Monday, April 25, 2005

Working 9 to 5 on climate change: An office guide

Working 9 to 5 on climate change: An office guide: "Working 9 to 5 on climate change: An office guide is based on the experiences of the World Resources Institute with its CO2 reduction commitment and will help other office-based organizations understand climate change and the practical steps they can take to measure and reduce their CO2 emissions. Readers of Working 9 to 5 on climate change will discover tips on how to gain organizational support for a climate commitment, find out the information they need to calculate their CO2 emissions and set a reduction target, and receive suggestions on how to reach it.

Four simple calculation tools also accompany Working 9 to 5 on climate change that can be customized to the needs of individual offices. Each tool contains simple instructions and examples to facilitate understanding of the tool. Using data input by the user, the tools calculate the following:

* CO2 emissions from fuel used for heating and transportation (direct_emissions.xls)
* CO2 emissions from purchased electricity (indirect_emissions.xls)
* CO2 emissions from business travel by air, train, bus and car (business_travel_emissions.xls)
* CO2 emissions from employee commuting (commuting_emissions.xls)"

Eco-Search - the Environmentally friendly Search engine

Eco-Search - the Environmentally friendly Search engine

Sunday, April 24, 2005

AlterNet: EnviroHealth: The Future of Eco-evangelism

a side note: ABC News ran a piece on this topic this week as well, and I thought it interesting that their shot of the nice ecologically-mindful Christian shoppers were in Wal-Mart. The Bible has a bit on that: beware of those who mix the truth with lies.

AlterNet: EnviroHealth: The Future of Eco-evangelism: "This Earth Day could mark the birth of new alliance between environmentalists and Christians -- and that's good news for our planet."

Thursday, April 21, 2005

DeLay's fumes cloud energy bill

(if you want to read the whole article at Salon, you'll have to watch a short ad to get a Salon daypass)

Salon.com News | DeLay's fumes cloud energy bill: "Methyl tertiary-butyl ether, designed as a clean-air additive for fuel, has turned out to be fairly nasty stuff. Just a few drops of MTBE, as it's known, can make a water supply unusable. In larger concentrations, scientists say, it causes cancer. The chemical, in widespread use for decades, has been detected in nearly 2,000 water systems in 29 states, and that number is still rising. Although the companies involved -- including some of nation's largest oil refineries and suppliers -- have known for more than 20 years that MTBE was fouling waterways, they've been reluctant to get involved in the cleanup and are facing mounting litigation from affected communities.

Now these four little letters are absolutely guaranteed to raise the Bush administration's collective blood pressure as it tries to get an energy bill through Congress. But the MTBE threat the administration is most concerned with isn't environmental; it's political. Once before, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay's dogged determination to protect MTBE producers from legal jeopardy dragged the administration's entire energy plan down to defeat. And he's at it again. [...]"

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

Some Like It Hot

Let's just say this article makes the class' assessment of Exxon Mobile look a little light:

Some Like It Hot: "...Mother Jones has tallied some 40 ExxonMobil-funded organizations that either have sought to undermine mainstream scientific findings on global climate change or have maintained affiliations with a small group of “skeptic” scientists who continue to do so. Beyond think tanks, the count also includes quasi-journalistic outlets like Tech CentralStation.com (a website providing “news, analysis, research, and commentary” that received $95,000 from ExxonMobil in 2003), a FoxNews.com columnist, and even religious and civil rights groups. In total, these organizations received more than $8 million between 2000 and 2003 (the last year for which records are available; all figures below are for that range unless otherwise noted). ExxonMobil chairman and CEO Lee Raymond serves as vice chairman of the board of trustees for the AEI, which received $960,000 in funding from ExxonMobil. The AEI-Brookings Institution Joint Center for Regulatory Studies, which officially hosted Crichton, received another $55,000. When asked about the event, the center’s executive director, Robert Hahn—who’s a fellow with the AEI—defended it, saying, “Climate science is a field in which reasonable experts can disagree.” [...]"

As the World Burns

Mother Jones is featuring a large collection of articles on various environmental topics:

As the World Burns

social activists rewarded with Goldman Environmental Prize

CNN.com - Activist priest wins environmental prize - Apr 18, 2005: "...Tamayo is one of two prize winners chosen from Latin America this year. The other is Isidro Baldenegro Lopez, a Mexican farmer who fought for land rights and forest protection in the Tarahumara mountains of northern Chihuahua state, home to some of Mexico's last old-growth forests.

Baldenegro spent more than a year in jail on charges he and a fellow activist were carrying assault rifles and marijuana seeds.

The plight of the two Tarahumara Indians became an international cause celebre in environmental circles, with Amnesty International declaring the two men 'prisoners of conscience.'

Baldenegro had long maintained his innocence, but the case came to a head last May when an investigation by Chihuahua state prosecutors concluded that four state policemen had abused their authority in arresting him.

The son of an Indian rights activist killed in the 1980s, Baldenegro organized a group of neighbors -- mainly women -- to block logging roads to prevent non-Indian loggers from cutting old-growth pine. [...]"

Young Is The New Old

Cascadia Scorecard Weblog: Young Is The New Old: "Are old growth forests growing back? According to an article in the Oregonian, new federal research shows that there are 600,000 more acres of old forest west of the Cascades than there were a decade ago. I'm suspicious.

The structural characteristics of old growth forests are enormously complex. It's a lot more than just a few trees with thick trunks. Though there are many competing definitions of old growth, foresters generally agree that there must be a diversity of tree ages and species: everything from hemlock saplings to Godzilla-size cedars. There are standing and fallen dead trees, whose slow rotting provides nutrients to the relatively poor soil typical west of the Cascades. And there are an abundance of mosses and lichens and shrubs.

Some even argue that old growth forests can never regenerate after being clearcut; or if they can regenerate, it will take hundreds of years. Clearcutting leaves the soil desiccated and prone to erosion. It also robs the forest of the conditions of later life--the big-biomass nutrients of decaying trees. (In fact, the research attributes much of the new old growth to forests regenerating in burned areas.)

The new inventory uses a rule of thumb--stands containing trees larger than 20 inches in diameter are considered 'old.' But that seems much, much too simple a measure. I'm happy to hear that forests on federal lands are aging and growing. But I'd prefer a more complete definition of old growth forests--a definition that speaks to their ecological complexity, their age, and their ability to provide shelter for wildlife."

Forests Grow, Owls Decline Under Plan

Newsday.com: Forests Grow, Owls Decline Under Plan: "A decade after the Clinton administration reduced logging in national forests in the Northwest, scientists have concluded the forests are growing, but the population of the threatened northern spotted owl has declined.

Scientists reported Tuesday that the Northwest Forest Plan, adopted by the Clinton administration in 1994, resulted in an 80 percent reduction in logging on 24 million acres of land in western Washington, Oregon and Northern California.

Since the plan was adopted, medium-aged to older forests have increased by 606,000 acres to 7.9 million acres, or to about 34 percent of all forest land in the region, said Melinda Moeur, program leader for old-growth monitoring for the U.S. Forest Service.

The plan also aimed to protect the threatened northern spotted owl, of which there are about 8,000 pairs in the region.

Officials expected an average annual decline in owl numbers of 3.1 percent until enough habitat grew to stabilize populations. But the actual decline has been steeper in some areas. [...]"

Tuesday, April 19, 2005

the Shell Center for Sustainability is just one example...

This is a good article on the topic of the discussion that arose in class today.

CorpWatch: University, Inc.: "In 1998, the University of California at Berkeley struck a deal with Novartis, a Swiss agricultural-biotechnology firm (now called Syngenta), in which Novartis funded one-third of the research budget of a department within the university’s College of Natural Resources. In exchange, Berkeley gave Novartis exclusive patenting rights to one-third of the discoveries generated from the department and allowed Novartis to occupy 40% of the committee that decides where that research money is allocated.

The agreement ended in 2003, but was highly contested by both students and faculty. Dr. Ignacio Chapela, an assistant professor of microbial biology and a prominent critic of genetic engineering who lost his tenure at around the same time, went on to become the center of a fiery international debate.

The Novartis/UC deal might be the best known example of the kinds of challenges that arise when corporate interest and universities mix. But, as Jennifer Washburn, author of University, Inc.: Corporate Corruption of Higher Education, explains below, it is not unique. [...]"

Monday, April 18, 2005

Sports events leave a giant 'ecological footprint'

New Scientist Breaking News - Sports events leave a giant 'ecological footprint': "Large sporting events have an 'ecological footprint' thousands of times the size of the pitches they are played on. That's according to researchers who have calculated a sporting event's environmental impact for the first time.

Andrea Collins of Cardiff University in the UK and her colleagues looked at the 2004 soccer FA Cup final, held at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. They converted the energy and resources used on the day of the match into an ecological footprint - the hypothetical area of land required to support the use of those resources. Energy consumed, for example, was converted into the area of forest needed to soak up the carbon dioxide generated in its production, while food consumption was represented as the amount of farmland needed to make it. This method gave the match a footprint of 3051 hectares.

More than half the footprint came from transport. The 73,000 supporters collectively travelled nearly 42 million kilometres to reach the match. Fewer than half travelled by car, but car use generated 68 per cent of the transport footprint. If those fans had travelled by bus instead the footprint would have been 399 hectares smaller.

Food was the second-largest contributor, weighing in at 1381 hectares for the 36,500 snacks consumed. The researchers say this could easily be reduced: for example, substituting all the beef with chicken would have taken 428 hectares off the footprint.

The impact of waste disposal, at 146 hectares, was surprisingly low, says Collins. Recycling would have trimmed this by 39 hectares. [...]"

blog test: why is education an environment issue?

BBC NEWS | Africa | 'Failure' to educate world's poor: "...The Global Campaign for Education says 100 million children are still not going to school and it blames rich countries for failing to provide the funding necessary.

It grades 22 of them in what it calls a school report card.

Two countries, Norway and the Netherlands get an A grade, but the US and Austria receive the bottom F grade.

The assessment is based in part on countries' spending on development aid in total and on education programmes in particular. [...]"

I know mom said don't wipe your nose on your sleeve, but...

It beats the hell out of supporting Kleenex! Go to the website to write a letter and learn more about the campaign against Kimberly-Clark.

CorpWatch: Greenpeace: Stop Kimberly-Clark/Kleenex from Wiping Away Ancient Forests: "Kimberly-Clark is the largest manufacturer of tissue products in the world and owns the brand names Kleenex, Scot, Viva, and Cottonelle. It is a highly profitable company raking in 1.7 billion dollars in profits last year. Unfortunately much of its profits are based on turning ancient forests into disposable paper products that consumers use once and then throw away or flush down the toilet. Kimberly-Clark is also one of the least progressive tissue product manufacturers continuing to rely on massive amounts of virgin fibre to produce its products - it uses over 2.5 million tonnes of virgin tree pulp each year and less than 19% of its fibre in North America comes from recycled sources. The industry average for recycled fibre use is 60%. and major and minor competitors of K-C have taken very progressive steps to become more sustainable.

In November, Greenpeace Canada and the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) launched a US/Canada public campaign against Kimberly-Clark in an attempt to stop it from further wiping away ancient forests. Kimberly-Clark is not a responsible corporation and we are working to expose its environmental record."

Friday, April 15, 2005

Federation of Houston Professional Women

This scholarship has very little publicity, but is for Houston women attending Texas schools.

Federation of Houston Professional Women

Wednesday, April 13, 2005

Washington state becomes first to enact green building law

greenbuilding_signed: "Gov. Christine Gregoire today signed the high performance green buildings bill into law, making Washington the first state to require that new public buildings meet 'green building' standards of energy efficiency, water conservation and other environmental standards.

'With this bill, Washington state is taking the lead to build schools and other state buildings that do a much better job of protecting Washington's air, land and water,' Gregoire said at a signing ceremony at Washington Middle School in Olympia. A planned remodeling and addition to the school will meet the U.S. Green Building Council standards for such things as using recycled materials, ensuring better ventilation in buildings and reducing water and energy use.

'One of my hopes is that by showing the way, we will encourage everybody from mall developers to homebuilders to use the same green building techniques that schools and other government buildings will be using,' Gregoire said.

Under the new law, all major public agency facilities exceeding 5,000 square feet, including school buildings receiving state funding, would be required to meet the green building council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards."

Monday, April 11, 2005

Manuel García, Jr.: The Question of American Guilt

Manuel García, Jr.: The Question of American Guilt: "'The delusional is no longer marginal, but has come in from the fringe to influence the seats of power. We are witnessing today a coupling of ideology and theology that threatens our ability to meet the growing ecological crisis. Theology asserts propositions that need not be proven true, while ideologues hold stoutly to a world view despite being contradicted by what is generally accepted as reality. The combination can make it impossible for a democracy to fashion real-world solutions to otherwise intractable challenges.' So writes Bill Moyers in the current issue of the New York Review of Books. (1)

Moyers describes how the anticipation of 'rapture' -- the belief in a cataclysmic Armageddon separating the 'saved' from the 'damned' as described in the Book of Revelations -- trumps any environmental or even rational concern, for a large number of evangelical American Christians. A separate news story about evangelical Christians who have awakened to environmental reality only underscores Moyers' point, since green evangelicals seem to be a minority. (2)

What is going on? We are losing our minds because we are clinging to power.

'Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.'
-- Lord Acton (John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1834-1902), in a letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton of 5 April 1887.

'Those whom God wishes to destroy, he first makes mad.'
-- Euripides (c. 485-406 B.C.), a fragment. [...]"

Sunday, April 10, 2005

more from Stewart Brand

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: City Planet: "...'Nations have borders. Cities have centers.'

Urbanization is the chief reason why global population growth is flattening, and will likely peak at around nine billion people. Cities are 'population sinks;' the birthrate of new urban dwellers drops to replacement level (an average of 2.1 children per woman) and lower. Globally, urban fertility rate is around 1.85 children per woman. The reasons for this are manifold: in the country, a large family is an asset, while in the city, a large family is a liability; cities generally have less room for big families; women in cities have more opportunities for education, economic empowerment, and cultural independence -- all of which directly correlate with lower birth rates.

Stewart argues that the 'squatter cities' which form in rapidly-urbanizing areas are among the most vital parts of the 21st century city. He asserts that these global slums and shantytowns are, for most residents, temporary, that pockets of urban poverty are transitions from even worse rural poverty to a better existence in the city. Squatter cities are usually self-constructed and self-organized, better reflecting the needs of the residents than government-built housing; they're also engines of community, where support is provided by extended family, neighbors and religious institutions. [...]"

another look at population growth

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Japan's virgin wives turn to sex volunteers: "...The sexless marriage is one of several reasons why experts fear Japan is on the verge of a demographic disaster.

In 2003 Japan's birthrate hit a record low of 1.29 - the average number of times a woman gives birth during her lifetime - one of the lowest rates in the world, according to the cabinet office. The population will peak next year at about 128 million, then decline to just over 100 million by 2050.[...]

"A survey of 600 women found that 26% had not had sex with their husbands in the past year.

'We are sort of room-mates rather than a married couple,' one 31-year-old man, who had not had sex with his wife for two years, told the Asahi Shimbun newspaper.

The government has introduced several measures to lift the birthrate. Fathers will be encouraged to take more than the 47% of annual paid leave they currently use, and their employers will be told to provide more opportunities for them to stay at home with their children.

Local authorities, meanwhile, are devising novel ways to increase fertility. In the town of Yamatsuri women will receive 1m yen if they have a third child, and in Ishikawa prefecture families with three children will get discounts at shops and restaurants. [...]"

Saturday, April 09, 2005

IMF issues warning on crude oil prices

IMF issues warning on crude oil prices: "The International Monetary Fund says the world faces 'a permanent shock' because of high crude oil prices.

'The shock we see is a permanent shock that is going to continue ... and countries need to adjust to that,' said David Robinson, deputy IMF chief economist. [...]"

Environmental Heresies

Stewart Brand is big in the online world. He's the founder of the Whole Earth Catalog, author of How Buildings Learn, a futurist, social commentator, and critical player at all-around cool ambiguous places including the Long Now Foundation and the Santa Fe Institute. Today he has the blogosphere's collective panties in a twist with his article in the May issue of the MIT Technology Review because he's promoting nuclear power for the sake of the environment. He's too smart to ignore. Enjoy:

Environmental Heresies: "...The success of the environmental movement is driven by two powerful forces--romanticism and science--that are often in opposition. The romantics identify with natural systems; the scientists study natural systems. The romantics are moralistic, rebellious against the perceived dominant power, and combative against any who appear to stray from the true path. They hate to admit mistakes or change direction. The scientists are ethicalistic, rebellious against any perceived dominant paradigm, and combative against each other. For them, admitting mistakes is what science is.

There are a great many more environmental romantics than there are scientists. That's fortunate, since their inspiration means that most people in developed societies see themselves as environmentalists. But it also means that scientific perceptions are always a minority view, easily ignored, suppressed, or demonized if they don't fit the consensus story line. [...]"

Friday, April 08, 2005

Questions for Richard Cizik: Earthy Evangelist

The New York Times > Magazine > Questions for Richard Cizik: Earthy Evangelist: "As a leader of the National Association of Evangelicals, you are going up against tradition by trying to persuade your 30 million members to care about pollution, global warming and environmentalism in general."

Fellowships - Campus Ecology - National Wildlife Federation

Fellowships - Campus Ecology - National Wildlife Federation: "The National Wildlife Federation's Campus Ecology Fellowship Program offers a nationally recognized opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to pursue their vision of an ecologically sustainable future. Through tangible projects to green their campuses and communities, environmental research and organizing on key conservation issues, fellows gain practical experience in the conservation field and first-hand knowledge of the challenges and opportunities inherent in successful conservation efforts."

The Park People: Scholarships

The Park People: Scholarships: "The Park People, Inc., a nonprofit citizens’ organization dedicated to promoting, preserving and enhancing parks and green space in the Houston area, is offering scholarships for the 2005-2006 academic year.

$2,000 scholarships for students pursuing a degree at a Texas university in one of the following fields:

* Architecture with an interest in urban greenery
* Horticultural Sciences
* Landscape Architecture
* Parks and Recreation
* Urban Forestry
* Urban Planning

A $4,000 scholarship is offered to a student pursuing a degree in Forestry at a Texas university.

While all students planning to stay in Texas upon graduation are eligible, the committee will give preference to those who plan to live in the Houston/Harris County area. The scholarship committee's selection will be based on enthusiasm, potential, and previous academic performance. For more information or an application packet and eligibility rules, please write, call or email."

still seeking true costs

Talking Leaves: Spring 2005: Dancing with the Broken Heart of Gaia"...We are born into a culture that seems to believe there are certain sets of rules that must be followed--that life is a multiple-choice test and that we must choose one of the pre-selected answers. What I have discovered is that truth and contentment (much less bliss) never come as prefabricated answers. The only valid option is to invent a new answer and to realize that oftentimes the question itself is a fallacy. If the question is How can I get through life as comfortably as I can? or How can I succeed just enough to get by?, then the question needs to be thrown out completely. The question should be more along the lines of What gives me the greatest joy?, What passion/purpose could I dedicate my life to?, and/or What do I need to be whole? If we are honest with ourselves we will find that the answers to these questions have very little to do with societal standing, monetary status, or even comfort level. The answers to these questions will often frighten us because they will show us just how far we are from our own passions and needs. The questions will creep into our dreams and our internal conversations, regardless of our denial, until answered with affirmation and action.

We've all heard of finding your bliss, but in reality, bliss is not something that we can find. Bliss exists within us as an expression of the beauty and joy of Gaia. We need not search for it; we need only to acknowledge it, to embody it. But what does it mean to embody bliss, to own it completely? To not see it as something outside of and separate from ourselves? How to recognize and realize ourselves as extensions of Gaia, extensions of her beauty and bliss? [...]

Development Studies Programs

Interesting report by Canadian organization

Phase One Report

Thursday, April 07, 2005

The Millennium Villages Project

The Millennium Villages Project: "The Millennium Villages Project, based at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, is a new global approach to lift developing country villages out of the poverty trap that afflicts more than a billion people worldwide.

Earth Institute scientists and development experts in agriculture, nutrition and health, economics, energy, water, environment and information technology are working with local communities and governments to apply a proven holistic package of interventions to help villages get out of extreme poverty. read more

Over the past year, work has begun in two Millennium Villages: Sauri, Kenya and Koraro, Ethiopia."

The Millennium Villages Project

The Millennium Villages Project: "The Millennium Villages Project, based at the Earth Institute at Columbia University, is a new global approach to lift developing country villages out of the poverty trap that afflicts more than a billion people worldwide.

Earth Institute scientists and development experts in agriculture, nutrition and health, economics, energy, water, environment and information technology are working with local communities and governments to apply a proven holistic package of interventions to help villages get out of extreme poverty. read more

Over the past year, work has begun in two Millennium Villages: Sauri, Kenya and Koraro, Ethiopia."

in search of real costs...

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Hybrid Savings Calculator: "Footprint calculators are a good way to get a sense of how one's lifestyle affects the environment -- a way of making the invisible visible, as we say -- but they often suffer from being a bit too generic, making broad assumptions that may not necessarily fit how you live. Tools for measuring use are helpful, if sometimes awkward (a problem remedied by better ways of presenting information). What we need more of are ways of calculating the effect of specific activities.

Mixed Power, oneof the growing number of web sites for hybrid car enthusiasts, gives us a good start with its handy-dandy web calculator, designed to let you figure out just how much you would save by dumping that Canyonero XCM and moving to something without the godzilla-like carbon footprint. Enter the price of gas, the mileage of your current vehicle, how many miles you drive in a given timeframe, and which hybrid you're considering -- HCH, HAC, Insight, Prius, Escape or RX400h -- and your savings will be shown. The calculator tells you how many fewer gallons of gas you'll be consuming, and how much money you'll be saving -- an almost useless figure, since gasoline prices won't remain stable for the full 10 years to which the calculator projects. Fortunately, the calculator also reveals how many pounds of CO2 you will no longer be personally responsible for via your driving -- a number which is of mild interest to most people now, but will likely be a regular part of conversation a decade hence."

Solar and wind units bring energy to Navajos

ICT Solar and wind units bring energy to Navajos: "A Laguna Pueblo designer of solar and wind energy components is bringing lights and refrigeration for the first time to 50 homes in the eastern portion of the Navajo Nation in New Mexico. [...]"

Hopi warnings to the world

ICT [2005/03/29]��Hopi warnings to the world: "From Hopiland, a spiritual vortex for Native people, spiritual leaders Dan Evehema and Thomas Banyacya became the voice of the voiceless: the birds and animals. Warning of the impending apocalypse, they urged all people of good hearts to join them.

Even in their last years, Evehema and Banyacya warned that material greed and ignoring spiritual truth results in climate change, and, ultimately, the destruction of the world.

Hopi Snake Priest Evehema said the disease in the world today is greed, and the final insult for this country's aboriginal people is the loss of ceremonial land. [...]"

Rolls-Royce launches hydrogen fuel project

Telegraph | Money | Rolls-Royce launches hydrogen fuel project: "Hydrogen fuel cells as a commercially viable power source moved a step closer to reality yesterday after engineering giant Rolls-Royce outlined plans to develop a prototype by 2008."

Monday, April 04, 2005

Is a sustainable future possible? (editorial from AZ)

Is a sustainable future possible?: "...Appeals to human altruism for sustaining the Earth's ecological integrity cannot compete with economic forces geared to consumption and perpetual growth. Therefore, to achieve a sustainable future, economics must be coupled with ecology so that economic indicators (e.g., GNP) account for the cost of environmental degradation and the value of ecological services.

For example, the market value of clean water running out of the Sierra Nevada in California is approximately twice the value of the Sierra's timber, grazing, and tourist industries combined.

Costs of environmental degradation and the value of ecological services (e.g., clean water) are largely ignored on the nation's GNP calculator. Until such costs and ecological values are tallied in economic terms and indexes, this false accounting system will always lead government officials and business leaders to conclude that the economy is sacrosanct and cannot be jeopardized for a sustainable future."

allAfrica.com: Zambia: Farmers Urged to Adopt Sustainable Methods

allAfrica.com: Zambia: Farmers Urged to Adopt Sustainable Methods: "KALULUSHI district commissioner Joshua Mutisa has urged farmers in his area to adopt sustainable farming methods that will assist in mitigating food insecurity caused by environmental degradation.

Mr Mutisa said at the weekend that it was important for farmers in the district to put into practice methods such as agro-forestry and cover crop technologies. [...]"

Hunger Grows for Locally Grown Food

Michigan Land Use Institute: Hunger Grows for Locally Grown Food

Model Investment Agreement - Investment | IISD

Model Investment Agreement - Investment | IISD: "In what marks the first fundamental effort to review the nature and purpose of international investment agreements since the current model was developed almost 50 years ago, IISD has prepared a draft Model International Investment Agreement for Sustainable Development."

Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Scenarios

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Scenarios: "If you even come close to the sustainable blogosphere (as I increasingly see it called) today, you know that the UN's Millennium Ecosystem Assessment report is out. The vast majority of news reports about the Assessment emphasize its dark, 'sobering' presentation. This isn't surprising -- the planet's environmental systems are under a lot of stress, and if things don't change, we're in for disaster. But that's an important caveat -- if things don't change.

What most readings of the Assessment have so far seemed to miss is that the listing of the ways in which we're harming the planet is not all the report contains. The report also includes a chapter on scenarios of what the next fifty years might hold (Chapter 5, pp. 123-141, for those of you reading along at home). They're more summaries than fully-fleshed out scenaric worlds, but even so, they dispel the notion that the MEA is just about how bad things are and how much worse things can become. In fact, of the four, only one could be called openly pessimistic, and the remaining three have distinctly WorldChanging overtones.

(A quick summary of the MEA, for those of you who have missed out on the fun. A multi-year study involving over 2,000 scientists from 95 countries, the Millennium Assessment Report is a broad survey of environmental indicators. Overall, the story isn't good. Of the 24 key 'services' provided by the environment, 15 have 'degraded over the last 50 years--most notably fresh water, fisheries, air and water purification, and the regulation of climate, natural hazards and pests. Only four have been enhanced, and three of those pertain to food production.' [...]"

Saturday, April 02, 2005

Acid Rain Likely Stunts U.S. Forests

Acid Rain Likely Stunts U.S. Forests: "A recent international scientific study on Russian soils raises concerns that acid rain may have serious implications for forest growth in the U.S., particularly in eastern areas such as the Adirondack and Catskill regions of New York according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

'We've known that acid rain acidifies surface waters, but this is the first time we've been able to compare and track tree growth in forests that include soil changes due to acid rain,' said USGS scientist Greg Lawrence, who headed the study. [...]"

Hippy Shopper

Hippy Shopper