Environmental Sociology Blog

Working 9 to 5 on climate change: An office guide

2005-04-25T21:03:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-25T20:59:00.000-05:00

Eco-Search - the Environmentally friendly Search engine

AlterNet: EnviroHealth: The Future of Eco-evangelism

2005-04-24T19:53:00.000-05:00

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."

DeLay's fumes cloud energy bill

2005-04-21T14:00:00.000-05:00

(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. [...]"

Some Like It Hot

2005-04-20T22:15:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-20T22:10:00.000-05:00

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

As the World Burns

social activists rewarded with Goldman Environmental Prize

2005-04-20T22:02:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-20T21:59:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-20T21:56:00.000-05:00

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. [...]"

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

2005-04-19T14:05:00.000-05:00

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. [...]"

Sports events leave a giant 'ecological footprint'

2005-04-18T10:06:00.000-05:00

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?

2005-04-18T10:03:00.000-05:00

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...

2005-04-18T09:56:00.000-05:00

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."

Federation of Houston Professional Women

2005-04-15T10:25:00.000-05:00

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

Federation of Houston Professional Women

Washington state becomes first to enact green building law

2005-04-13T12:40:00.000-05:00

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."

Manuel García, Jr.: The Question of American Guilt

2005-04-11T22:50:00.000-05:00

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. [...]"

more from Stewart Brand

2005-04-10T21:24:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-10T15:36:00.000-05:00

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. [...]"

IMF issues warning on crude oil prices

2005-04-09T18:50:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-09T18:33:00.000-05:00

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. [...]"

Questions for Richard Cizik: Earthy Evangelist

2005-04-08T16:23:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-08T11:57:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-08T11:52:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-08T10:18:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-08T10:07:00.000-05:00

Interesting report by Canadian organization

Phase One Report

The Millennium Villages Project

2005-04-07T22:06:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-07T22:04:00.000-05:00

in search of real costs...

2005-04-07T15:52:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-07T15:43:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-07T15:42:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-07T15:19:00.000-05:00

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."

Is a sustainable future possible? (editorial from AZ)

2005-04-04T21:34:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-04T21:32:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-04T21:27:00.000-05:00

Michigan Land Use Institute: Hunger Grows for Locally Grown Food

Model Investment Agreement - Investment | IISD

2005-04-04T21:23:00.000-05:00

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

2005-04-04T21:18:00.000-05:00

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.' [...]"

Acid Rain Likely Stunts U.S. Forests

2005-04-02T16:51:00.000-06:00

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

2005-04-02T10:38:00.000-06:00

Hippy Shopper

McDonald's grabs a piece of the apple pie

2005-03-31T16:59:00.000-06:00

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | McDonald's grabs a piece of the apple pie: "...McDonald's, which launched the Apple Dippers last year, now buys more apples than any other restaurant chain in the United States. And if the product, not to mention a forthcoming McDonald's apple salad, takes off, it has the potential to transform an entire agricultural industry. The chain's influence could alter for ever the method and scale of production, the varieties of apple produced, and the rights of the thousands of workers who pick them, and not necessarily for the better.

'McDonald's makes a huge impact, not because they are deliberately out to screw the food system, but because they are so massive, and because they demand a uniform product,' says Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation, a damning critique of the industry.

With 13,700 restaurants in the US, McDonald's is one of the country's biggest employers: roughly one in eight Americans is estimated to have worked for the company at some stage in their lives. It is already the largest buyer of beef, pork and potatoes, and the second-largest buyer of chicken. With volume comes clout: last year, at an apple-marketing conference organised by the US Apple Association, McDonald's director of quality systems announced that if growers wanted to work with the company, they would have to cultivate more of two varieties of apple in particular: cameo and pink lady. Already, the cameo crop in Washington state is 58% larger than it was last year, according to growers in Yakima Valley. [...]"

Two-thirds of world's resources 'used up'

2005-03-30T16:01:00.000-06:00

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | Two-thirds of world's resources 'used up': "The human race is living beyond its means. A report backed by 1,360 scientists from 95 countries - some of them world leaders in their fields - today warns that the almost two-thirds of the natural machinery that supports life on Earth is being degraded by human pressure.

The study contains what its authors call 'a stark warning' for the entire world. The wetlands, forests, savannahs, estuaries, coastal fisheries and other habitats that recycle air, water and nutrients for all living creatures are being irretrievably damaged. In effect, one species is now a hazard to the other 10 million or so on the planet, and to itself.

'Human activity is putting such a strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of the planet's ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted,' it says. [...]"

Rolling Stone on Peak Oil

2005-03-30T15:48:00.000-06:00

RollingStone.com: The Long Emergency : Politics: "What's going to happen as we start running out of cheap gas to guzzle? "

GM and Chrysler in fuel cell deals with Department of Energy

2005-03-30T15:46:00.000-06:00

GM and Chrysler in fuel cell deals with Department of Energy - Mar. 30, 2005: "General Motors Corp. and DaimlerChrysler Wednesday said they signed multi-million dollar deals with the Department of Energy to build a fleet of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and further develop the technology."

The IRC Blog: Banda Aceh - The View from My House

2005-03-29T13:01:00.000-06:00

The IRC Blog: "There are certain things that count as 'normal' in Banda Aceh. Devastation is something that unfortunately you see each day. It has become horribly routine. Frequent earthquakes -- as many as three or four a day -- have also taken on an air of normalcy. You are asleep and the ground begins to shake. You are at work and you can hear a window rattle or feel your chair rock back and forth. There comes a moment when you become at once accustomed and highly sensitive to the shaking of the earth. You can feel the slightest tremor. Sometimes you can mistake the beating of your heart for a vibration in the ground.

Since virtually every metaphor we have for stability stems from our relationship with solid ground (think "well grounded" "good foundation" "solid as a rock") we have all tended to approach the quakes with a measure of bravado and humor that attends an unmasking. You are about to brush your teeth at the IRC compound only to see five other staff members flying out of the door as the windows behind you begin to rattle and shimmy. You wonder which would be worse -- braving the possibility of falling debris or violating cultural norms by running out into the middle of the road wearing nothing except for a tangerine-colored towel. You tighten the towel and run outside only to see your neighbors who themselves are wearing their towels. Then someone comes with cigarettes and coffee. You and your neighbors burst out into laughter. How unbecoming these earthquakes are.

In Banda Aceh, last night was different -- but not for the reasons that one would expect. To be sure, the rolling of the ground lasted longer than it had on previous occasions. And perhaps it was a shaking that was even more violent. But to be honest, those details did not define a difference. What was different was the look on people's faces afterwards. I watched them from my porch, entire families on motorbikes, children with parents, truckloads of humanity -- all making their way to higher ground. They trundled into the night, their faces gripped by fear. I looked at one of my Acehnese roommates -- his face was like a child’s. "Greg...earthquake," he said, reduced to tears. "earthquake."

Acehnese are remarkably religious people and I have known them to stop in the middle of virtually any activity simply to pray. Last night, the voices from the muezzin's microphone were telling people to return home. But people were having none of it. The trucks and the motorbikes continued uphill into the darkness and the anonymity of high ground.

The rumbling of the earth had ripped away a patina of normalcy and revealed a trembling red wound. Looking at the crowds I wondered what might be happening in other parts of Sumatra. They too would experience the "normalcy" of devastation and death."

MTV.com - Onair - Trippin

2005-03-28T22:13:00.000-06:00

Tonight was the season premier of Trippin, an MTV special series. The idea seems to be if meaningful environmental experiences for the youth are the key to developing an environmentally sensitive cultural base, then MTV will bring environmentally meaningful experiences to the masses, via Redman, DMX, Cameron Diaz, and other pop idols. This year's neuro-research that demonstrated television experiences are nearly indistinguishable in brain activity from actual experiences supports MTV's big idea.

Watch for replays of tonight's show as well as new episodes. One or the other will air nearly every day for the next week.

MTV.com - Onair - Trippin: "Cameron Diaz and a group of her close, personal friends think globally and act globally too as they travel to unlikely getaways...from Chile to Yellowstone, on a quest to safeguard the environment. The travelers will not have the benefit of any luxury."

E.P.A. Report Finds Lag in Monitoring Attacks

2005-03-24T22:08:00.000-06:00

The New York Times > Washington > E.P.A. Report Finds Lag in Monitoring Attacks: "The effort for quick detection of a biological attack in major cities is faltering because of shortcomings in the Environmental Protection Agency's management of the program, its inspector general said in a report released on Thursday.

Under the program, BioWatch, air monitors have been set up over the last three years in at least 30 metropolitan regions in an effort to detect within 36 hours the release of deadly pathogens like anthrax, smallpox or plague.

More than $200 million has been spent, including the cost of installing the monitors in cities like Boston, Chicago, Houston, New York, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington. [...]"

clashing agendas

2005-03-24T09:12:00.000-06:00

In Dr. Klineberg's lectures he's focused on success stories of limiting or even stopping population growth. But this NY Times article paints those successes as social failures.

The New York Times > National > Vibrant Cities Find One Thing Missing: Children: "...In that sense, the United States is following Europe and the rest of the industrial world, where birthrates now rarely exceed the rate needed to replace the population.

'If you took immigrants out of the equation, the United States would be like the rest of Europe,' said Phillip Longman, a senior fellow at the New America Foundation, a public policy research organization in Washington. He is the author of 'The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birth Rates Threaten World Prosperity and What To Do About It.'

Mr. Longman said a decline in children not only takes away 'human capital' needed to sustain an aging population, but 'having fewer children really diminishes the quality of life in a city.'

Most city leaders seem to agree. Even in San Francisco, where officials are preparing for another round of school closings amid a projected decline of 4,000 students in the next five years, city officials are aggressively marketing the city and its schools to young families. [...]"

Damning verdict on GM crop

2005-03-22T10:03:00.000-06:00

Guardian Unlimited | Life | Damning verdict on GM crop: "Final report on world's most comprehensive field trials says oil seed rape varieties would harm wildlife and environment."

Worldwatch Institute Jobs

2005-03-18T17:02:00.000-06:00

Worldwatch Institute Jobs: "Intern to assist the Director of Publications and Marketing.

The length of internship is flexible but need someone who is available at least 20 hours per week. Unfortunately, this is an unpaid internship.

Worldwatch Institute is a nonprofit research organization that provides information and advice to policy makers and the public on a broad range of global environmental and development issues. Our publications appear in over 30 languages. Research areas include agriculture, biological diversity, energy and climate change, international economics and institutions, and population."

Rocket Fuel in our Food

2005-03-18T16:50:00.000-06:00

World Watch Magazine: November/ December 2003: "Chemicals long used to power missiles now threaten the health of the very people those missiles were supposed to protect."

CLEAN - Citizens League for Environmental Action Now!

2005-03-18T11:43:00.000-06:00

CLEAN - Citizens League for Environmental Action Now! - Home Page: "Clean air- we need it. Climate change- we’re concerned. Environmental education- we're doing something about it.

The Citizens League for Environmental Action Now provides Houstonians with scientific evidence on the health effects of air pollution. We offer solutions to improve Houston's air quality that will benefit Houston socially and economically. We encourage the public to speak out on these issues."

Houston World Affairs Council

2005-03-16T17:50:00.000-06:00

Houston World Affairs Council: "The Houston World Affairs Council is seeking an intern for its Education Outreach Program. The intern should be currently enrolled in a secondary social studies education program at an accredited Houston university.

The pre-service teacher will gain valuable experience working for a non-profit whose mission is the promotion of international education in Houston area secondary schools, colleges, and universities. The intern’s work will expand his/her knowledge of international issues and American foreign policy, while also cultivating important education skills such as curriculum development, grant writing, and research."

TexPIRG Environmental Leadership Program

2005-03-16T16:54:00.000-06:00

TexPIRG: "The Texas Environmental Leadership Program (TELP) works to train college students, community members and environmental professionals to give them the skills they need to lead effective campaigns to protect Texas' environment and public health. The project works to identify promising leaders and provides basic and advanced training in how to be effective organizers.

TELP coordinates three main efforts: A Fellowship Program for college students, a Continuing Education program for environmental professionals, and the annual Texas Environmental Leadership Conference. The program is possible thanks to the generous support of the Houston Endowment and the Jacob and Therese Hershey Foundation."

in honor of Dr. Klineberg's spring break hybrid purchase

2005-03-16T10:09:00.000-06:00

Here are a few hot debates online regarding the most efficient of the fuel efficent auto choices:

Treehugger: Which is better for the environment- a Prius or an Echo?
(spoiler: a Prius, but only after 12,000 miles of driving)

On hybrids vs. biodiesel | Grist Magazine | Ask Umbra | 14 Mar 2005
(spoiler: biodiesel is judged more sustainable b/c gas is gas--evil petroleum--even at lower levels of usage)

Dramatizing the "death" of environmentalism doesn't help urban people of color, or anyone else

2005-03-16T10:00:00.000-06:00

Dramatizing the "death" of environmentalism doesn't help urban people of color, or anyone else | By Adrienne Maree Brown | Grist Magazine | Soapbox | 15 Mar 2005: "...If you work on environmental issues, chances are you don't know me. I represent the other other side. The one outside the greenhouse. I'm young, I'm colored, I'm female, I'm urban -- and environmentalism isn't reaching me like it needs to. [...]

"At the end of that day, I may not separate the glass from the paper, the plastic from the cans. I may not carry my own water bottle everywhere I go. For a lot of young people right now, the environment is an issue for the privileged or the issueless. People who feel they are becoming extinct care less about the extinction of owls and oak trees. We sit on buses that pump nasty black smoke into our air, dreaming of owning SUVs. Many of us don't see real, unfenced trees anymore. We don't see stars -- the blue of our skies is unreal. The natural world is becoming a place to visit or dream of, a privilege for those who can find work outside cities, or a trap for those in the migrant worker population who lack fair wages and work situations.

Overall, too many young people see the struggles of humans as separate from the struggles for a healthy environment. It isn't because we have bad intentions -- it's because a generation that does not care about the impact of its lifestyle on the environment can be easily manipulated for corporate greed. We are getting played out. And unfortunately, the environmental movement has actually helped enforce that disconnect by seeming to draw divisions between the natural world and its human inhabitants -- and by seeming to worry more about the former than the latter. [...]"

video clip: Peter Matthiessen

2005-03-15T22:47:00.000-06:00

Orion > Current Wisdom > Peter Matthiessen: "Bestselling author and environmentalist Peter Matthiessen no longer believes we can afford to separate politics from the environment. In Our Political Environment: Environmental Policy, Corporate Ethics, and Global Warming, the outspoken author pillories those whom he believes are looting our nation -- from the top down."

CHIEF SEATTLE: 1855

2005-03-15T22:40:00.000-06:00

CHIEF SEATTLE: 1855: "...How can you buy or sell the sky - the warmth of the land? The idea is strange to us. Yet we do not own the freshness of the air or the sparkle of the water. How can you buy them from us? We will decide in our time. Every part of this earth is sacred to my people. Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every clearing, and every humming insect is holy in the memory and experience of my people.

We know that the white man does not understand our ways. One portion of land is the same to him as the next, for he is a stranger who comes in the night and takes from the land whatever he needs. The earth is not his brother, but his enemy, and when he has conquered it, he moves on. He leaves his father's graves and his children's birthright is forgotten. The sight of your cities pains the eyes of the redman. But perhaps it is because the redman is a savage and does not understand. [...]

"One thing we know that the white man may one day discover. Our God is the same God. You may think that you own him as you wish to own our land, but you cannot. He is the Body of man, and his compassion is equal for the redman and the white. This earth is precious to him, and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its Creator. The whites, too, shall pass - perhaps sooner than other tribes. Continue to contaminate your bed, and you will one night suffocate in your own waste. When the buffalo are all slaughtered, the wild horses all tamed, the secret corners of the forest heavy with the scent of many men, and the view of the ripe hills blotted by the talking wires, where is the thicket? Gone. Where is the eagle? Gone. And what is it to say goodbye to the swift and the hunt? The end of living and the beginning of survival. [...]"

Economics, Ecology, And Us

2005-03-15T22:12:00.000-06:00

Robert Gilman - Economics, Ecology, And Us: "This kind of lifestyle is often referred to as 'voluntary simplicity.' We used to chuckle at that because, compared to the simplicity of having one job and handling everything else by paying someone else to do it for you, ours was definitely a life of voluntary complexity! It was both enormously stimulating and enormously challenging.

On the minus side, we naturally found that we could not replace all expenses with our own labor. More problematic, we found that the paid-labor world was often downright hostile to anyone who was not devoted to it full-time. It was hard to find a middle ground that combined sophisticated paid work with substantial personal time.

We were never truly poor, but we did get tight enough at times to appreciate the desperation that being without resources (not only financial but social and otherwise) can bring. Yet in our case, whenever we got to the 'end of our rope,' new rope always seemed to grow out of the old end. There were always new opportunities coming up over the horizon - often just in time.

Above that level there was, and is, a broad income territory where wealth and poverty are clearly states of mind and not measured by our bank account. In this territory, our sense of fulfillment depends almost entirely on the degree to which we are able to express our values and have reasonable control over how we spend our time. [...]"

The peak of Mt Kilimanjaro as it has not been seen for 11,000 years

2005-03-14T22:04:00.000-06:00

Guardian Unlimited | The Guardian | The peak of Mt Kilimanjaro as it has not been seen for 11,000 years: "Africa's tallest mountain, with its white peak, is one of the most instantly recognisable sights in the world. But as this aerial photograph shows, Kilimanjaro's trademark snowy cap, at 5,895 metres (1,934ft), is now all but gone - 15 years beforescientists predicted it would melt through global warming, writes Paul Brown.

In Swahili Kilima Njaro means shining mountain, but the glaciers and snow cap that kept the summit white, probably for 11,000 years - despite the location, in Tanzania, 200 miles south of the equator - have almost disappeared.

Tomorrow the 34 ministers at the G8 energy and environment summit, meeting in London, will receive a book - published by The Climate Group, and entitled Northsoutheastwest: a 360 view of climate change - that includes this picture among others depicting global warming. The book's text describes the devastating speed of climate change documented by 10 of the world's top photographers from Magnum Photos.
"

Journalistic Balance as Global Warming Bias

2005-03-14T10:26:00.000-06:00

Journalistic Balance as Global Warming Bias: "A new study has found that when it comes to U.S. media coverage of global warming , superficial balance—telling 'both' sides of the story—can actually be a form of informational bias. Despite the consistent assertions of the United Nations-sponsored Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that human activities have had a 'discernible' influence on the global climate and that global warming is a serious problem that must be addressed immediately, 'he said/she said' reporting has allowed a small group of global warming skeptics to have their views greatly amplified. [...]"

Evangelical Leaders Swing Influence Behind Effort to Combat Global Warming

2005-03-12T21:23:00.000-06:00

The New York Times > National > Evangelical Leaders Swing Influence Behind Effort to Combat Global Warming: "...The Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group of 51 church denominations, said he had become passionate about global warming because of his experience scuba diving and observing the effects of rising ocean temperatures and pollution on coral reefs.

'The question is, will evangelicals make a difference?' Mr. Haggard said. 'And the answer is, the Senate thinks so. We do represent 30 million people, and we can mobilize them if we have to.'

In October the association paved the way for broad-based advocacy on the environment when it adopted 'For the Health of the Nation: An Evangelical Call to Civic Responsibility,' a platform that included a plank on 'creation care' that many evangelical leaders say was unprecedented. [...]"

The True Cost of Flying

2005-03-12T16:03:00.000-06:00

The True Cost of Flying: "The European boom in ''low-cost'' airlines, fueled by tax incentives, is increasing the level of toxic gases in the atmosphere and displacing less polluting and more efficient means of transportation for shorter distances, like trains. [...]

"The burning of jet fuel -- a petroleum product -- releases greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming and the process of climate change. Air traffic worldwide produces emissions of more than 600 million tons of carbon dioxide -- the leading greenhouse gas -- each year.

In addition, it releases nitrates, ash, sulfates and water vapor. Some of these substances deplete ozone in the atmosphere -- this layer of ozone gas is crucial for protecting life on Earth from the Sun's harmful rays.

The Britain-based environmental group Tourism Concern predicts that by 2015 half of the annual destruction of the ozone layer will be caused by commercial air traffic. [...]"

ABCs of Water Privatization

2005-03-12T15:53:00.000-06:00

Public Citizen | Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program | Critical Mass Energy and Environment Program - ABCs of Water Privatization: "The World Bank has predicted that by the year 2025, two-thirds of the world’s population will run short of fresh drinking water. As supplies become scarce, water will take on unprecedented market value. Fortune magazine dubbed water the “oil of the 21st century,” but, unlike gasoline, its real value is incalculable. No living being can survive without water, an immutable fact of life that multinational corporations are seeking to parlay into profits.

Thus was born the water privatization movement, which, though in its infancy, arguably looms as the greatest threat to the protection of this irreplaceable public resource.

National and local governments, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and multinational utility companies are jumping onto the privatization bandwagon with nary a second thought. While the full story of water privatization is decades away from being told, early reports reveal that these schemes in the United States and throughout the world have gone terribly wrong with prices increasing, quality suffering and accountability falling by the wayside. [...]"

Amazon Forest - Destruction and Hope

2005-03-12T15:38:00.000-06:00

Amazon Forest - Destruction and Hope: "...An estimated 45 percent of the logging in the Amazon is illegal, but ''taking into account the illegal logging on invaded public lands, the percentage reaches 97.5 percent,'' although a good part of that is ''legalized'' by undue official authorizations, says Smeraldi.

Containing deforestation requires developing economic alternatives that maintain the forests intact and are competitive with the agricultural businesses that fill in the deforested lands, agree environmentalists and researchers.

Legal and sustainable logging is one of the most viable ways, says Veríssimo.

That option is gaining ground even amongst logging businesses. ''The informal, illegal practices undermine the economy with unfair competition,'' Ivan Tomaselli, vice-president of ABIMCI, a Brazilian processed lumber industry association, told Tierramérica.

The disorder in land titles means ''legal insecurity and high risks,'' such that investment is only justified if profits are going to be very high, he said.

Illegally harvested lumber in the Amazon, according to Tomaselli, today represents just 20 percent of the total, compared to 80 percent in the past. The proportion of wood certified under best forestry practices is growing, said the businessman, because it has a ''competitive advantage'' in major markets like Europe and the United States. [...]"

The Green Guide: A Money-Saving, Stylish Green Kitchen

2005-03-10T21:05:00.000-06:00

The Green Guide: A Money-Saving, Stylish Green Kitchen: "...As Claudia's experience shows, green homes are gaining ground in the United States: 13,224 were built in 2002 alone compared with 18,884 for the entire decade of the 1990s. The trend is attracting a broader economic spectrum of homeowners thanks to public awareness, new technologies and a growing market in environmentally sounder materials. As defined by Daniel Chiras, author of The New Ecological Home (Chelsea Green, 2004, $35), building green means minimizing the negative impact on the natural world while creating a healthy living environment. The U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) has developed standards that encompass a building's use of natural resources, healthy materials, recycling and more. (Currently available for commercial properties, schools and apartment buildings, LEED certification for houses is scheduled to debut in early 2006.)

Building green is equal parts science and ethics, but mostly it's just common sense, says Bob Chew, the owner of Earth-Friendly Homes and Claudia's building contractor. In 2001, when she had her construction loan in place, Claudia teamed up with Chew to design and build the house, giving special consideration to the safety and comfort of her 80-year-old mother, Claire. 'I wanted to build a house that was familiar,' Claudia says. In the end, she based the design on her childhood home, a two-story, Cape-style house built by her uncle. She kept what she loved about that house, such as the sink in a sunny corner of the kitchen, while adding a walk-in pantry, a canning station in the basement and grab bars for Claire. [...]"

Earthwatch Institute: Research. Conservation. Education. Volunteer.

2005-03-10T21:00:00.000-06:00

More internship opportunities:

Earthwatch Institute: Research. Conservation. Education. Volunteer.: "Earthwatch Institute engages people worldwide in scientific field research and education to promote the understanding and action necessary for a sustainable environment."

spend your summer helping Bono save the world!

2005-03-09T10:10:00.000-06:00

Contact Us - DATA, Debt AIDS Trade Africa: "From time to time we have unpaid internship openings in our Washington, DC office. Please submit applications within the following deadlines:

Summer Internships: April 20th
Fall Internships: September 10th
Spring Internships: December 1st

If you are interested in an internship at DATA please send the following by email to data@data.org or by mail to 1317 F St, NW Washington, DC 20004:
A resume;
A one page statement explaining why you are interested in interning at DATA, any relevant experiences you have had, how you think you can contribute to our efforts, how an internship might contribute to your education, any special skills you have and the dates, days and times you anticipate being available;
A brief writing sample (maximum four pages, shorter is better); and,
Three references with phone numbers, email addresses and professional title.

No phone calls please."

Another World Is Here: Green Homes

2005-03-06T21:16:00.000-06:00

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: Green Homes: "Want to buy a solar-powered condo? Developer Clarum Homes has just completed the 'Vista Montana' community in Watsonville, California (in central California, east of Monterey). Vista Montana has the nation's largest building-integrated solar electric system in an apartment complex, a 60 kW system projected to produce over 90 megawatt-hours annually. The units were constructed to use 40 percent less energy than would otherwise be typical. [...]"

China legislature passes renewable energy bill

2005-03-06T21:02:00.000-06:00

Legislature passes renewable energy bill: "Non-fossil energy sources, including wind, solar power and thermal power, will make up a bigger share of China's energy resources under a new bill passed yesterday encouraging use of renewable energy."

(found via DailyKos)

enviro grad program in Australia

2005-03-06T20:59:00.000-06:00

About Biohumanities - Biohumanities at The University of Queensland

As Green as a Neocon - Why Iraq hawks are driving Priuses. By Robert Bryce

2005-03-06T20:57:00.000-06:00

You can also listen to this story on NPR.

As Green as a Neocon - Why Iraq hawks are driving Priuses. By Robert Bryce: "...But a curious transformation is occurring in Washington, D.C., a split of foreign policy and energy policy: Many of the leading neoconservatives who pushed hard for the Iraq war are going green. James Woolsey, the former director of the Central Intelligence Agency and staunch backer of the Iraq war, now drives a 58-miles-per-gallon Toyota Prius and has two more hybrid vehicles on order. Frank Gaffney, the president of the Center for Security Policy and another neocon who championed the war, has been speaking regularly in Washington about fuel efficiency and plant-based bio-fuels.

The alliance of hawks and environmentalists is new but not entirely surprising. The environmentalists are worried about global warming and air pollution. But Woolsey and Gaffney—both members of the Project for the New American Century, which began advocating military action against Saddam Hussein back in 1998—are going green for geopolitical reasons, not environmental ones. They seek to reduce the flow of American dollars to oil-rich Islamic theocracies, Saudi Arabia in particular. Petrodollars have made Saudi Arabia too rich a source of terrorist funding and Islamic radicals. Last month, Gaffney told a conference in Washington that America has become dependent on oil that is imported from countries that, 'by and large, are hostile to us.' This fact, he said, makes reducing oil imports 'a national security imperative.' [...]"

Animated Guide to Climate Change Forcasts

2005-03-06T20:53:00.000-06:00

BBC NEWS

Climate change: Uncharted waters?

2005-03-06T20:52:00.000-06:00

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Climate change: Uncharted waters?: "As part of Planet Under Pressure, a BBC News series looking at some of the biggest environmental problems facing humanity, Alex Kirby explores the implications of climate change."

are any of these organizations at Rice?

2005-03-06T18:10:00.000-06:00

Can you help change that?

Second Nature | Education For Sustainability: "Education For Sustainability Organizations

The following list of non-profit organizations represents only some of the dozens of organizations actively working toward the goals of Education for Sustainability.

* Aldo Leopold Foundation
* Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture
* Association of Governing Boards
* Association of Higher Education Facilities Officers
* Campus Ecology Program of the National Wildlife Federation
* Center for Environmental Citizenship
* Center for Respect of Life and the Environment
* International Association of Universities
* International Institute for Sustainable Development
* Management Institute for Environment and Business Program of the World Resources Institute
* National Association of Educational Buyers
* National Council for Science and the Environment
* North American Alliance for Green Education
* Society for College and University Planning
* Student Environmental Action Coalition
* The Natural Step
* University Leaders for a Sustainable Future"

Spider Venom Could Yield Eco-Friendly Insecticides

2005-03-04T19:10:00.000-06:00

US NSF - Discoveries - Spider Venom Could Yield Eco-Friendly Insecticides: "You could call Glenn King "The Spider Man." The University of Connecticut research scientist is mapping spider toxins at the molecular level. His work may result in an insecticide that takes out agricultural pests without harming other insects. [...]

"Insect pests destroy about 25 percent of the world's crops each year, despite the extensive application of chemical insecticides since World War II. The initial effectiveness of DDT in agricultural use and malaria eradication programs led many to view chemical insecticides as a panacea. But widespread use of the chemicals has boosted insects' resistance, even to increased dosages, while the environmental damage and human health risks associated with the chemicals have increased, according to King.

'We have a very good reason to look for a safer, nontoxic, and more efficient pesticide. More than a billion pounds of pesticides are sprayed in the U.S. every year. That's four pounds per person. A millionth of a pound can sometimes be deadly. And the chemical toxins that currently end up in the food and water supply pose a serious threat to animals, fish, and birds,' says King, a research scientist at the University of Connecticut Health Center."

UN environmental agency steps up battle against marine pollution

2005-03-04T19:05:00.000-06:00

Biology News: Environment - UN environmental agency steps up battle against marine pollution: "Coastal pollution, including plastic waste, discarded lead-acid batteries and used oils and lubricants, will come under renewed attack under a new agreement signed by the United Nations environmental agency and an international treaty body controlling hazardous wastes. The Memorandum of Understanding, signed last week in Nairobi, Kenya, by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Regional Seas Programme and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention on the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and their Disposal, seeks to raise awareness on hazardous waste and marine pollution.

The main area of cooperation is the environmentally sound management of hazardous wastes in order to prevent coastal and marine pollution and the two organizations will support each other with technical and legal training. [...]"

Organic & Local Key to Food Sustainability

2005-03-04T18:58:00.000-06:00

Organic & Local Key to Food Sustainability: "Local food is usually more "green" than organic food, according to a report published in Food Policy journal.

The authors say people can help protect the environment by buying food produced within a 20km radius.[...]

"'The price of food is disguising externalised costs - damage to the environment, damage to climate, damage to infrastructure and the cost of transporting food on roads,' Professor Lang told the BBC News website.

The authors calculated that if all foods were sourced from within 20km of where it is was consumed, environmental and congestion costs would fall from more than £2.3bn to under £230m - an 'environmental saving' of £2.1bn annually.

They pointed out that organic methods can also make an important contribution. If all farms in the UK were to turn organic, then the country would save £1.1bn of environmental costs each year. [...]"

Municipal Solid Waste - Milestones in Garbage

2005-03-04T18:51:00.000-06:00

Municipal Solid Waste - Milestones in Garbage: "A historical timeline of municipal solid waste management"

New Poll Finds Bush Priorities Are Out of Step With Americans

2005-03-03T11:43:00.000-06:00

The New York Times > Washington > New Poll Finds Bush Priorities Are Out of Step With Americans: "Americans say President Bush does not share the priorities of most of the country on either domestic or foreign issues, are increasingly resistant to his proposal to revamp Social Security and say they are uneasy with Mr. Bush's ability to make the right decisions about the retirement program, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll. [...]

'There are so many other things that seem to me to be more critical and immediate: I think the national debt is absolutely an immediate thing to address,' said Irv Packer, 66, a Missouri Republican. He added, 'Another one that I'd really like to see people working on is the environment.'

Lisa Delaune, 37, a student from Houston and a member of the Green Party, said in a follow-up interview, 'My opinion is that the president favors big business over the health and well-being and overall stability of the entire American population.' [...]"

Hollywood was sweating global climate destabilization last Sunday night

2005-03-02T18:50:00.000-06:00

Variety.com - Tents moments: "With Oscars coming on Sunday, this is the most stressful week of the year in Hollywood. No, not over who's going to win or lose: The big question on everyone's lips is 'How many parties am I going to get invited to?' The calendar is chockablock with pre-Academy Awards events. Nobody could possibly attend all of them; nobody really wants to. They just want to make sure they're invited -- to feel, you know, loved and important.

But if the potential partygoers are stressed out, that's nothing compared to the planners. Aside from the usual stress that goes into working out details for a major Hollywood event, they have to contend with one more horrifying factor: wet ground.

The punishing rains of the last few weeks have left virtually every area in town filled with potholes and puddles, which do not easily mix with formal wear. Now, aside from flowers, candles and tiki torches on the walkway to the parties, the planners have to make sure the red carpet is dry.

Sure, the Oscars have survived rainy days before, but the last time was when the show was held at the Music Center downtown. The mixture of Hollywood Boulevard and rain hasn't been tested. Though rain's not forecast for the weekend, the planners go pale at the mere mention of more showers.

Still, Hollywood is putting on a brave face. The show must go on, and so must the party. [...]"

Environmental law resource

2005-03-02T15:31:00.000-06:00

Environmental Integrity Project: "Environmental laws that guarantee clean air and water, protect human exposure to toxic waste, and preserve natural resources are viewed as a birthright by most Americans. On paper, these laws are impressive in scope; in practice, they are often ignored. The Environmental Integrity Project (EIP) works closely with local communities to protect the public's health and resources by promoting better enforcement of federal environmental laws. EIP also seeks to protect these laws from political interference."

Ozone Decline Stuns Scientists

2005-03-02T15:28:00.000-06:00

Denver Post: Ozone Decline Stuns Scientists: "Solar flares and frigid temperatures are believed to be working with human chemicals to eat away at the protective ozone layer above the North Pole, surprising scientists who have been looking for evidence that the planet's ozone layer is healing.

The ozone layer protects Earth from dangerous ultraviolet radiation, which can cause skin cancer.

Last winter, Arctic ozone declined more precipitously than ever in the upper atmosphere, probably because of violent storms on the sun's surface, one team reports today in the journal Geophysical Research Letters.

And in recent days, a lower layer of ozone has undergone an extraordinary thinning because of a level of bitter cold (about minus-110 degrees Fahrenheit) rarely seen in the Arctic and manmade chemicals, researchers said. One Colorado scientist has raced north to document the event, expected to sputter out within days.

The two unusual findings have experts worried that they don't fully understand the dynamics of ozone depletion.

'I don't think we can be confident about whether or not we're seeing an ozone recovery or if we're attributing recovery to the correct causes,' said Cora Randall, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Colorado. [...]"

from a poem by Shel Silverstein -- Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout

2005-02-27T18:42:00.000-06:00

Shel Silverstein -- Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout Would Not Take the Garbage Out: "[...]
At last the garbage reached so high
That finally it touched the sky.
And all the neighbors moved away,
And none of her friends would come to play.
And finally Sahra Cynthia Stout said,
'OK, I'll take the garbage out!'
But then, of course, it was too late...
The garbage reached across the state,
From New York to the Golden Gate.
And there, in the garbage she did hate,
Poor Sahra met an awful fate,
That I cannot right now relate
Because the hour is much too late.
But children, remember Sahra Stout
And always take the garbage out!"

Stars take hybrid cars to the red carpet - (United Press International)

2005-02-27T18:33:00.000-06:00

Stars take hybrid cars to the red carpet - (United Press International): "Forget the limo, Hollywood stars are taking low emission, Toyota Prius hybrids to the 2005 Academy Awards Sunday as part of Global Green's campaign to raise awareness of environmentally friendly vehicles.

About 15 celebrities including Gwenyth Paltrow, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johanson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robin Williams, Orlando Bloom, Salma Hayek, Charlize Theron, Penelope Cruz, Morgan Freeman, Julie Delpy and Tim Robbins are all pulling up to the red carpet in hybrid cars.

This is the third year Global Green, the American branch of Green Cross International run by Mikhail Gorbachev, asked celebrities to use their status to help the environmental cause.

'Hybrid cars help us conserve natural resources and preserve the planet. Choosing a hybrid is something everyone can do today to help reduce our negative impact on the environment,' Bloom said. 'People can choose to change the way they drive to help reduce our impact on the environment.' [...]"

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Survey

2005-02-27T10:09:00.000-06:00

U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Survey:
"The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) distributed a 42-question survey to more than 1,400 USFWS biologists, ecologists, botanists and other science professionals working in Ecological Services field offices across the country to obtain their perceptions of scientific integrity within the USFWS, as well as political interference, resources and morale. Nearly 30 percent of the scientists returned completed surveys, despite agency directives not to reply—even on personal time.

* Nearly half of all respondents whose work is related to endangered species scientific findings (44 percent) reported that they "have been directed, for non-scientific reasons, to refrain from making jeopardy or other findings that are protective of species." One in five agency scientists revealed they have been instructed to compromise their scientific integrity—reporting that they have been "directed to inappropriately exclude or alter technical information from a USFWS scientific document,"
such as a biological opinion;
Scientists: sign the statement on restoring scientific integrity in federal policy making to voice your concern about the Bush administration's misuse of science.
* More than half of all respondents (56 percent) knew of cases where "commercial interests have inappropriately induced the reversal or withdrawal of scientific conclusions or decisions through political intervention;" and
* More than two out of three staff scientists (70 percent) and nearly nine out of 10 scientist managers (89 percent) knew of cases "where U.S. Department of Interior political appointees have injected themselves into Ecological Services determinations." A majority of respondents also cited interventions by members of Congress and local officeholders."

UCS Calls to Increase the Texas Renewable Energy Standard

2005-02-27T10:06:00.000-06:00

UCS analysis shows that Texas can create jobs and improve its public health and environment by adopting a stronger renewable energy standard.

Increase the Texas Renewable Energy Standard:"In 1999, Texas enacted its RPS—requiring 2,000 megawatts (MW) of new renewable energy capacity by 2009—as part of legislation that restructured the state’s electricity market. Today, the Texas RPS is one of the most effective and successful in the nation. The state is ahead of its annual requirement schedule with nearly 1,200 MW of new renewable energy already installed.

Given the success of the existing law and the state’s vast renewable energy potential, at least two proposals have been made to increase the state’s standard. The Texas Renewable Energy Industries Association (TREIA) and a coalition of Texas environmental organizations are advocating for a long-term 20 percent by 2020 RPS, with one percent of the requirement set aside for distributed resources like solar energy and farm-based technologies.1 The Texas Energy Planning Council (TEPC) is recommending a more modest increase of the standard to 5,000 MW by 2015 (500 MW from non-wind renewable resources), with a goal of 10,000 MW by 2025. We project that the TEPC proposal would yield approximately 8 percent renewable energy in 2025. [...]"

Could a $50bn plan to tame this mighty river bring electricity to all of Africa?

2005-02-25T10:40:00.000-06:00

Guardian Unlimited | Special reports | Could a $50bn plan to tame this mighty river bring electricity to all of Africa?: "One of Africa's biggest electricity companies yesterday unveiled plans to build the world's biggest hydro-electricity plant on a stretch of the Congo River, harnessing enough power for the whole continent.

The proposed plant at the Inga Rapids, near the river's mouth in the western Democratic Republic of Congo, would cost $50bn (£26bn) and could generate some 40,000MW, twice the power of China's Three Gorges dam.

The river is seen as ideal. Known as the 'river that swallows all rivers', it is fed by 10,000 streams that funnel into powerful rapids along its 2,900-mile course.

Rather than damming up the river entirely, the plan by South Africa's state-owned power company, Eskom - which has already won over independent experts - involves creating a 'run-of-river' plant in which water is siphoned off, channelled through turbines and then fed back into the river...

"But critics say even run-of-river plants can damage the environment, by blocking the migratory path of fish and stalling the flow of silt downstream.

There are also fears that electricity from the project, dubbed 'Grand Inga', will simply enrich corporate backers rather than reach Africa's poorest, many of whom live beyond the electricity grids. [...]"

Hate Something. Change Something.

2005-02-24T08:33:00.000-06:00

That's the central theme of Honda's new ad campaign in the UK, featuring their new quiet, clean diesel engines. Their point is that its ok to hate pollution because that hate will make you want to do something about it. Garrison Kiellor sings the clever song that Britons can't get out their heads. And the animation is cute, too.

See for yourself: go to this site (with a high speed connection), click make life better and watch movie.

Honda (UK)

Dispatch from a[n LA] conference on transportation and justice

2005-02-24T08:21:00.000-06:00

Ansje Miller sends a dispatch from a conference on transportation and justice |
Grist Magazine | Dispatches | 21 Feb 2005: "...In the afternoon, BRU unveiled its plan for the future of transportation in Los Angeles. The plan creates an integrated three-tier bus network for fast, reliable, countywide access that includes a freeway bus network, metro rapid bus, and expanded neighborhood and general services. This plan will create 576 new buses, 50 shuttles, and -- impressively -- 2,351,000 new bus in-service hours each year.

Clayton Thomas-Mueller, the Indigenous Environmental Network's oil-and-gas campaigner, taught us how switching to compressed or liquid natural gas was destroying indigenous communities where the gas is extracted. Thomas-Mueller pointed out that 'indigenous peoples are hit first and hit the hardest.' As many environmentalists are supporting a move to this form of powering transportation, this is an important lesson in our struggle to save not only our own communities, but communities across the planet.

And that, I believe, is one of the ways that this conference was different from so many gatherings on the fate of our planet. As Eric Mann, director of the Labor/Community Strategy Center pointed out, 'The mainstream environmental movement wants less pollution in Iraq, less pollution in white communities.' Hopefully, the vision from this conference will create health, transportation, and economic justice for all of our communities. [...]"

Rising Waters: a documentary

2005-02-24T08:16:00.000-06:00

ITVS: at-a-glance: "To skeptics, global warming is a myth. But for 70 million Pacific Islanders, a warmer planet is landing them in hot water. Scientists agree that the tropical Pacific Islands will be the first and hardest hit by global warming. Still, some question whether the danger is real, leaving islanders in a precarious state of limbo. RISING WATERS explores what it means to live under a cloud of scientific uncertainty."

Seattle Mandates Recycling

2005-02-23T09:16:00.000-06:00

ENN: Environmental News Network [[Today's News Full Story ]]: "Starting in 2006, people in single-family homes won't get their trash picked up if they dump "significant amounts" of recyclables in their trash, defined by the city as more than 10 percent by volume. Owners of apartments, condominiums and businesses will face $50 fines.

So far, city officials say few people have complained. Most calls have come from people wondering how to comply with the new standards. [...]

"...In Madison, Wis., a liberal college town that embraced recycling enthusiastically when it began in 1991, a fine has never been imposed.

'Seventy percent of the population is going to walk across a bed of hot coals to recycle a bottle. They just do that. They believe in it,' said George Dreckmann, Madison's recycling coordinator. More than 90 percent follow the law, and Dreckmann said it doesn't make sense economically or practically to go after the few violators.

Recycling has been mandatory in Connecticut since 1991. Requirements vary from city to city, and enforcement has been the biggest challenge, said Judy Beleval, an environmental analyst with the state's Department of Environmental Protection.

'Some towns are good at it. Some towns are not so good at it,' Beleval said. 'In the beginning, most towns had a recycling coordinator. Over the years, because of budget cuts, that became the job of someone who was also doing 10 other things.'

Frank Gagliardo oversees recycling enforcement -- in 169 cities and towns, home to 3.5 million people -- for the Connecticut agency. 'We sort of have to pick and choose our battles,' he said.

Last summer, Pittsburgh started fining residents who weren't complying with a mandatory recycling law enacted in 1988 for large communities in Pennsylvania. As of late January, the city had issued about 660 tickets at $62.50 a pop. So far, no one's been slapped with a second fine, a whopping $500.

'Every time someone calls and complains about the citation, they say, 'Well, I didn't think you were serious,'' said Guy Costa, Pittsburgh's public works director. 'Now they're beginning to take us more seriously.' [...]"

UN Global Population Report press release

2005-02-22T14:17:00.000-06:00

click here and choose English to read the full report.

UN Press Release: "The world’s population has reached 6.5 billion this year, a billion more than 1993, despite low fertility in developed countries and high mortality in developing countries, a new United Nations report says.

It estimates that the world’s population could reach 7 billion in 2012 and could stabilize at 9 billion in 2050. The rate of growth has fallen, however, to 1.2 per cent now from 2 per cent in the late 1960s.

The report, covering population size and growth, urbanization and city growth, population aging, fertility and contraception, mortality and international migration, was released in advance of the next session in April of the 47-member Commission on Population and Development.

Based on the work of the UN Population Division, the report says, “Most developed countries exhibit fertility levels at or below the replacement level. Although most developing countries are far advanced in the transition from high to low fertility, some developing countries, mainly in Africa, still exhibit high fertility.”

In the last century, “mortality experienced the most rapid decline in the history of humanity, owing to better hygiene, improved nutrition and medical practices based on scientific evidence,” it says. In Africa, however, HIV/AIDS has markedly increased mortality.

Six countries account for the 77 million people added to the population each year since 2000: India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, the United States and Bangladesh.

People are moving to urban centres and the urban population will account for half the world’s population by 2007. Urban dwellers are expected to increase to about 5 billion in 2030 from 3.2 billion today, it says.

The “urban agglomerations” – Tokyo, Mexico City, New York-Newark, Mumbai, São Paulo and Delhi – each has more than 15 million residents, the report says, but most urban dwellers live in towns of fewer than half a million people.

About 175 million people live outside of their countries of birth and 60 per cent of the world’s migrants live in more developed countries, the report says.

Presenting both opportunities and challenges in this century, it says, 'the current population picture is one of dynamic population change, reflected in new and diverse patterns of childbearing, mortality, migration, urbanization and aging.'"

In pictures: How the world is changing

2005-02-21T18:54:00.000-06:00

This series of six locations around the planet is quite compelling:

BBC NEWS | In pictures: How the world is changing: "While the effect of human activity on the global climate is hotly debated, physical signs of environmental change are all around us."

A Sudden Change of Heart: Lessons from the Abolitionist Movement

2005-02-21T16:51:00.000-06:00

Can social change alone resolve the crises of global environment damage and consequent climate change? You guys must know by now that I'm a champion of social movements. Science is amazing, and critical in these efforts, but I noticed a few things at the Houston/London conference. Not one Prius was parked in the garage. Conference materials were not printed on recycled paper. Lunch was tripple wrapped in plastic and cardboard. While the scientists and policy experts attending were undoubtedly brilliant in the long view, they weren't exactly walking their talk. The military depends on social movements with Hearts and Minds campaigns and disinformation activites. Why aren't we?

This is just a small excerpt from a longer, eloquent and readable essay on the brief social movement that swept the UK in the late 1700s. This movement is credited with the English abolition of slavery, despite the fact that slavery was economically advantageous and the English economy was dependent on it. If we're going to approach climate change from the aspect of social movements, this is a great place to start:

WorldChanging: Another World Is Here: A Sudden Change of Heart: Lessons from the Abolitionist Movement: "Social values, it's commonly understood, move at glacial speed.

Yes and no: sometimes they can change astonishingly fast, a fact that many people overlook or downplay. A powerful case in point is the massive and relatively swift shift in attitudes and policy towards slavery in Britain during the Victorian era.

As the popular historian Niall Ferguson puts it in his highly readable Empire: The Rise and Demise of the British Empire and the Lessons for Global Power:

It is not easy to explain so profound a change in the ethics of a people. It used to be argued that slavery was abolished simply because it had ceased to be profitable, but all the evidence points the other way: in fact, it was abolished despite the fact that it was still profitable. What we need to understand, then, is a collective change of heart. Like all such great changes, it had small beginnings.

Small beginnings were necessary because overturning an ancient, almost universal practice was a seemingly impossible challenge. While considered barbaric today, slavery was accepted for most of human history as a necessary, if unsavory, part of the natural order of things. The Bible nor Christian tradition explicitly opposed it (although religious activists would later use the teachings of Jesus to support their cause), and slavery was easily rationalized by logic of the times which favoured a proto-social darwinian explanation for why people should be oppressed, for why the British Empire and white folks were at the top of the social hierarchy. Accidents of birth were justified in this way. (By the by, much of today's right wing economic policy is still highly influenced by these assumptions, however implicitly, when it comes to the 'have nots'.) So given this widespread social mindset and the fact that powerful entrenched economic interests supported the trade, it's truly amazing how quickly and decisively this practice was overturned.

So how did this happen? Through the efforts of a small but committed group of anti-slavery activists in the late 1700s. Remarkably diverse and equally as colourful, the champions of the abolition movement included religious leaders across dominations -- Quakers, Evangelicals, to Unitarians -- people like Granville Sharp and Zachary Macaulay who lead the Clapham Sect. We also had ex-slaver John Newton, enlightenment thinker Edmund Burke, the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and the industrialist and pottery king Josiah Wedgwood leading the charge.

Two new books recount this important story: Bury the Chains: The First International Human Rights Movement by Adam Hochschild; and Though the Heavens May Fall: The Landmark Trial that Led to the End of Human Slavery by Steven Wise. [...]"

Chuck Hagel's climate change legislature

2005-02-19T07:45:00.000-06:00

Click here to listen to a PRI interview of conservative Republican Chuck Hagel on his newly proposed legislature in response to climate change.

Emily Gertz sends dispatches from Verdopolis, a confab on future green cities

2005-02-16T16:51:00.000-06:00

file this blog post under W for Wish I was there... At last, the social and the theoretical collide.

Emily Gertz sends dispatches from Verdopolis, a confab on future green cities |
Grist Magazine | Dispatches | 10 Feb 2005: "...It's a gathering where we dispense with arguing the moral imperative of fewer cars and more trees, and instead get on with figuring out how to design the bright green future for our growing cities. It's beyond anger, done with denial, and waist-deep into acceptance. And at this panel, we were accepting that human-caused climate instability has arrived, and making it better is both the right thing to do and a huge business opportunity. [...]"

The Coming of Kyoto

2005-02-15T17:21:00.000-06:00

SPECIAL REPORT: The Coming of Kyoto - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE (Germany): "...What they have agreed to, of course, is a very watered-down treaty. No one can dispute the fact that Kyoto's goals are extremely modest. Indeed, few scientists believe Kyoto will make a big difference and most are hoping it represents a symbolic start of something much bigger. According to the German government, climate researchers estimate that greenhouse gas emissions must be reduced by 60-70 percent in the mid- to long-term. [...]"

Air pollution 'harms unborn babies'

2005-02-15T17:14:00.000-06:00

Herald Sun: Air pollution 'harms unborn babies' [16feb05]: "Babies' DNA can be damaged even before they are born if their mothers breathe polluted air, according to a study published today.

'This is the first study to show that environmental exposures to specific combustion pollutants during pregnancy can result in chromosomal abnormal"

UNEP Head Hails Entry into Force of Kyoto Protocol

2005-02-15T17:10:00.000-06:00

Xinhua China - English: "The United States, although a signatory to the Kyoto Protocol, has neither ratified nor withdrawn from the UN treaty. 'Without doubt, the fight against climate change must integrate the United States of America,' said Toepfer.

    'It is not possible to make an efficient environment policy without the United States,' said Toepfer, adding that the US is needed in this regard because it is a technology power as well as the largest emitter of greenhouse gases.

    Some analysts have argued that without the United States the Kyoto Protocol is more dead than alive.

    However, Toepfer said that UNEP is not so pessimistic, noting that many individual states in the United States are adopting or planning to adopt greenhouse gas reductions in line with the spirit of the protocol."

U.S. paper recycling reaches a record high

2005-02-15T16:57:00.000-06:00

Yahoo! News - U.S. paper recycling reaches a record high: "Americans are recycling paper at an all-time high, recapturing 300 pounds per person each year. That's about half the paper produced in the United States.

In addition to improvements in the tactics of waste-paper collection, recycling is gaining from China's suddenly ravenous appetite for U.S. scrap paper. Its hunger for recycled paper is fueled by its own shortage of wood pulp and a mushrooming need for boxes in which to ship its exports.

U.S. papermakers, who need scrap themselves, are struggling to compete against China's mills, which made off with about 6 million tons of American scrap paper in 2004. That's from a total U.S. paper recovery of about 50 million tons. Mills in India, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea (news - web sites) also are ardent bidders for American scrap paper. [...]"

Redefining Progress - Jobs & Opportunities

2005-02-15T16:51:00.000-06:00

Redefining Progress - Jobs & Opportunities: "current internship openings in the following areas:

COMMON ASSETS
SUSTAINABILITY INDICATORS
SUSTAINABLE ECONOMICS (2 internships)
ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE AND CLIMATE CHANGE INITIATIVE (2 internships)
COMMUNICATIONS AND GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS (2 internships, preferably graduate students or college seniors)
DEVELOPMENT (2 internships)"