But the citizens, it seems, are having the last laugh as it has been reported this week that the town is to be the first in the UK to make use of the sewer system in a whole new way.

Rather than rely on the rather un-environmentally friendly process of digging up swathes of countryside and road to lay cables, H2O Networks Ltd have been called in for the gig.

As is so often the case, simple ideas seem to have manifest benefits and using sewer systems to lay fibre optic cables is a case in point.

As already stated, there is no need to dig up roads.

Conventional cables are normally laid a mere 45 cm below ground. Utilising the sewer systems means that the cables lie a full 10 metres below ground, decreasing the likelihood of damage and increasing security in potentially dangerous situations.

And of course, with no digging needed, with the sewers already in place, getting the fibre optics laid can be achieved far more quickly.

So, as many Britons languish behind with slow internet access, Bournemouth is casually reinventing itself as a rather fast, happening town, and in the not-too-distant future, will enjoy internet speeds approaching 100Mbps.

The UK has 360,000 miles worth of sewers. As Elfed Thomas, CEO of H2O Networks says:

“This is just the start of bringing next generation connectivity to the UK.”

Sources:

Yahoo UK

I.T. Professionals

Further Info:

H20 Networks Ltd

Image Source:

Photo of Victorian sewer courtesy of Flickr

The big names cannot help but pump out more sustainable paper products on an almost weekly basis. From biology college textbooks gone green to carbon friendly greeting cards, we’ve rounded up the top ten green papier goods that caught our eye.

7. So, the FSC is not perfect. But it’s a start and it speaks volumes when office supply giants like Staples start to sell what most of us want to start using already in the copy machine: post-consumer waste paper.

6. Green textbooks are challenging Penn State University’s exam taking establishment. Talk about a YAWN generation.

5. Perfect for the green spy in your life? Xerox has got paper that erases in 24 hours.

4. From your hiking map to your grandma’s birthday letter: Chris Ryan, a publisher of outdoor recreation and guide books now buys up to 15 tons of outdated maps at a time to meet his customer’s demands from these premium quality, unique envelopes made from 100% post-consumer content.

3. Random House’s 2008 15% recycled paper policy: the one that triggered a short-term revenue decline and in the future (if the right CEO steps up to the plate) has the potential to paint the publishing world a darker shade of green.

2. Live lighter at the office by switching to 100% post-consumer waste paper and then showing off your CO2 and tree savings using Green Printer’s eco-calculator widget (we couldn’t resist a well-time “plug”!)

1. Verysupercool (yes, that is their real and uber-funky name) teams with CarbonFund.org to create the Greenest Little Greeting Card in Texas.

So, even while the mythical paperless office lures us with its green goodness, we still use and love our paper - printed on both sides, thankyouverymuch.

Save trees, time and money the eco-friendly way with our recycled paper, sustainable printing methods and eco-calculator with Green Printer - more details at http://www.greenprinteronline.com. Now, wasn’t that easy?

Among other things, the Consumer-First Energy Act of 2008 would roll back tax breaks for oil companies and invest the money in renewable energy development and energy efficiency technology. It also would create a windfall profit tax on oil companies failing to invest in increased capacity and renewable energy resources.

According to one of the bill’s co-sponsors, Sen. Bernie Sanders (Ind.-VT):

“The bottom line is that at a time when this country faces a major crisis in terms of the price of oil, when many working families in our state and all over this country are hurting, I think we have brought forth a comprehensive piece of legislation, which begins to attack that problem with the result of lowering the price of oil.”

Reaction Less than Stellar

Thus far, reaction across the blogosphere is just as what might be expected. Dave Roberts at Grist makes no bones about his skepticism and calls the move a “counter-pander.” He writes:

“Look: you can’t promise Americans you’re going to lower the price of gas. It’s a lie, and they’re going to notice when prices don’t go down. It might help you tactically in the short-term, but in the long-term it’s going to come back and bite you on the ass. Gas prices are going to keep going up, and good leadership begins with honesty.”

It’s not just bloggers who oppose the Consumer-First Energy Act, the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) released a statement yesterday decrying the windfall profits title of the bill as “misguided.” According to the statement:

“Regrettably, this proposed margin provision, which would push trading from regulated and transparent markets to unregulated and nontransparent markets, would constitute a significant step backward in transparency and market integrity.”

The problem I see with this legislation is that it does nothing to address the structural problems that are causing a rise in oil prices. Simply put, the only way for us to even try and stabilize oil prices is to use less. Using less would require major investments in public transportation, the kind of investments the feds are very skeptical of providing.

Some of the components of the Consumer-First Energy Act are as follows (adapted from bill summary - available here)

• A windfall profit tax for oil companies - A 25 percent windfall profits tax on companies that fail to invest in increased capacity and renewable energy sources. This provision would not apply to the profits those companies reinvested in clean, affordable, domestically produced renewable fuels, expanding refinery capacity and utilization, or renewable electricity production.
• Stop speculation in the oil markets - First, the bill prevents traders of U.S. crude oil from routing transactions through off-shore markets to evade speculative limits and sets forth reporting requirements. The bill also requires the Commodities Futures Trading Commission to set a substantial increase in the margin requirement for all oil futures trades, contracts or transactions.
• Roll back tax breaks for oil companies and invest the money in renewable energy - Bill would roll back $17 billion in tax breaks for oil and gas companies and instead invest those taxpayer dollars to improve consumer price protection, renewable energy development and energy efficiency echnology through a designated Energy Independence and Security Trust Fund.
• Stop government purchases of oil for the Strategic Petroleum until the price of oil drops to $75 a barrel or less - The Consumer-First Energy Act calls for suspending through December 2008 oil purchases for the SPR. Filling could resume when the 90 day average price of crude oil recedes to $75 or less.
• Protect consumers from price gouging - Give the President the authority to declare an energy emergency should there be a shortage, disruption or significant pricing anomalies in the oil market.

See Also:

• “Clean Energy Tax Credits Will Not Be Passed Without Funding“
• “Senate Passes Renewable Energy Tax Credits: Why am I not More Excited?“
• “Feast or Famine Cycles of US Clean Energy Development“
• “Show Me the Deliberation…Please“

Associated Press

Photo: © Tommyschultz | Dreamstime.com

But while I’m excited by some of the design presented in this year’s lineup, there are some troubling aspects of the roster as a whole that struck me almost immediately.

There is a strong slant toward a certain general kind of public building in this year’s COTE Top Ten. Of the ten winners (plus one honorable mention) almost all of the projects are buildings with a strong visitor component. Most of the buildings are Visitor Centers, Galleries and Libraries. Only one is a residential building, and the only office building is the honorable mention Internal Revenue Service Center in Kansas City MO.

Of the remaining nine, there are a Sculpture Building and Gallery, a Botanical Garden Visitor & Administration Center, a Learning Center, a University Center, a Center for Science and Art, an Environmental Education/Visitor Activity Center, a Discovery Center, a Library, and an Environmental Center. These are buildings which typically have a sizable budget and which are showpieces, meant to impress visitors. The inclusion of green building elements in all projects like this should be a given.

But do these really represent the best “examples of sustainable architecture and green design solutions that protect and enhance the environment”? Or should the best buildings represent the whole range of building?

As a program of the AIA, superior architecture and design are going to be key in any national awards, whether related to environmental issues or otherwise. So expecting these to be more ordinary buildings may be a bit much to ask of COTE.

The best examples of environmental design should be found in a range of buildings and building types. Monocultures are rarely a good thing in the long run. Too much of the same kind of building runs the risk of developing a public perception of green building being limited to only certain types of buildings, a niche, rather than a direction in which all building must start moving.

All of these projects are fine examples of green building, and I do not want to detract from any of this year’s winners. But if the AIA is going to “Walk the Walk,” it needs to promote a broader range of sustainable building projects. The Committee should take a closer look at its selection process and the methods it uses to arrive at its Top Ten award winners. A wider range of the implementations of green building needs to be recognized as part of the program. Without a greater representation from a wider variety of project types, the COTE Top Ten recognition runs the risk of becoming a marginalized and insignificant award, rather than a standard of excellence for all building design and construction.

My congratulations to all of this year’s winners.

See Also:
What Makes It Green? 2008 Winners

Architecture Week 2008 - Is It Sustainable?

Image: Pocono Environmental Education/Visitor Activity - Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, Architects, via: AIA.org

The action, as well as the ensuing discussions over at the blogs It’s Getting Hot in Here, and the Huffington Post, underscore the longstanding divide within the environmental movement between those who believe we should work within the system to address our most pressing environmental issues, and those who believe that the system itself is the cause of the environmental problems.
From the Brown Daily Herald:

“A female audience member ran on stage last night and threw a green pie at New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman, who had just begun a lecture on environmentalism in Salomon 101. The woman had been sitting in the south side of the auditorium’s front row when she pulled the pie out of a Brown Bookstore plastic bag that had been tucked in a red backpack and leapt out of her seat.

At the same time the woman threw the pie, a male accomplice seated a few rows back ran down the aisle and onto the stage, throwing small pamphlets explaining the actions into the crowd.

…The pamphlets thrown by the male accomplice identified the pair as the “Greenwash Guerillas,” who wrote that they were acting “on behalf of the earth (sic) and all true environmentalists.”

One side of the pamphlet contains an excerpt from a September 2006 review of Friedman’s book, “The World is Flat,” written by Raymond Lotta for the journal “Revolution,” which styles itself as the “Voice of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA.” The review is highly critical of Friedman, who the review claims cannot see his own errors while “seated in the business class of his analytical jetliner.”

The other side contains five bullet-points explaining why “Thomas Friedman deserves a pie in the face,” which include reasons like “his sickeningly cheery applaud for free market capitalism’s conquest of the planet,” and “for helping turn environmentalism into a fake plastic consumer product for the privileged.”

The pamphlet declares “Thomas Friedman’s ‘Green’ as fake and toxic to human and planetary health as the cool-whip (sic) covering his face.”

Personally, I think it was a pretty bush-league maneuver. And watching the video, I feel bad for Friedman as a human being, regardless of how I feel about his politics. Running time is 1:39.

I found one comment at It’s Getting Hot in Here particularly poignant, it reads:

“Had you stayed and listened to the speech, you would have learned that Friedman has one of the most comprehensive characterizations of the challenge than I’ve heard in a long time. He spoke about the scale of climate change, global justice and petro-dictatorships, biodiversity loss, energy poverty (i.e. global inequality), and the need for conservation. In fact, he directly addressed most of your complaints, making you come off as reactionary and uninformed. Of course Friedman has major flaws, but if your intention was to start discussion about them, you failed. Instead, you’ve started a discussion on the inappropriateness of your tactics, and left everyone confused as to what you were trying to say.”

See also: “Crazy Acts or Civil Disobedience” :: Green Options (7/2007)

Photo: Charles Haynes

Mostly because I’m not one for ethics, I will not build an ethical argument as to why it is fair for me to be skeptical and even cynical about Earth Day as we currently know it. In stead, I will argue that this skepticism has been a part of Earth Day since its inception in 1970. And until some substantive change is produced by the actions on Earth Day, there will be those who remain skeptical.

Earth Day 1970

Earth Day started out as an idea for a teach-in, a tactic used effectively by the New Left and the anti-Vietnam War movement. Senator Gaylord Nelson (D-WI) was the first to develop the idea for the event, which would be a “National Teach-in on the Crisis of the Environment” designed to help crystallize this new environmental constituency while also distancing it from the counterculture and New Left activists (1).

Senator Gaylord Nelson later wrote, “I was satisfied that if we could tap into the environmental concerns of the general public and infuse the student anti-war energy into the environmental cause, we could generate a demonstration that would force this issue onto the political agenda.” Nelson was proved correct. As the word got out, “It took off like gangbusters…Telegrams, letters, and telephone inquiries poured in from all across the country…That was the remarkable thing about Earth Day. It organized itself.”

But traditional conservationists were not comfortable with the mainstream tone the event was promoting, nor the intense media coverage the teach-in was attracting. Both of these, they argued, were attracting the powerful moneyed interests of industrial manufacturers and utilities. According to environmental scholar Robert Gottlieb, “In the weeks leading up to and following April 22, the media embraced environmentalism as the all-inclusive cause of the day.” On the other hand, some industry groups were not comfortable associating with the first Earth Day event, thanks to the paranoid fears of right-wing politicians who suggested a conspiratorial connection between the date selected for Earth Day and the centennial of Vladimir Lenin’s birthday (2).

The teach-in organizers wanted to avoid the polarizing politics of confrontation. But despite efforts to distance themselves from the activist movements of the 1960s, the new environmentalism was largely seen as an extension of them.” We didn’t want to alienate the middle class…” said Denis Hays, the 25 year old Harvard Law Student and teach-in organizer. And for the most part, they didn’t. Estimates of the overall number of participants were as high as 10 million, and the gatherings were largely peaceful and non-confrontational.

Other events, however, maintained the oppositional flavor of the New Left and anti-war demonstrations of the 1960s. At the University of Alaska, Secretary of the Interior Hickel was booed off the stage when he laid out administration support of the Alaska pipeline. In Denver, antinuclear activists presented the Colorado Environmental Rapist of the Year award to the Atomic Energy Commission. And who could forget about the activists in Florida who presented a dead octopus at the headquarters of Florida Power and Light, a utility responsible for the thermal pollution of Biscayne Bay?

Earth Day 2008

I am not just advocating opposition for opposition’s sake. But it seems to me, for healthy debate to occur, we need to be hearing as many voices as possible – those in agreement, as well as those in dissent – and Earth Day has yet to create that forum.

With that said, I don’t consider Earth Day to be a bad thing – quite the contrary. Earth Day has the capacity to be so much more. It has the potential to be a powerful tool for education, discussion, and the mobilization of concerted political action on behalf of the environment. Earth Day could even be a national holiday, recognized with all of the rights and privileges associated with the title. Earth Day could take on greater political significance were heads of state to assemble along with heads of environmental groups, trade associations, labor unions, and indigenous populations. All of this is what Earth Day could be, but we are not there…at least not yet.

(1) Gottlieb, Robert. 1993. Forcing the Spring: The Transformation of the American Environmental Movement.

(2) Gottlieb (p. 111)

Earth Day 1970 (Video) from the Butterfly Project

Photos: 1. Birmingham, AL (1972) - Courtesy of The National Archives. 2. pingnews.com

Fittingly, the film begins with a group of incredulous workers in hard hats listening to a project manager describe what a green building is. It turns out he doesn’t exactly know himself. “What does it give you?,” “what’s the point?” they ask. “I can’t answer that exactly,” he responds. But the skeptical laborers make jokes, dismissing the whole idea. After the manager explains that the condos will have “double flush” toilets, one man jokes, “I use that a lot - that system. One never seems to do the job.”

The film makers succeed by not explaining to us what green building is. Instead, they ask different people involved with the project to explain it, resulting in wildly different accounts of what it means to be green. One will focus on the location of the project, across the street from public transportation. One will speak of the regional materials used on the project. Another believes that everything in the building is made from recycled materials (not true - though many renewable materials were used and 90% of material hauled off the site will be recycled.) When asked why a tree was being taken up to the roof, one man guessed, “for good luck?”

What comes across quite clear in the film is the disdain many people involved, including the project owner/developer, have for greenies. Laborers huff about what a waste of time and money building green is. The owner/developer says that the building is not green in the sense of “eating simple cheeses or eating plain meats or something weird like that,” a comment that I had to rewind to make sure I heard correctly. A member of the waste management team says “I viewed green as dorky,” but then by the end of the project has a tattoo of a roll-off truck on her “bum,” which she shows off. I didn’t rewind that one.

The true star of the film is Wayne Phillips, a laborer who at first is skeptical but intrigued. But as he tries to explain his work with the Macallan building to his children he can’t hide his pride, and when his daughter continues to show interest in it - even asking if they can buy a condo there, he responds with a comment more profound than he intended: “I always tell you a good education will get you anything you want in life.” Green building, it seems, is viewed as a luxury for the wealthy, and even the local bar owner fears that buildings like the Macallan will price him and others (and perhaps the south Boston culture) out of the neighborhood. The class conflict in the film is subtle but well done.

The film shows the green successes of the building, rainwater collection tanks, FSC wood decking, energy saving windows, to name a few, as well as the failures. The bamboo flooring buckled, perhaps due to the new VOC free glues, and 72 floors had to be ripped up and replaced. The wheatboard cabinets swelled, causing installation headaches, but none, it seemed, had to be replaced. The green roof represented the largest disconnect between idea and installation, as every slow step had to be done by hand. The installers didn’t hold back their displeasure. And then all the plants died.

By the end, many of those working on the building come around to the advantages of green building, and even the man who joked earlier about “double flush” toilets argues the merits of green building. Others say that they will tell their grandchildren one day that they built the first green building in Boston. Mr. Phillips takes his daughter on a tour of the completed building. She says it makes her want to join a club at school on being green.

“The Greening of Southie” will air at 9:30 eastern and pacific.

For articles on other Sundance Channel “The Green” features, click below:
TV Review: Sundance Channel’s Big Ideas For A Small Planet - Wear Episode
Eco-Libris: A New Film from the Creators of “King Corn”
Sundance Channel Launches Season Two of “The Green” with “Garbage Warrior”

No, contrary to the hopes of men across Korea, actress Kim Tae Hee will not be there wrestling in fruit salad to save the Earth. And though the celebration is on April 20 (420 to cannabis lovers), smoking a joint will get you swiftly arrested in South Korea. No fun? Don’t dispare.

There’s a great lineup of events planned to generate awareness of environmental issues and bring Koreans more in touch with their green side.

Here’s a schedule of events that will take place this Sunday in Seoul Plaza, outside Seoul City Hall.

Booths and Events (11 AM - 5 PM)

• Yard 1: Save the River of Life.

The event celebrates river restoration projects throughout Korea.

• Yard 2: Energy, Climate Protection and United Citizens — a future generation of the blue planet!

This event will focus on renewable energy such as wind and solar, energy efficiency, and bicycling as a green form of transportation.

• Yard 3: The Taean Peninsula.

Remember that massive oil spill that slicked the Taean National Park and all who live there in dirty black crude? (See this EcoWorldly video from when we went to help with the cleanup.) These events will discuss the spill and what’s being done to help the devastated fishing communities affected by it.

Stage Events (11 AM - 3:30 PM)

• 11:00-14:00: 1,000 Wishes for the Earth

Seoul Earth Day organizers hope to gather 1,000 messages of hope for the planet, written by Earth Day participants.

• 12:00: Love the Earth — experience an empty bowl

Buddhism environmental group ‘Eco Buddha‘ will join participants for a lunch of simple, low-cost food. In the end, participants will hopefully have an empty bowl, but a big love for the Earth and the will to practice a sustainable lifestyle.

• 2:00: Earth Day Celebrations

• 2:30: Kiss of Life on Earth! - Photo Time

To quote the event’s organizers, “our bodies came from the Earth again, you know, again, going back to the soil.” Participants will kneel and kiss the Earth.

• 2:35 - 3:30: Concerts

There are some rumors that singer and actress Lee Hyori will be at the Earth Day events.

The planned events, however, have a kindergarten choir.

There’s much more to this green lineup, including art, women solidarity, recycling, and animal rights events.

The theme of the Earth Day celebrations, “Running Rivers,” is also an aptly chosen one. Believe it or not, the new Korean government wants to build a canal from Seoul in the north to Busan in the South to transport goods. Yes, that’s right. A big honking canal. As in a return to the 19th Century Erie Canal days. Not only would it split the nation completely in two, it would also have a major impact on most rivers in the country and the species therein. Take part in this Earth Day appeal to stop the project.

More information: Earth Day Korea (The ever tech-heavy websites of Korea don’t disappoint here.)

huh?

In light of my recent post about the demoralizing effect this administration has had upon EPA scientists and other agency ‘lifers’, I was more than just a little surprised to hear about the story leaked in Monday’s Washington Times that reports President Bush is “poised to change course and announce as early as this week that he wants Congress to pass a bill to combat global warming, and will lay out principles for what that should include.”

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino declined on Monday to confirm rumors that action was imminent, though she would not rule it out. She said the administration’s discussions are building toward an expected debate on climate change in the Senate in June [watch video of White House press conference here].

If President George W. Bush throws his support behind mandatory carbon dioxide regulations, it would indeed be a major shift away from his insistence that placing binding caps on emissions would harm the U.S. economy.

Not So Fast?
Jeffrey Holmstead, an attorney with Bracewell and Giuliani LLP and a former EPA official, said the White House was not “on the verge of a fundamental shift” in climate change policy. “I don’t think that anyone should be holding their breath waiting for a dramatic new cap-and-trade proposal from the administration,” Holmstead said. [read more about the environmental leanings of Giuliani and Bracewell LLP here]

It is possible that word from the White House may come as early as Thursday, when Bush is scheduled to speak in the Rose Garden to recipients of the President’s Environmental Youth Awards.

I would argue that the only opportunity the current president has to leave a positive and lasting legacy is to take ownership of the climate change and global warming issues (and all of the thorny issues they present). Bush would have to seize the opportunity with all the capacity, all of the willpower, and all of the resources that he can possibly muster as the leader of the wealthiest and most powerful country in the world and channel it towards solving the most pressing problem facing humanity today.

Many would argue that this president damaged the environment as well as the institutions we have built to protect it, beyond any hope of repair. While it may be true that the ecological damages may never be undone, the beauty of the democratic project is such that, it allows us to challenge those assumptions and rebuild those crumbling institutions which allowed the ecological damage in the first place.

Reuters
The Washington Times
Photo courtesy of JohnnyC

Europe — World’s first commercial tidal turbine installed (EcoGeek)

“The world’s first commercial tidal turbine has been installed in its home in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough.

Though it has yet to be turned on, it will be the first commercial power-producing tidal generator when it is (sometime later this year). The turbine has two 16 meter-wide rotors and will be able to run for 18-20 hours a day. The turbine was installed off the coast in an area known for fast moving waters, and because the rotors will only spin 10-20 times in a minute, it is unlikely to disturb marine life.”

Source: EcoGeek. Hot in media: Digg EcoGeek, Digg TimesOnline.

Africa — Tree-Nation (Tree-Nation)

“Tree-Nation is an ecological project with a focused objective: To plant 8 million trees in Niger, Africa to fight desertification! Large-scale plantation of trees will increase the land’s productivity and re-generate the soil.

Tree-nation is an online community in which you can buy your own tree and become the guardian of a real and happy tree that we will plant in our park in Niger.

Our objective is two-fold. Primarily environmental, but also closely linked to the humanitarian aid that it will provide in the long term. The project will benefit local populations in terms of welfare, education and farming practices. And that’s not all.”

Source: Tree-Nation. Hot in media: Care2.

Middle East — 1,000 acres of giant solar mirrors to rise in Israel’s desert, finally (Solve Climate)

“After seven years of dead-end negotiations, Israel will soon turn 1,000 acres in the Negev Desert into giant solar thermal stations.

The $700 million enterprise will comprise two plants to supply 250 megawatts of power in total, equal to 2.5 percent of the nation’s electricity needs.

When the plants come online in 2011, the project will be one of the biggest concentrating solar power (CSP) operations in the world. It will be a lucrative deal for the chosen builder, and an international bidding frenzy over who gets the contract could be just around the corner.”

Source: Solve Climate. Hot in media: Digg.

Asia — Should recycling be mandatory? (EcoWorldly)

“Should recycling be a feel-good choice or a legal requirement? CNN and EcoWorldly compare recycling in South Korea and the United States of America. Take a look at some of the benefits that South Korea has reaped as a country through its successful recycling program.

See the video on CNN.”

Source: Ecoworldly, CNN. Hot in media: MindBodyGreen.

.

Oceania — Man uses hedgehog as deadly weapon (Environmental Graffiti)

“A man from Wellington, New Zealand has done something that I’m certain I would never see outside of a video game: picked up a hedgehog and thrown it at another person.

William Sighalargh, apparently out of other options to express his displeasure with a 15-year old boy who was several yards away, picked up the nearby creature and heaved it, striking the victim in the leg. He has been arrested for assault with a deadly weapon - but as of yet no animal cruelty statutes have been invoked.”

Source: Environmental Graffiti. Hot in Media: Digg Environmental Graffiti, Digg BBC.

South America — Galapogos Islands go green (NECN)

“It was a tough assignment: figure out how to bring renewable energy to one of the most environmentally sensitive places on the planet. That place is the Galapagos Islands — home to a large number of rare and endangered animals. Those animals are threatened by increased tourism and a growth of island residents.

An engineer in Maine took on the challenge of saving them by bringing in wind power. Jim Tolan is back at his engineering firm in Portland, Maine, but for the last five years he’s spent much of his time working to bring wind power to the islands.”

Source: NECN. Hot in media: Care2.

South America — In Brazil, Violence Looms at the Forest Edge (ENN)

“In Mato Grosso, as in other parts of the Amazon, the rapid expansion of agriculture is triggering mounting tensions between locals and environmental authorities. Satellite imagery released in January showed that as much as 2,700 square miles (4,345 kilometers) of the massive Brazilian Amazon was cleared between August and December of 2007-about 60 percent more land than during the same five months in 2006. Experts attribute the rising deforestation to growth in global meat consumption, which is driving soybean and beef production, and to a lesser extent to the boom in biofuels, which is reportedly pushing cattle ranchers off conventional farmlands and deeper into the Amazon.”

Source: ENN. Hot in media: Care2.

North America — Canada unleashes first carbon tax in N. America (Gas 2.0)

“British Columbia will be the first in North America to institute a comprehensive carbon tax on nearly all fossil fuels. It’s a groundbreaking move that could prove the feasibility of taxing greenhouse-gas emissions.

Beginning July 1st, 2008, businesses and residents of British Columbia will be taxed $10 per metric ton of carbon emitted by fuels such as gasoline, diesel, natural gas, coal, propane, and home heating fuel. The tax will increase yearly by $5 per ton to $30 per ton in 2012, at which point the government will reevaluate the tax rate.”

Source: Gas 2.0. Hot in the media: Stumble Upon.

World — Earth in crisis, warns NASA’s top climate scientist (Physorg)

“Global warming has plunged the planet into a crisis and the fossil fuel industries are trying to hide the extent of the problem from the public, NASA’s top climate scientist says.

‘We’ve already reached the dangerous level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,’ James Hansen, 67, director of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, told AFP here.

‘But there are ways to solve the problem’ of heat-trapping greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide, which Hansen said has reached the ‘tipping point’ of 385 parts per million.”

Source:Physorg. Hot in media: Digg.

Space — Space is full of crap (Gizmodo)

“The European Space Agency has just released images showing all the satellites and human-made debris now orbiting space as a result of 51 years of launching stuff since Sputnik. That’s about 6,000 satellites up there—of which only 800 remain operational—plus thousands of other objects from launches and accidents. According to their mindblowing simulations things are getting a lot worse:

About 50 percent of all trackable objects are due to in-orbit explosion events (about 200) or collision events (less than 10).”

Source: Gizmodo. Hot in media: Digg.

Read all weekly top international environmental news reviews.

Plus, did you know? This week, April 7, was World Health Day! It was also intercultural & anti-racism week in North and South Ireland.

Ultimately the spy, an employee of C2i International who specialize in ’special risk management’ (otherwise known as industrial espionage) was little match for Plane Stupid, who described him as “more Austin Powers than James Bond”.

Accounts of the episode reveal that Ken Tobias (real name Tobias Kendall), made a number of basic errors, including:

• Wearing expensive designer clothes (which he attempted to disguise by wearing a Palestinian scarf to give some environmental credibility)
• Turning up to meetings consistently early
• Demonstrating an unusual eagerness to reap mayhem on British airport infrastructure by suggesting the grandest and most aggressive schemes
• Allowing information on planned activities to be published almost immediately in the press

Kendall was ultimately outed after Plane Stupid members became suspicious and began feeding their mole with false information, which would reliably come to the attention of the aviation industry and be published in newspapers within days.

Following further identity checks and a direct confrontation in a London restaurant Kendall silently slipped back into the shadows, and is currently refusing all media requests for contact. Kendall is no doubt reconsidering his career in the underworld after what seems to have been a dismal performance.

The mystery still remains as to who hired C2i to infiltrate Plane Stupid, with fingers currently being pointed at British Airways, The British Airport Authority and even the British Government. In the final analysis no one seems to have benefited from the affair, except perhaps for Plane Stupid who are doubtless grateful for the additional publicity.

Further reading: Graham Thompson in The Guardian

1. Asia — United Nations Climate Change Talks: “Kyoto II” climate talks open in Bangkok

“The first formal talks in the long process of drawing up a replacement for the Kyoto climate change pact opened in Thailand on Monday with appeals to a common human purpose to defeat global warming.

‘The world is waiting for a solution that is long-term and economically viable,’ U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon said in a video address to the 1,000 delegates from 190 nations gathered in Bangkok.

The week-long meeting stems from a breakthrough agreement in Bali last year to start negotiations to replace Kyoto, which only binds 37 rich nations to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by an average of five percent from 1990 levels by 2012.” (Source: Reuters)

Europe held a the European Climate Conference as well this week in Rovigo, Italy, “to encourage capacity-building from city to city regarding climate change.”

2. Africa — The Play Pump and the Electric See-Saw

The Play Pump is back in the headlines with an article at TreeHugger, Hybrid Merri-Go-Round Water Pump Saves Lives in Africa. EcoWorldly’s Sam Aola Ooko recently covered the Play Pump from Kenya:

“Hailed by the World Bank as ‘one of the world’s most innovative designs capable of providing self sustainable free clean water to poor communities, as well as being an effective delivery system for social messages’, the PlayPump system is a merry go round that pumps water from a ground source as children spin, and they like working hard at it.”

This Week, Sam followed up on the Play Pump concept with news of another breakthrough invention, “a see-saw that generates electricity when played on by children.” (Sources: TreeHugger via Digg; EcoWorldly Play Pump; EcoWorldly Electric See-Saw)

3. North America — $3 Billion Solar Power Deal Signed By California Utility

“Pacific Gas & Electric today will announce a deal to buy as much as 900 megawatts of electricity. It will be enough to power 540,000 California homes each year, and involve the construction of five solar power plants during the next decade. The company to build the solar-thermal power plants in the Mojave Desert is BrightSource Energy.

Building all five plants in the Mojave will cost $2 billion to $3 billion, Woolard said. The project, which faces regulatory and financing hurdles, could mean 2,000 construction jobs, and employ about 1,000 workers to operate the plants.” (Source: MetaEfficient via ENN; More Reading: LA Times)

4. Europe — New Wind Power Record in Spain: 40.8% of Total Demand!

“Last year we wrote about Spain’s wind power production record, which was 27% at the time. That seemed like a lot, but a week ago, Spain’s wind turbines produced 40.8% of total demand, or 9,862 megawatts of power.

Spain, which along with Germany and Denmark, is among the three biggest producers of wind power in the European Union, is aiming to triple the amount of energy it derives from renewable sources by 2020.

Spain’s wind power industry currently enjoys a 30% annual growth rate.” (Source: TreeHugger via Reddit)

5. Australia — Farmers Invest In Diesel-Producing Trees

“Farmers in Northern Queensland, Australia, are investigating another approach to producing renewable fuel: growing diesel trees. As weird as that sounds, it’s real, and it isn’t a scientific breakthrough. We’ve actually known about the trees for over 300 years.

As Treehugger reported earlier this week, farmers in the more tropical region Queensland purchased about 20,000 Brazilian diesel trees, or Copaifera langsdorfii, with the intention of having a living oil-mine in 15 years. According to Purdue University, a 100 acre plot of trees could produce about 25 barrels of oil per year.” (Source: Gas 2.0)

This week also witnessed the Fourth Annual Biofuels Americas Conference and Expo in Mexico City.

6. South America — Prefab: Residencia RR Sustainable Style in São Paulo

“Just off the Brazilian coast in São Paulo, architect Andrade Morettin has created Residencia RR - a stunning summer abode nestled amidst the dense vegetation and semi-tropical, hot, humid climate of Itamambuca in the state’s north coast. Responding to the local environment, House RR is selectively protected from and open to the elements. Under a primary “shell” the home shelters from intense sun and rains but allows much desired natural cross-ventilation to permeate through living spaces. With prefabricated components and an elevated foundation, the construction sits lightly on its site with a low ecological impact.” (Source: Inhabitat via MindBodyGreen)

7. Asia — Olympic Commission Says Air Quality at Beijing Games Can Cause Athletes Health Damage

“Olympic Commission Says Air Quality at Beijing Games Can Cause Athletes Health Damage. More news from the Olympic drama in Beijing. While Beijing has stated that they plan to take half of its 3.5 million cars off the roads and partially shut down industry in the capital and surrounding provinces for two months for the Olympics (to improve air quality), concerns continue that no shut down will do enough to allow for athletes to safely compete.

In the most recent turn of events, just yesterday, Hein Verbruggen (Chairman of the IOC coordination commission) said that there is a chance that athletes involved in endurance events can suffer health damage if they partook in the events for longer than an hour.” (Source: The LOHASIAN)

8. South America — Patagonia’s Pascua River Threatened By Massive Dam Project

“Few people in the world have ever seen the pristine, 62-kilometer Pascua, which until as recently as 1898 was completely unknown to European settlers. Nor is the river completely anonymous, thanks to a controversial hydroelectric project being planned by Endesa, a Spanish-Italian enterprise, and Colbún, a Chilean energy company owned by the influential Matte family.

Via a joint entity called HidroAysén, the two companies look to build five massive dams in Aysén (Region XI) that would together generate some 2,750 MW of electricity – roughly equivalent to 20 percent of Chile’s current overall generating capacity. Three of those dams are slated for the Pascua. The other two would be built along the Baker River, Chile’s most voluminous, which is located farther north” (Source: Toward Freedom via Care2.)

9. World — Indigenous people should be involved in climate policy

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report published in early 2007 confirmed that global climate change is already happening. The report found that communities who live in marginal lands and whose livelihoods are highly dependent on natural resources are among the most vulnerable to climate change. Many indigenous and traditional peoples who have been pushed to the least fertile and most fragile lands as a consequence of historical, social, political and economic exclusion are among those who are at greatest risk.

On the other hand, people living in marginal lands have long been exposed to many kinds of environmental changes and have developed strategies for coping with these phenomena. They have valuable knowledge about adapting to climate change, but the magnitude of future hazards may exceed their adaptive capacity, especially given their current conditions of marginalization.” (Source, PDF: International Union for Conservation of Nature via ENN)

10. Antarctica — Airborne Study Of Arctic Atmosphere, Air Pollution Launched

“This month, NASA begins the most extensive field campaign ever to investigate the chemistry of the Arctic’s lower atmosphere. The mission is poised to help scientists identify how air pollution contributes to climate changes in the Arctic.

The recent decline of sea ice is one indication the Arctic is undergoing significant environmental changes related to climate warming. NASA and its partners plan to investigate the atmosphere’s role in this climate-sensitive region with the Arctic Research of the Composition of the Troposphere from Aircraft and Satellites (ARCTAS) field campaign.” (Source ENN)

This Week: Bus Transit

Bus Rides to Jungletown, Africa are Fun by Sam Aola OOko

British Busses: Actually Worse Than British Trains? by Mark Seall

What Makes a Good Bus Ride? by Gavin Hudson

Where the Damned Gather by Pem Charnley

Read more Green Options articles on public transportation.

Tell our international team of journalists what to focus on next: What issues matter to you?

Reducing the amount of water you use is good for the environment, and good for your wallet. Better yet, you don’t have to sacrifice water pressure to do it. Check out the best water faucet aerators of 2008.

Source: MetaEfficient.com

Video Courtesy of Google Videos

I’m not sure what it is about these ads that have captured the nation’s imagination; John McCain has his own version of it, and, of course, it inspired scores of parodies on YouTube and among late-night talk show comedians.

Still, I wonder if the candidates will get around to making one of these ads about the environment.

It’d be really easy to do, actually. All you need is a ringing phone…and no one to answer it.

That’s because the environment has somehow become a non-issue during this campaign season. All three candidates have fairly progressive views when it comes to addressing climate change, and they all tout the benefits of weening ourselves off foreign oil, so we’ve basically been told by the media that there’s nothing more to discuss on the topic.

The only problem is that voters WANT to discuss it.

According to a recent Gallup poll:

Americans continue to say (by a seven percentage-point margin, 49% to 42%) protection of the environment should be given priority even at the risk of curbing economic growth.

In all fairness, the story goes on to say that the gap between those favoring the environment over the economy is closing rapidly. Of course, some of us happen to think that the two are not mutually exclusive, but that’s a topic for another day.

With that much support for environmental issues, you would think that the media would respond. Quite the contrary. Check out this depressing content analysis conducted by the League of Conservation Voters:

Total for 5 Top Political Reporters* updated 2/18/2008

Number of Interviews & Debates: 190
Number of Questions: 3,201
Questions That Mention Global Warming: 8
Global Warming Related Questions: 29

*(CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, NBC’s Tim Russert, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos, CBS’s Bob Schieffer, and FOX News’s Chris Wallace)

As a graduate student in journalism, I’m inclined to say that this is a classic case of The Agenda-Setting Theory, which basically states that the media doesn’t tell us what to think, but what to think about (we can end with prepositions in journalism…)

Can that really be the case? Is the media a monolithic beast with a well-planned agenda? Yes and no. There may not be a singular voice dictating what subjects get covered, but there clearly is a follow-the-mob mentality when it comes to chasing stories.

So while the mainstream media is busy focusing on the sermons of a Chicago preacher who isn’t even running for president, or whether some secret society of superdelegates will ultimately influence the nomination, we’re missing valuable opportunities to discuss the differences in the candidates’ environmental platforms. How exactly will they create “green” jobs? How will they interact with the rest of the world on climate change protocols? What sort of incentives will they offer for sustainable construction, renewable energy, hybrid cars?

How we get the mainstream media back on point is, of course, the $64,000 question. It starts with confronting outlets directly with this lack of environment-related campaign coverage. Emails to talking heads, newspapers, TV stations, radio hosts…believe me, if all it took was an email campaign to keep “Jericho” on the air, they’ll definitely listen to us.

But keep in mind that the media is rarely proactive, it’s mostly reactive, so in many ways this is as much a problem caused by the candidates as it is by the media. If we really want to improve coverage, we must demand that our candidates address the issue more frequently and with more depth. The more they address it, the more media will have to cover it.

Yes, the three candidates have fairly similar views on the major environmental themes, but there are distinct differences. We, as voters, deserve to have easy access to those differences.

Besides, I’ll be damned if the best discussion over climate change this election comes from an animated snow man during the YouTube debate.

illustration courtesy of Roberto Rizzato

“The new agreement marks a turning point in US-Venezuela relations,” said Juan Johnston of the North American Monitor of Bribery in Latin America (NAMBLA). “It also underscores the magnitude of recent growth in demand for ethically produced goods.”

In Venezuela, Chavez introduced news of the trade deal with praise for the American president.

“You know, there’s been a confusion about how I feel about George,” said President Chavez. “I call him a white devil with love… y con mucho respeto. You know, he’s such a little white devil, that Bush. But really, he is what you say a man’s man — a husband, a dedicated golfer, and a man who takes what he wants when he wants it.”

Chavez added, “Venezuela and our neighbors struggle always against American economic imperialism that robs our countries and keeps them poor or depending on government oil handouts. I am so happy that my friend Bush is joining us in this fight. I feel that this is a big step in our relationship.”

Encouragement of friendly economic overtures between the two countries is said to have come at the urging of US Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who has been pushing for economic cooperation in recent weeks. Reportedly, Bernanke became aware of the urgency of the United States’ economic situation last month when he was forced to auction his undershorts as Americana memorabilia to a Chinese collector.

With the severity of his country’s war spending debts to China in mind — as well as a promise to retrieve Bernanke’s undergarments — President Bush used healing words of his own to address the new direction in trade relations.

“We will meet Venezuelan workers with American fairness… fairdom. It’s like freedom, only fairer,” promised Bush at this morning’s press conference. “It’s like the Golden Rule of the Bible says, ‘treat others like you want them… Like you think they oughta be treated…’ Well, you know the one I mean. It’s the important one.”

Bush also apologized for numerous attempts to assassinate or overthrow the Venezuelan President as well as for the recently exposed CIA operation to incite a popular uprising following Chavez’ socialist referendum.

“Hugo’s a friend to America,” said Bush. “I wish I knew how to quit that man. I mean, this is the guy who stood beside America after the terrifying events of Katrina. He fights terrorism by supplying America with 12% of the oil we depend on to bring freedom to the Iraqi people. I mean, the least we should do for him is to help deliver fair wages to workers in Venezuela and other Latin speaking nations.”

With the promise of ethical business in the Americas in sight, there’s just one thing that could throw a spanner in the works: April 1.

From all of us at EcoWorldly, happy April Fools Day.

Besides getting back into the swing of things after some down-time in February, we were lucky to add Benjamin F.T. Jones to our writing team. Ben’s covered some of the most popular stories here this month, including the Subaru’s STI diesel, the all-electric Lightning GT, and a Japanese man’s attempt to sail across the Pacific in a wave-powered boat. See all of Ben’s posts here.

If you don’t want to miss the news next month, you can subscribe to Gas 2.0’s RSS feed here.

To recap, these are some of the top stories from March 2008:

Biofuels

The biggest story was one of the last of the month: the first algae-to-biofuels facility will go online on April 1, 2008. Researchers found that another second-generation biofuel, switchgrass, could potentially displace 30% of US petroleum usage with 94% GHG reduction. The first cellulosic ethanol facility went online, making fuel from wood waste. And don’t forget about new microtechnology that could allow biodiesel to power the hydrogen economy (biodiesel fuel-cells). Continental and Boeing also said they’d be conducting a biofuels test-flight in 2009.

Green Cars

Tesla Motors announced they will finally start production of the electric Tesla Roadster. Progressive Auto Insurance announced they would fund a $10 million purse for the 100 MPG Automotive X Prize (Google will also spend $10 million on plug-in electric hybrid research). Subaru unleashed the R1e electric car in New York. A 376.59 MPG car was found in a museum, and, finally, Volkswagen announced they will produce a 69.9 MPG VW diesel hybrid.

We also reviewed some older news about Aptera’s electric car and 300 MPG hybrid vehicle (available next year), the lower-emissions-than-a-Prius Toyota iQ, and the world’s most fuel efficient car (285 MPG).

Science

Other notable studies (not listed under the biofuels section) included:

• Researchers found that nanoparticles in diesel exhaust can affect the brain.
• Another study found that biodiesel blends sold as B20 biodiesel (20% biodiesel, 80% diesel) varied from 10% to 74% in actual biodiesel content.
• Scientific American writers have a plan to power 35-90% of US transportation off solar power.
• Scientists at University of Minnesota found that most cars can actually run just fine on 20% ethanol (E20).

Do-It-Yourself and Practical Info

Gas 2.0 also added some good practical information, such as the Top 15 Unexpected Uses For Biodiesel, learning how to make biodiesel on YouTube, replacing your car’s engine instead of buying a new one, increasing your car’s efficiency for $11, and a few stories on people converting their Prius hybrids to get over 100 MPG.

Expect to see more exciting news here in April. Thanks for your questions and comments, and thanks for reading!