, and the permits to build them were suspended for now. (St Petersburg Times)
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/article848584.ece

Seven orcas are missing from the Puget Sound population, which is considered distinct and endangered (Associated Press)
http://news.aol.com/article/puget-sound-missing-rare-killer-whales/225542

Editorial: A recent hearing yielded proposals for new approaches to aiding Maine's dismally-faring groundfish industry (Bangor News)
http://bangornews.com/detail/91499.html

New York Times
A California company seeks to convert Australia into a haven of renewably-powered electric cars [no local resistance expected?]
http://www.nytimes.com/external/gigaom/2008/10/22/22gigaom-better-place-goes-down-under-to-electrify-austral-13129.html

eBay announced that next year it will ban selling of ivory on its website.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/us/21animals.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss&pagewanted=print&oref=slogin

Grist
McCain and Obama on "public-lands issues" (i.e. roads, parks, mining and logging)
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/10/20/174352/98

Review of an AP article on the in-viability of cellulosic ethanol, with a long comment-discussion on different kinds of alternative fuels.
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/10/17/94536/558

Sushi, scallops, "biodiversity offsets," belugas, carbon sinks

brought to you by Sasha Paris  

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine.  

Human Ecology in Action.

Another trend in green[washed] business: "biodiversity offsets" (International Herald Tribune)
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/10/13/business/rbogbio.php?page=1

New regulations were proposed for Maine scallop gathering--including three-year closures off eastern MDI and five other areas--and scallopers protested them at a recent hearing (Ellsworth American)
http://ellsworthmaine.com/site/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17280&Itemid=1

West African chimpanzees appear to have declined drastically in Cote D'Ivoire (National Geographic News)
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/10/081013-chimps-decline.htmlhttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/10/081013-chimps-decline.html

Alaska's Cook Inlet beluga population was declared Endangered, which could inhibit oil and gas drilling [and tidal power generation, according to a similar NYT article] in the area. (Associated Press)
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gJx0IzvRt6GWrUBb90Foe4URCGagD93SD23G0

Three conservation groups published sustainable-seafood guides dealing specifically with sushi [sigh...my only vice...] (Japan Times/Associated Press)
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20081016f2.html

NY Times
The WWF and the Indonesian government made an agreement to "save and conserve" Sumatra's soil-rich rainforest as a carbon sink [though it's unclear if or how they'll enforce this]
http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/10/09/agreement-forged-to-save-vanishing-sumatran-forests/

On "road ecology": efforts to reduce the various impacts of roads on wildlife
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/science/14road.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin

Warming temperatures could turn peat bogs from carbon sinks to carbon sources
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/14/science/14obpeat.html?em

Turtles, Galapagos, eco-kids, animal NGOs, pollution, paltry progress

brought to you by Sasha Paris  

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine.  

Human Ecology in Action.

The Galapagos Islands and their wildlife are being increasingly damaged by growing populations of both tourists and tourist-supported residents. The islands' government refuses to limit tourism, and is instead forcing thousands of residents to leave (Los Angeles Times).
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2008/10/galapagos-expel.html

Florida's freshwater turtles are being intensively--and legally--gathered for sale to Asia (St. Petersburg Times)
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/article840320.ece

Pennsylvania's "nutrient trading" program was lauded as a successful way to reduce water pollution (Wall Street Journal/Pennsylvania DEP)
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/pennsylvanias-nutrient-trading-program-proving/story.aspx?guid=%7B2F3DFAF7-A407-4531-8155-3FE652926A04%7D&dist=hppr

Associated Press
NOAA decreed localized speed limits for large ships on the Mid-Atlantic coast, to protect endangered right whales. [This was a long time coming, though the White House made the affected areas smaller than initially proposed. And according to the Bangor News, lobstermen are pleased that someone else is sharing the blame and sacrifice for impact on the whales]
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i2oj2Uv9pmWOyDZGFOLAj8xkzKYgD93ME0G01

After being sued by three conservation groups, the government set a deadline (June 2010!) for designating critical habitat for officially-Threatened polar bears.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5ithM1iOSsGFzrqMigfhHiDoWNc1gD93LCQHO0

Washington Post
IUCN report: at least a quarter of the world's mammal species are "threatened with extinction" [though it's unclear how they define that]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100600641.html

The FDA issued voluntary guidelines last month for genetically-modified animals. Product-labeling requirements were not included.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/17/AR2008091703518_pf.html

Hurricane Ike left a widespread array of released pollution on its path
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/06/AR2008100600291.html

Grist
*McCain and Obama's current stances on agricultural policy [seems like a mixed bag from both]
http://grist.org/comments/food/2008/10/03/index.html

And a rundown of their statements on energy and [briefly] climate change, from the latest debate.
http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2008/10/7/204758/718

New York Times
Environmentalist zeal appears to be gripping many of the nation's children, who are now policing their parents. [Shock of recognition, anyone?]
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/nyregion/10green.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th

The International Maritime Organization adopted rules for reducing sulfur emissions from ships worldwide.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/10/science/earth/10ships.html

More on the mammal report, with different examples
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/science/earth/07mammal.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin

European Union lawmakers approved a set of carbon-emission-reduction rules...with exceptions and subsidies.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/08/business/worldbusiness/08emit.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=worldbusiness&pagewanted=print&adxnnlx=1223464154-IDZw2X848ZxB8J2puWrJdA&oref=slogin

Wolffish, Tom Allen, Everglades, marine reserves, deforestation

brought to you by Sasha Paris  

College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine.  

Human Ecology in Action.

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