Back in October, there was quite a bit of controversy surrounding NASA’s project of crashing a LCROSS satellite into the moon to determine if there is in fact water on the moon. While it was initially believed by spectators and researchers alike that the mission was a big failure, since there was no visible lunar dust or any other substances that resulted immediately from the cash; NASA says today that it actually was a success, indicating that the moon has a substantial water supply.

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July 20th, 2009 was the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11’s historic flight to the moon, where astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first human beings to walk on the moon. 40 years ago, space flight inspired such awe that astronauts were hailed as heroes and celebrities by men, women, and children alike. 40 years later none of us, besides the most avid space fanatic, would likely to be able to name one astronaut in service today.

Despite the tragedies of Space Shuttle Challenger, and later Columbia, where the world is shocked into being reminded of the inherit dangers of sitting on 1 million gallons of rocket fuel, or re-entering the earth’s atmosphere at 1,870 miles per hour. We all see space flight as mundane because the vast majority of space flights since Apollo 11, have been mostly conducting seemingly routine scientific experiments. Now don’t get me wrong, I believe in the importance of science in space, but these experiments don’t exactly inspire awe in the general population like, oh say, a manned mission to Mars would. We also don’t have the fever of beating those damned Ruskies because they might go to space and blow us all up, which we had during the height of the cold war when Apollo 11 touched down on the lunar Sea of Tranquility.

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The Department of the Interior is proposing to cut the number of snowmobiles allowed per day into Yellowstone National Park.

According to reports, a proposed rule change issued by the National Park Service would allow up to 318 snowmobiles per day into Yellowstone National Park for the next two winters. The rule would cut by more than half the 720 allowed last winter by the Bush administration. In a notice to be published tomorrow in the Federal Register, the National Park Service says it is reopening a public comment period on the 318-per-day plan that never went into effect.

The growth in snowmobile activity in Yellowstone National Park over the last two decades has been an increasingly contentious issue from the Yellowstone Valley to the halls and offices of Washington, D.C.. The 45-day comment period is certain to bring in passionate pleas from environmentalists, snowmobile enthusiasts, and local businesses who have long battled over the proper number of snow machines in the park.

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In 1543, Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus published “On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres,” in which he challenged the view that the sun revolved around the earth, arguing instead that the earth revolved around the sun. With his new model of the solar system, he began a wide-ranging debate among scientists, theologians, and others. His alternative to the earlier Ptolemaic model, which had the earth at the center of the universe, led to a revolution in thinking, to a new worldview.

Today we need a similar shift in our worldview, in how we think about the relationship between the earth and the economy. The issue now is not which celestial sphere revolves around the other but whether the environment is part of the economy or the economy is part of the environment. Economists see the environment as a subset of the economy. Ecologists, on the other hand, see the economy as a subset of the environment.

Like Ptolemy’s view of the solar system, the economists’ view is confusing efforts to understand our modern world. It has created an economy that is out of sync with the ecosystem on which it depends.

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After 136 years, the Ontario government is planning on revising its 136 year old mining law to reflect modern circumstances (including prohibiting exploration on private land in Southern Ontario). Drafted in the 1873 when the exploitation of natural resources was seen as the key to economic success, mining was treated as an activity that superseded anything else. Based on a “free entry” system, a mining company could explore and stake land anywhere in the province, including personal property, aboriginal lands, and some zones of ecological sensitivity.

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]]> http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/05/03/ontario-updates-its-136-year-old-mining-law-to-limit-exploration-rights/feed/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/03/27/russia-to-create-special-military-force-to-protect-the-arctic/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/03/27/russia-to-create-special-military-force-to-protect-the-arctic/#comments Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:50:31 +0000 Amiel Blajchman http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/03/27/russia-to-create-special-military-force-to-protect-the-arctic/ Russia’s Security Council released its Arctic strategy for the year 2020 this week. The strategy includes the authorization of a special military force to “guarantee Russia’s military security in diverse military and political circumstances”, like the country’s controversial claims to large portions of the Arctic shelf. With the possible opening of the NorthWest Passage and the subsequent opening of natural resource deposits, Russia has also been steadily pushing its claims to the Arctic.

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http://www.earthpolicy.org/Books/PB3/presentation.htm

Earth Policy Institute (EPI) has created a PowerPoint presentation that summarizes Lester Brown’s latest book, Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization. It quickly reviews the book’s key concepts using data, facts, and figures, including the Plan B blueprint for reducing net carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions 80 percent by 2020 to stabilize climate.

All are welcome to use this presentation and modify it to suit their needs. It is designed to be shared, so feel free to pass along the link to others who might be interested. We ask only that users appropriately credit EPI and the photographers, notably Yann Arthus-Bertrand, eminent French photographer and friend of EPI, whose works appear within.

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Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory released a study this week concluding that the solar industry could use many cheaper and more abundant alternatives to silicon, including iron pyrite — most commonly known as fool’s gold.

In total, the researchers found 23 alternative semiconductors, but only 12 are more easily found than silicon. Iron pyrite was named the most probable solution among those 12. Solar producers have often faced shortages of silicon, so even one new material would be a welcome jolt for the industry.

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Anyone who has ever had the unfortunate experience of even being near one will tell you the smell alone is enough to make you instantly nauseated.

Aside from that, what are some of the other hazards of raising animals this way?

Here is a interesting list I’ve compiled of various pieces of information about this vile practice, and the impact it has on us and the environment:

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As land and water become scarce, competition for these vital resources intensifies within societies, particularly between the wealthy and those who are poor and dispossessed. The shrinkage of life-supporting resources per person that comes with population growth is threatening to drop the living standards of millions of people below the survival level, leading to potentially unmanageable social tensions.

Access to land is a prime source of social tension. Expanding world population has cut the grainland per person in half, from 0.23 hectares in 1950 to 0.10 hectares in 2007. One tenth of a hectare is half of a building lot in an affluent U.S. suburb. This ongoing shrinkage of grainland per person makes it difficult for the world’s farmers to feed the 70 million people added to world population each year. The shrinkage in cropland per person not only threatens livelihoods; in largely subsistence societies, it threatens survival itself. Tensions within communities begin to build as landholdings shrink below that needed for survival.

The Sahelian zone of Africa, with one of the world’s fastest-growing populations, is an area of spreading conflict. In troubled Sudan, 2 million people have died and over 4 million have been displaced in the long-standing conflict of more than 20 years between the Muslim north and the Christian south. The more recent conflict in the Darfur region in western Sudan that began in 2003 illustrates the mounting tensions between two Muslim groups–camel herders and subsistence farmers. Government troops are backing Arab militias, who are engaging in the wholesale slaughter of black Sudanese in an effort to drive them off their land, sending them into refugee camps in neighboring Chad. At least some 200,000 people have been killed in the conflict and another 250,000 have died of hunger and disease in the refugee camps.

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Most electric cars will be powered by lithium batteries, and Bolivia has more lithium than any other nation worldwide. How this development will affect Bolivia is unknown, but will squarely place the South American country at an intriguing and crucial crossroads.

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Czech President Vaclav Klaus, who is also the current President of the European Union, has once again voiced his skepticism about global warming.

At an event at the World Economic Forum, in Davos, the Czech President said he doubts that global warming is actually occurring and that many scientists fail to consider alternative theories regarding the issue. He also attacked former US Vice President and environmental activist, Al Gore, of failing to look at the complete picture in regard to the global phenomenon.

>>Watch video of EU President Vaclav Klaus at Davos

The Czech President didn’t mince his words in questioning the legitimacy of the scientific community’s concerns regarding global warning.

I don’t think that there is any global warming, I don’t see the statistical data for that. I’m very sorry that some people like Al Gore are not ready to listen to the competing theories. I do listen to them.

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]]> http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/02/02/czech-president-questions-global-warming-yet-again-as-he-attacks-al-gores-climate-campaign/feed/ http://ecoscraps.com/2009/02/01/in-need-of-eco-therapy/ http://ecoscraps.com/2009/02/01/in-need-of-eco-therapy/#comments Sun, 01 Feb 2009 21:34:38 +0000 Amy Bell http://ecoscraps.com/2009/02/01/in-need-of-eco-therapy/ Eco-anxiety: the growing anguish experienced by someone who can’t handle the thought that they are in any way contributing to global warming, species extinction, depleting natural resources, and the like.

Does this sound like you?  If so, maybe it’s time to seek eco-therapy.

Some experts say all the worst-case scenario/gloom and doom type stories about the environment, which seem to be favored by the media, are taking a mental toll on some people.

Because of this, a new kind of therapy has been developed.

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]]> http://ecoscraps.com/2009/02/01/in-need-of-eco-therapy/feed/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/01/18/haagen-dazs-loves-bees-should-we-love-haagen-dazs/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/01/18/haagen-dazs-loves-bees-should-we-love-haagen-dazs/#comments Sun, 18 Jan 2009 16:37:33 +0000 Heather Dunham http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/01/18/haagen-dazs-loves-bees-should-we-love-haagen-dazs/ Last year, Häagen-Dazs announced it would invest a quarter of a million dollars into research on “Colony Collapse Disorder” — the mysterious ongoing disappearance of millions of honeybees in North America and Europe.  Is this mere corporate greenwashing, or does the premium ice cream icon deserve our affection (and our business)?

Häagen-Dazs has a vested interest in preserving and rescuing honeybees, since nearly 40% of their flavours rely on fruits and nuts pollinated by bees.  But we shouldn’t dismiss this as mere self-serving business interests.  If anything, we should wonder why this sort of investment is not much more common.

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]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/01/18/haagen-dazs-loves-bees-should-we-love-haagen-dazs/feed/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/01/16/bush-urges-lawmakers-to-stake-claim-to-arctic-natural-resources/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/01/16/bush-urges-lawmakers-to-stake-claim-to-arctic-natural-resources/#comments Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:23:52 +0000 Mridul Chadha http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/01/16/bush-urges-lawmakers-to-stake-claim-to-arctic-natural-resources/

The outgoing President of United States has urged lawmakers to stake claims to Arctic’s vast and untouched natural resources. In a detailed policy directive, President Bush made it clear that Congress needs to reconsider the existing rules regarding control of the seabed. The President wants lawmakers to make arrangements for the U.S. to stake claim on area extending beyond Alaska.

In his directive the President urged the lawmakers to consider the economic, environmental and security interests of the country and take the required legal initiatives to stake claim to the rich natural resources of the Arctic. The directive said that increased human activity in the region and the phenomenon of global warning would provide new opportunities to tap the vast reserves of natural resources and that the United States should take appropriate steps to get hands on those resources.

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]]> http://redgreenandblue.org/2009/01/16/bush-urges-lawmakers-to-stake-claim-to-arctic-natural-resources/feed/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/12/29/nic-global-trends-2025-report-world-to-see-economic-growth-at-the-cost-of-environment-and-human-life/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/12/29/nic-global-trends-2025-report-world-to-see-economic-growth-at-the-cost-of-environment-and-human-life/#comments Mon, 29 Dec 2008 15:16:34 +0000 Mridul Chadha http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/12/29/nic-global-trends-2025-report-world-to-see-economic-growth-at-the-cost-of-environment-and-human-life/

A new report prepared by the National Intelligence Council has projected that the world would be witnessing severe water and food shortages by 2025 and the changing climate would further strain the already fast depleting natural resources. In an attempt to boost the economic growth countries would put immense pressure on highly strategic and essential resources like energy, water and food.

Depletion of Natural Resources

The new report paints a very grim picture of our future. While it states that the world would see “unprecedented economic growth” it also states that it would come at a hefty cost. The demand would outstrip supply and easily available natural resources would be stretched to the limits of their carrying capacities.

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]]> http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/12/29/nic-global-trends-2025-report-world-to-see-economic-growth-at-the-cost-of-environment-and-human-life/feed/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/12/27/new-years-resolutions-from-the-public-employees-for-environmental-responsibility/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/12/27/new-years-resolutions-from-the-public-employees-for-environmental-responsibility/#comments Sat, 27 Dec 2008 12:01:47 +0000 Timothy B. Hurst http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/12/27/new-years-resolutions-from-the-public-employees-for-environmental-responsibility/

I’ve never really been one for making New Year’s resolutions. I have trouble being resolute about things because it gets in the way of my contingency. But that doesn’t mean other people shouldn’t make resolutions, nor does it mean they are necessarily void of any real utility. And Jeff Ruch, the Executive Director of Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) apparently thinks they can be useful as well. Ruch released a list of nine resolutions for the whistleblowing, watchdogging PEER for 2009.

Dear Tim,

In the New Year, PEER resolves to -

1. Free the political prisoners - not those in Guantanamo but the domestic whistleblowers who have suffered for speaking truth to perverse power. At the top of our list is returning Chief Teresa Chambers to the U.S. Park Police;

2. Protect scientists from political reprisal. We aim to enact new, tough whistleblower laws in ‘09 that include strong safeguards for scientists and their work. Along with new laws, we expect new, sane appointees administering these laws who have no reason to appear before grand juries;

3. Push for greenhouse gas regulations that work. Many of the global warming plans are more hot air than real curbs. PEER will provide EPA specialists charged with operating the system with a loud voice about what works and what doesn’t;

4. Make the Pentagon obey environmental laws. PEER will strive to return civilian oversight over out-of-control domestic military abuses;

5. Agitate for an effective federal response to off-road vehicle abuse. ORVs have become the top threat to American landscapes. The federal land management agencies need an effective enforcement and restoration strategy;

6. Follow the water. PEER programs to protect wetlands, curb prescription drug and other chemical contamination of drinking water and shield aquatic wildlife will all expand in ‘09;

7. End the use of infants, schoolchildren and other vulnerable populations for human subject experiments for pesticides and harmful chemicals. The gaping loopholes in the Bush human testing rules must be closed;

8. Focus land management agencies on their lands - not their minerals. From reviving a genuine park wilderness agenda to ceasing irresponsible energy leasing, PEER will use all the tools at our disposal; and

9. Provide a lifeline to public servants in crisis. When the moment of conflict between conscience and career arrives - who you gonna call?

Image: Paul Mannix via flickr under a Creative Commons License

There is a debate about how much lithium is available on earth, and how long it will last. After reading this article from The Daily Green, I’m skeptical. An optimistic CEO from a company that sells electric car batteries offers the following thoughts:

I’ve seen some negative reports saying the world is in danger of running out, but I don’t think that’s a productive notion. The amount of lithium in a lithium-ion battery is very low when compared to other substances — it’s three to four percent of our costs for materials. When I look at all the things to worry about for battery cars, lithium supply does not make the list. There’s not likely to be a problem until 2020 at the earliest.

2020 at the earliest? That sounds soon to me, especially given the interest of countries like France, Spain, and Australia in electric cars, and not to mention the U.S., especially now that a very powerful person by the name of Barack Obama has voiced great belief in an electric car future and wants to provide billions to research battery technology as part of the much discussed economic stimulus package.

Even if lithium is available more readily than some people think, is it also possible that while the developed world would lose much of its dependence on oil, it would simply become dependent on lithium instead? Would some people hate Bolivia, and even start to complain that we need to “end our dependence on lithium from Bolivia?”

Even though the price of lithium might only be 3-4% of a battery’s cost, it is called a lithium battery right? It’s a pretty important battery component, correct?

So call me a pessimist in regard to lithium’s longevity– which brings us to a final topic.

Can Bolivia Succeed By Not Exploiting Natural Resources?

Continue reading on page 3…

It’s hard to know if a country can succeed without exploiting its natural resources at least to some degree. But can it be done today better than it has been done in the past? Perhaps in Bolivia’s case, it might involve itself in future carbon cap-and-trade programs, earning money by protecting its areas of the Amazon Rainforest.  Other than that, I don’t know what Bolivia could do to develop its economy in a significant way.

As mentioned earlier, lithium can be very toxic and the process to transform it into a usable form is also not very friendly to the environment. Even if Bolivia is able to exploit its lithium for economic gain, there will most certainly be a negative effect on the health of those people working to mine it and those people living near to where it is extracted. So the money will come at a price. The lithium at some point with also disappear from Bolivia. And what then?

So what do you think? Will Bolivia be ruined, improved, or hated because of electric cars?

Photo Credit: loiclemeur on Flickr under a Creative Commons license

]]> http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/12/27/new-years-resolutions-from-the-public-employees-for-environmental-responsibility/feed/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/11/11/growing-up-green-how-to-raise-an-eco-aware-child/ http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/11/11/growing-up-green-how-to-raise-an-eco-aware-child/#comments Tue, 11 Nov 2008 20:57:26 +0000 Gennefer Snowfield http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/11/11/growing-up-green-how-to-raise-an-eco-aware-child/

For parents committed to green living and environmental concsiousness, the greatest gift we can bestow upon our children — and to the world in which we live — is the spirit, passion and commitment to keeping our planet flourishing. 

We all want to ensure that our children are safe, happy and protected, and what better way to do that than by helping them preserve the earth, freeing the air from harmful contaminents and pollution, decreasing our dependence on — and wastefulness of – fuel and finding eco-friendly alternative energy sources.

Between in-home teaching and associations and resources committed to educating children about environmental protection and conservation, it’s easy get your kids out of diapers and off the grid!

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]]> http://ecochildsplay.com/2008/11/11/growing-up-green-how-to-raise-an-eco-aware-child/feed/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/10/03/exxon-oil-and-gas-project-to-face-russian-legal-challenge-over-endangered-whales/ http://sustainablog.org/2008/10/03/exxon-oil-and-gas-project-to-face-russian-legal-challenge-over-endangered-whales/#comments Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:05:45 +0000 Andrew Williams http://sustainablog.org/2008/10/03/exxon-oil-and-gas-project-to-face-russian-legal-challenge-over-endangered-whales/ Russian environmental groups have today launched a legal challenge against a consortium led by U.S. oil and gas giant Exxon, for threatening critically endangered whales in the far east of the country.

Last year, Russian authorities gave Exxon the green light to build a pipeline across a lagoon on Sakhalin Island that is a crucial feeding ground for the world’s last surviving colony of Western Gray Whales.

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]]> http://sustainablog.org/2008/10/03/exxon-oil-and-gas-project-to-face-russian-legal-challenge-over-endangered-whales/feed/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/08/15/putin-russia-and-the-north/ http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/08/15/putin-russia-and-the-north/#comments Fri, 15 Aug 2008 16:14:03 +0000 Amiel Blajchman http://redgreenandblue.org/2008/08/15/putin-russia-and-the-north/ While not new news to any readers who follow international relations, what does it mean when Russian scientists have claimed that the 1,220-mile long underwater Lomonosov Ridge is geologically linked to the Siberian continental platform? While not the start in a race for unclaimed territory, it is simply the latest salvo in an on-going dispute over which nations will be able to control what part of the Arctic, and therefore the ability to exploit or protect.

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