Green Options

Hosting a national radio talk-show, Steele offered a curious interpretation of history, climatology, and coalition building.

Two British supermarket chains will ensure that none of the seafood products they carry will be supplied by companies that support or engage in whaling or the hunting of other sea mammals.

Waitrose, one of the two stores, has already written to the Icelandic government asking them to reverse their decision to allow an extended whaling quota this year. The other store, Marks & Spencer, said they are drafting a letter to send soon.

Contrary to previous reports, Iceland’s new government announced that they will keep the controversial increased whaling quota that the outgoing Fisheries Minister enacted last month, just one day before leaving office.

Steingrimur J Sigfusson, Iceland’s new Fisheries Minister, said that the country will keep the whaling quota, but added that whalers should not expect the quota to extend five years, as was originally planned. The quota increase has been criticized by environmental groups because it allows the killing of 150 endangered fin whales.

On the heals of the dissolution of Iceland’s ruling government, incoming government officials appear to be on the verge of revoking a five-year extension to whaling of fin and minke whales passed just last week by the former ruling government.

The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society is calling for a complete economic boycott of Icelandic products after the country’s announcement extending their illegal commercial whaling campaign into the next five years.

Last year, Iceland killed nine endangered Fin whales. A few months back they began exporting the meat from the endangered whales to Japan, which is a clear violation of international law. This year, they want to kill 150.

Think of Björk and the Icelandic musician’s bizarre videos, eccentric clothing and eclectic music might spring to mind. Now she’s bringing a new theme to her persona: money.

Reykjavik, Iceland-based Audur Capital is raising money for its second venture-capital fund, named Björk, focused on greentech startups (via Earth2Tech and The New York Times). The singer and Audur jointly established the fund to help turn around Iceland’s economy, which was crushed by the country’s banking collapse in the fall. Audur seeded the fund, expected to close in March, with an investment of 100 million Icelandic kronur (about $816,330).

Icelandic star — and part time swan — Björk is using her celebrity to jump start a venture capital fund focused on women, and the environment.

Ignoring both the CITES treaty and the International Whaling Commission, exports of Fin Whale meat hunted by the Icelandic whaling fleet have passed customs and quality checks in Japan. It is hoped that Japanese consumers develop a taste for the meat, apparently one of the tastiest varieties.

Prior to the advent of modern whaling techniques in the 19th century, Fin whales were largely immune to predation by humans. However, modern methods have allowed an estimated 90,000 Fin whales to be caught in the North Atlantic up until around the late 1980’s, with some subsistence catches in Greenland continuing. Populations in the Pacific and Antarctic regions are less well known.

The Fin Whale is currently listed in appendix 1 of the CITES list of endangered species. This list aims to protect endangered species by preventing international trade except when import is for non commercial reasons. However, Iceland along with Norway and Japan hold reservations to this listing. This effectively means that these countries have opted out of this area of the CITES convention, allowing them to trade this species. The catch rates set by the International Whaling Commission have been set at zero since 1976, however this does not apply to Iceland, Norway or the Russian Federation which have all objected to this provision.

The lands that will be opened are in Alaska and 11 western states. It is believed that the geothermal energy in time could provide electricity to 5.5 million homes.

This article is part of EcoWorldly’s week-long spotlight on Politicians You Can Believe In. To read more, subscribe to our RSS feed, or view our posts about politics.

Despite their tumultuous economy, Iceland is vying for one of the non-permanent United Nations Security Council seats going up for a vote tomorrow.

Iceland, which generates nearly all of its power from geothermal and hydroelectric sources, has emphasized their valuable experience in the fight against climate change and said they would represent the goals of all small countries with their position on the council.

Not every country has Iceland’s volcanoes, geysers, and hot springs to tap for electricity, but President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson is convinced that all nations possess the natural resources to cut their fossil fuel use and that doing so is vital for global security.

I have an issue. A problem, a concern. A nag. It’s an itch, and I just gotta scratch it.

It’s this. America, the UK and Iceland have all been bailed out by the taxpayer. You see it and you hear it: “Taxpayer to pump billions of squidoos into financial system” etc.

Except it’s a bald and blatent lie. The USA’s bailout was $700bn. The UK’s bailout has been estimated at $400bn. Iceland is more tame, at about $5.4bn.