March 2009
Britain fails to deliver on pledge to lead world... →
Environment Editor Geoffrey Lean @ The Independent ~ Britain fails to deliver on pledge to lead world to ‘green recovery’: Report on progress of environmental new deals shows UK lagging behind other major economies
Britain is falling far behind other big economies in launching a Green New Deal, despite Government promises to “lead the world” on this path out of the...
February 2009
WatchRemarks of President Barack Obama Weekly Address Saturday, February 28th, 2009 Washington, DC
“I realize that passing this budget won’t be easy. Because it represents real and dramatic change, it also represents a threat to the status quo in Washington. I know that the insurance industry won’t like the idea that they’ll have to bid competitively to continue offering Medicare coverage,...
“The American public is deathly afraid of the kind of changes we actually face...”
– Jim Kunstler
N.Atlantic climate shift see-saws on South: study →
Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent @ Reuters ~ N.Atlantic climate shift see-saws on South: study
Any abrupt climate changes in the North Atlantic region have a quick see-saw effect on the South Atlantic and affect weather around the globe rather than just locally, scientists said on Wednesday. A study of ocean sediments from the last Ice Age in the South Atlantic backed theories that a...
Polar regions found warming fast, raising sea... →
Reuters ~ Polar regions found warming fast, raising sea levels
The Arctic and Antarctic regions are warming faster than previously thought, raising world sea levels and making drastic global climate change more likely than ever, international scientists said on Wednesday. New evidence of the trend was uncovered by wide-ranging research in the two areas over the past two years in a United...
CO2 rise in atmosphere accelerates in 2008 →
Gerard Wynn @ Reuters ~ CO2 rise in atmosphere accelerates in 2008
Increases in the amount of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the atmosphere accelerated last year, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) told Reuters on Wednesday. (…)
WatchJessica Salter @ Telegraph ~ Scientists capture dramatic footage of Arctic glaciers melting in hours: Scientists have captured dramatic footage of massive lakes in the Arctic melting away in a matter of hours.
“Glaciologist Jason Box has been testing a Moulin, a shaft that allows water to travel from the glacier’s surface to its bottom, in a glacier on the Greenland ice cap to find...
“We have to develop a model of prosperity that 4.5 billion people can share and...”
– Alex Steffen ~ Ryerson University School of Interior Design in Toronto
“Our efforts to build a one-planet prosperity may involve an astonishing variety...”
– Alex Steffen ~ Ryerson University School of Interior Design in Toronto
Polar Year 'hailed as a success' →
BBC ~ Polar Year ‘hailed as a success’
Scientists and policymakers marked the official end of the International Polar Year (IPY) Wednesday at the World Meteorological Organization in Geneva.
The 60-country, $1.2bn (£830m) effort has seen knowledge about the poles - and their influence on the rest of the planet - increase hugely.
That knowledge is not just about ice and polar bears,...
WatchCaptain Planet and the Planeteers
For the first time ever, full episodes featuring the world’s original eco-hero will be available online — and only on MNN.com. Created by Ted Turner in 1990, Captain Planet and the Planeteers was the first environmentally themed animated series. In 2009, the world needs him more than ever. For the next 12 months, MNN will unveil more than 20 episodes of...
WatchCruelty Capital USA by PETA
KFC suppliers cram birds into huge waste-filled factories, breed and drug them to grow so large that they can’t even walk, and often break their wings and legs. At slaughter, the birds’ throats are slit and they are dropped into tanks of scalding-hot water—often while they are still conscious. It would be illegal for KFC to abuse dogs, cats, pigs, or cows in these...
WatchMCCRUELTY by PETA
In the U.S., chickens killed by McDonald’s suppliers are slaughtered using an outdated method that results in extreme suffering. As the biggest seller of chicken meat in the U.S., McDonald’s has the responsibility—and the ability—to reduce this abuse by demanding that its U.S. suppliers use a less cruel method of slaughter.
WatchAs permafrost thaws in the Arctic, huge pockets of methane — a potent greenhouse gas — could be released into the atmosphere. Experts are only beginning to understand how disastrous that could be.
Margot Roosevelt @ LA Times ~ Bubbles of warming, beneath the ice
(…) “International experts are alarmed. “Methane release due to thawing permafrost in the Arctic is a...
Wake up, Alberta – Obama's going for the hard cap... →
Jeffrey Simpson @ Tuesday’s Globe and Mail ~ Wake up, Alberta – Obama’s going for the hard cap on emissions
On Thursday, President Barack Obama will present his 2010 – yes, 2010 – budgetary proposals. Albertans in particular and Canadians in general might get a shock. Heads firmly in the sand, such as those in the Alberta cabinet, might miss what will be proposed, but no one else...
WatchSylvia Earle: Here’s how to protect the blue heart of the planet (TED Prize winner!)
WatchNational Clean Energy Project: Building the New Economy The Center for American Progress Action Fund and John Podesta are hosting a forum entitled “National Clean Energy Project: Building the New Economy” on Monday, February 23, 2009 in Washington, DC. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is Honorary Chair. The National Clean Energy Project builds on the August 2008 “National Clean Energy Summit”...
Paul Volcker: Economic Crisis May Be Worse Than... →
Eileen AJ Connelly in New York @ The Huffington Post
“Even the experts don’t quite know what’s going on.” Speaking to a number of those experts Friday, Paul Volcker, a top economic adviser to President Barack Obama, cited not only the lack of understanding of the global financial meltdown but the “shocking” speed with which it had spread across the world....
Top Economist Paints Dire Climate Change Scenario:... →
Charles Hanley in Cape Town, South Africa @ AP
If we don’t deal with climate change decisively, “what we’re talking about then is extended world war,” the eminent economist said.
His audience Saturday, small and elite, had been stranded here by bad weather and were talking climate. They couldn’t do much about the one, but the other was squarely in their hands. And...
Power Shift: Global youth climate movement comes... →
Environment blog @ the Guardian ~ Power Shift: Global youth climate movement comes of age: Obama’s first big test on climate change - the largest eco protest in history
“We are facing big issues about the economy at the moment but the really big...”
– UK Sustainability Minister Lord Hunt @ The Independent ~ spoke on the first day of London Fashion Week as he launched an action plan to to make the clothing industry less damaging to the environment.
