Green Options

The Idaho Fish and Game Commission has decided to allow hunters to kill 220 of the state’s 1,000 wolves.

In the first-ever state regulated hunt of gray wolves in the continental United States, Idaho residents can purchase a hunting tag for $11.75 and out-of-state hunters will pay $186 for the opportunity to kill a wolf.

The hunt is set to begin on September 1, and Montana has planned to begin its wolf hunt in October.

With so many sources of information on sustainability and green living choices, you’d think it would be easy for you and me to live a greener lifestyle. And yet, how many times have you found yourself out there, doing errands, going out, or traveling, and you have no idea how and where to make greener choices?

3rdWhale is a bridge between talk and action, with an iPhone app that allows you to search for green businesses in proximity to you, plus submit your own finds that aren’t already on there, all listings filtered by 3rd Whale and then rated by users, ala Yelp. An Android version is on its way.

But here’s where it gets interesting: As seen first in Mother Nature Network 3rd Whale are joining forces with Creative Citizen, a hub for crowdsourced, specifically measurable sustainable choices. Each is broken down to how much energy, waste, water, emissions you’ve saved, and in what I think will help it bridge to a broader segment of the population, money. When you have this kind of clearly tangible benefit laid out for you, and it’s on something that you carry with you, action is much for likely.

While 58 wolves have already been killed since Saturday, there’s hope that Alaska’s Department of Fish & Game will not reach their enormous quota. Defenders of Wildlife has taken legal action that could stop the hunt immediately.

“The Board of Game did not authorize the use of helicopters by state agency personnel as part of the Upper Yukon/Tanana wolf killing program,” said Wade Willis, Alaska Representative for Defenders of Wildlife. “What they are doing in that region right now is illegal.”

The debate over the aerial killing of wildlife in Alaska rages on with Ashley Judd and Defenders of Wildlife president Rodger Schlickeisen appearing on CNN’s Larry King Live last night.

Judd discusses why she so vehemently opposes aerial hunting (and later name-drops Van Jones and the Green Collar Economy) while Schlickeisen responds to Palin’s labeling of Defenders of Wildlife as a “fringe group.”

You can find part 2 after the break.

Environment groups settled a lawsuit in federal court today with the US Coast Guard, which agreed to abide by the Endangered Species Act which requires that shipping lanes do not put critically endangered Northern Atlantic right whales in harm’s way.

The Defenders of Wildlife, critical of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin’s record on the aerial killing of wolves, has expanded the viewing audience of its newest television ad just in time for Thursday’s vice-presidential debate.

In a desperate rush to complete something (anything) that at least a few Americans will consider worthwhile, by the end of his term, the Bush administration plans to run roughshod over environmental concerns in an effort to complete the planned border fence this year.

Homeland Security announced today that they will waive federal environmental laws in order to complete the 670 mile fence.