In just a few short months, Iceland has killed over 150 whales despite a 1986 international ban on commercial whaling and ban on international trade in whale products.  The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS) reports 63 minke whales and at least 93 endangered fin whales have been slaughtered since May 2009, in what is being described as the largest commercial hunt in the North Atlantic in decades.

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When Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele guest-hosted William Bennett’s nationally syndicated conservative talk radio show a few weeks back—in part, to diffuse the mounting tension between the Republican Party chief Steele and the de facto Republican Party chief, Rush Limbaugh—he gave a skewed interpretation of natural history and aligned himself with Limbaugh’s position on global warming in one fell swoop:

“We are cooling. We are not warming. The warming you see out there, the supposed warming, and I am using my finger quotation marks here, is part of the cooling process. Greenland, which is now covered in ice, it was once called Greenland for a reason, right? Iceland, which is now green. Oh I love this. Like we know what this planet is all about. How long have we been here? How long? No very long.”

But Steele didn’t stop there. He exhorted listeners to take sides in a debate that is “leading to the ultimate political Armageddon between conservatism and liberalism.” Telling one caller:

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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.

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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.

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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 outgoing government.

Steingrimur Sigfusson, the Minister of both Finance and Fisheries for the Icelandic government, told a news conference on Tuesday:

“We agreed in a government meeting this morning to send a formal warning out to those with vested interests in whaling, saying that the recent decision of the ex-minister of fisheries about increasing the whaling quota for the next five years is now being reconsidered.”

In one of its final acts before stepping down over the country’s mounting economic crisis, the center-right government of Prime Minister Geir Haarde announced last week that it would allow whaling of fin and minke whales for another five years.

The announcement sparked an uproar in the conservation community, particularly from vocal Sea Shepherd Conservation Society founder Paul Watson, who encouraged an economic boycott. “We’re going to say to people around the world to not buy Icelandic vodka, sweaters, and fish, to not go as tourists to Iceland and to not use Iceland as a refueling station for private jets,” said Watson from his boat, The Steve Irwin, in the waters of the Southern Ocean.

Iceland is one of the few countries left that occasionally shows interest in hunting whales, and they are no stranger to the intervention of Watson and the Sea Shepherds. In 1986, the anti-whaling group sunk half of Iceland’s whaling fleet while docked at Reykjavik harbor, claiming the destruction of the ships was the reason the whaling industry in Iceland stalled for 20 years.

Image: CC licensed by flickr user wili_hybrid

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.

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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).

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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“Enhanced geothermal systems have the potential to be the world’s only ever-present form of baseload renewable energy,” said Deparment of Energy Acting Assistant Secretary Katharine Fredriksen.

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In an effort to build consensus, the chair person of the conference urged for there to be little debate and no voting at the meeting this year. The goal is to “pay it forward,” and use any additional good will that is created this year at next year’s meeting with the hope that more can be accomplished. Many environmentalists find the chairman’s plan to be intolerable, as they claim that Japan is using “scientific research” as an excuse to hunt approximately 1,000 whales each year. But Japan isn’t the only country ignoring a 1986 ban on commercial whaling that was agreed upon by the commission.

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