Green Options » coast

Are Somali Pirates Just Trying to Protect the Environment?

Amanda Peterka — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:14:38 +0000

The Huffington Post ran an interesting feature today, just one day after Capt. Richard Phillips was rescued from that hostage situation in Somalian waters. The feature is an essay written by a Somalian-Canadian singer/activist and explains why Somalians don’t condemn, and sometimes even encourage, their pirates. The argument has been tossed around the Internet a bit, but I haven’t seen it much in mainstream media, and especially not now that we’ve just recovered one of our very own from a dangerous situation.

The argument runs: Many Somali pirates are just trying to keep Somalia’s waters clean.

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Mystery: Brown Pelicans Dying Along California Coast

Marika Collins — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 05:38:39 +0000

A disproportionate amount of Brown Pelicans have been dying along the California coast in recent days. This is especially troubling since the pelicans have been on the endangered list since 1970. The birds were nearly decimated before the chemical pesticide DDT was banned in 1972.

This grim development is being monitored by wildlife conservation and rescue groups including WildRescue, operated by Rebecca Dmytryk.

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Bush Plans Oil Drilling Off California Coast By 2010

Andrew Williams — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:01:14 +0000

The Bush administration has taken steps to open the Californian coast to oil exploration and drilling in as few as three years. The move could potentially tap more than 10 billion barrels of oil, enough to power the U.S. for 17 months.

The proposal has been greeted with horror in environmental circles, wary of the threat of oil spills, air pollution and increased shipping traffic in an area rich with migrating whales, millions of seabirds, sea otters, fish and crab feeding grounds. According to Richard Charter, a lobbyist for the Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund, “You couldn’t design a better formula to create adverse impacts on California’s coastal-dependent economy.”

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Brazil Establishes Whale Sanctuary Along its Entire Coast

Andrew Williams — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:26:23 +0000

The Brazilian government has today signed a federal decree establishing the Brazilian Whale and Dolphin Sanctuary, which will drastically increase protection for all cetacean species along the country’s entire 5,000 mile long coast.

According to José Truda Palazzo, Jr., Brazilian Commissioner to the International Whaling Commission, “the initiative sends a clear and powerful message to the international community in relation to Brazil’s commitment towards whale conservation, and also reinforces our campaign for a South Atlantic Whale Sanctuary to be established in the entire oceanic basin.”

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Searaser Device Uses Waves to Pump Sea Water Uphill, Could Be Huge Boost for Hydro Power

Andrew Williams — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:54:05 +0000

A UK engineer has invented a device that harnesses wave power to pump sea water uphill, from where it can flow downhill to create hydroelectricity, raising hopes of a cheap, abundant source of renewable energy.

In trials, the device, called the Searaser, has pumped water more than 160ft above sea level, using little more than the natural motion of the waves. There are now plans for a much larger version, capable of pumping to a height of more than 650ft.

Inventor Alvin Smith reckons that each full-size device would be able to pump enough water to supply electricity to 470 homes. He also calculates that a fleet of 43,000 could generate enough power for a staggering 20 million households.

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US Supreme Court Sides With Navy In Whales Sonar Case

Andrew Williams — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 14:15:16 +0000

In a landmark case, the US Supreme Court ruled yesterday that the US Navy can carry out sonar training exercises off the southern California coast, without safeguards designed to protect whales, dolphins and other marine mammals.

The decision is a major setback for environmentalists, who had hoped the Court would uphold an earlier injunction by a federal judge requiring the navy to take precautions while undertaking submarine-hunting exercises. Environmental groups originally launched the lawsuit claiming that the use of sonar can injure or even kill a wide range of marine species, including sea-lions and endangered blue whales.

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