Green Options » war

Protection of Virunga National Park and Mountain Gorillas Trumps War in Congo

Levi Novey — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:19:36 +0000

Yesterday, Congo’s government chose to withdraw more than 1,000 troops from an area in eastern Congo near Virunga National Park. Despite an ongoing conflict, the military has agreed to depart in an effort to help protect the park’s valuable natural resources, which include the endangered mountain gorilla. Last week the army engaged a rebel group led by Laurent Nkunda in communities near the park’s borders. Nkunda’s group is still residing in the park, and has been there for almost a year now.

Read more of this story »

The Politics of Security and the Environment

Amiel Blajchman — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 04:35:16 +0000

Let’s name some political stereotypes. Conservatives: tough on crime, strong on security, pro-business, and the environment is an afterthought. Liberals: weak on crime, wishy-washy when it comes to national security, anti-business and strong when it comes to the environment, social welfare and social safety nets and development.

Read more of this story »

Will Water Fuel An Armageddon?

Masimba Biriwasha — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 11:47:26 +0000

There is no consensus among water analysts on whether there will be global wars over water ownership.

According to UNESCO, globally there are 262 international river basins: 59 in Africa, 52 in Asia, 73 in Europe, 61 in Latin America and the Caribbean and 17 in North America — overall, 145 countries have territories that include at least one shared river basin.

UNESCO states that between 1948 and 1999, there have been 1,831 “international interactions” recorded, including 507 conflicts, 96 neutral or non-significant events and, most importantly, 1,228 instances of cooperation around water-related issues.

As a result, some experts argue that the idea of water wars is rather farfetched given the precedent of water cooperation that has been exhibited by many of the countries around the world.

“Despite the potential problem, history has demonstrated that cooperation, rather than conflict, is likely in shared basins,” says UNESCO.

Read more of this story »

Fungi Locks Away Dangerous Depleted Uranium

Max Lindberg — Tue, 06 May 2008 01:45:39 +0000

That fungus among us may be the answer to uranium-polluted soils eventually being brought back into use.

Researchers at Dundee Unversity in the UK have determined that fungi can block uranium from finding its way into plants, animals or the water supply.

Scientists have found that what they call free-living and plant fungi can, “colonise depleted uranium surfaces and transform the metal into uranyl phosphate minerals”.

Read more of this story »

10 Top Environmental Headlines of the Week, no. 4

Gavin Hudson — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 04:07:50 +0000

Following are the top international environmental news for during the week of April 13 - 20. See an archive of top international environmental news here.

Asia

Two “Extinct” Species Discovered

First there was Swinshoe’s softshell turtle, and then the Javan Elephant. Is this more commonplace than we might believe?

Frankly, no. Despite the occasional hubbub over an animal science has lost track of– say, the Coelacanth– we’ve witnessed something extraordinary. Swinshoe’s turtle was previously believed to be extinct in the wild, with only three remaining in captivity, and therefore every one of these 300-pound turtles is a critical find.

Continue reading: Environmental Graffiti. Hot in media: Stumble Upon.

Read more of this story »

Micheal Klare on New World Order based on Oil

The Dave Room — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:47:07 +0000

Yesterday evening I went to hear a sobering talk in Berkeley by Five Colleges professor of Peace and World Security Studies, Michael Klare. Klare suggests in his newest book, Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet, that we are now facing a new world order in which power transfers to net energy exporters (e.g., Saudi Arabia, Russia, Kazakhstan) from net energy importers (e.g., the United States). He believes oil will peak between 2012 and 2015 at somewhere around 95-100 million barrels/day. Regardless of whether oil peaks then, he says supply will not be able to keep up with demand much longer.

From http://www.sciforums.com/showthread.php?t=76003

Klare points out that China will soon have the world’s largest fleet of automobiles - in decade or so - as they are following our model of auto-centric development. He had hoped that China would leapfrog oil to more sustainable mobility solutions but that is not happening.

Read more of this story »

Springtime at the Cold War’s Last Border

Gavin Hudson — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 13:01:24 +0000

It’s springtime in South Korea. Just a month ago the ground was covered in snow; today the hills are pink with cherry blossoms. Eager solar panels soak up the warm sunshine. On the mountain, wind turbines spin in the sweetly scented spring breeze. In the seaboard city of Gangneung, children’s delighted shrieks fill neighborhood parks.

Over the city, military jets cleave the sky.

The jets that weave all day long over Gangneung are a reminder that for the past 60 years Korea has been a country divided and at war with itself. Gangneung, with its windfarm, solar panels, and cherry blossoms, lies less than 100 miles (160 km) from the Demilitarized Zone, or DMZ, the world’s last remaining Cold War border.

This week, as springtime blooms, a series of events unfolded which threaten to destabilize the delicate balance between the North and the South.

Read more of this story »

The Wonderful World of Wars’ Effects

Jennifer Lance — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:15:48 +0000

This story contains additional media. Click here to view the media.

Tangled Up in Green: Green Makes War On Us All

Adam Bowman — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 19:26:10 +0000

Five years have gone by. The U.S. casualty toll is now 4,000. It is estimated that some 80,000 plus Iraqi civilians have lost their lives in the war.

Photo Courtesy of Luke Plunkett @ Kotaku.com

There isn’t a body count for wildlife, native plants, or eco-systems that have been killed in the struggle.

War takes a priceless toll on everything natural. Yet, nature may be the last thing that nations go to war over.

How long before we decide to protect the environment through force?

Can we go to war over the environment and still save it?

This may seem far fetched, but the possibility of an environmental war is already being discussed in the U.N.

“Ecological security must no longer be considered a luxury but rather an inextricable element of a durable peace policy,” states Klaus Topfer. He calls for international guarantees for protecting the environment similar to the Geneva Conventions, which protect the rights of prisoners and civilian populations in war. For ecological damage poses a threat greater than bombs to populations distressed by hunger, thirst, and disease.

If ecological damage is classified as such a great threat, could wars be declared to save the Amazon rain forest or Mediterranean fish populations?

Dr. Klaus Topfer, head of the U.N. environment program thinks that war is very likely. Perhaps not for the Spotted Owl. But as populations grow, natural resources are going to become more and more scarce. As nation’s need, war will likely occur.

Currently one quarter of the world’s population does not have access to clean water. If trends continue, Pakistan and China, both will be struggling to hydrate their populations. And a scary thing is they possess nuclear weapons. If push comes to shove for H2O, what would their options be?

To prevent this, we have to move away from our unsustainable systems. We need to use agencies like the U.N. to moderate, educate, and propagate nations towards an environmentally sustainable future. Not just for the birds and trees, but for our own survival.

We need to make our peace with green now.

War … Not Healthy for Gaia

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 17:10:53 +0000

The Vietnam-era poster that said, “War is not healthy for children and other living things,” had it right. Modern warfare can wreak environmental havoc like never before, according to the upcoming issue of World Watch magazine.

In the January/February 2008 issue, author Sarah DeWeerdt explores the unprecedented levels of environmental destruction caused by recent conflicts in Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Iraq. She also describes ecocide, which is the deliberate destruction of natural places as a war tactic. (The use of defoliants like Agent Orange by the U.S. military during the Vietnam war, for example, has been blamed for the destruction of half of southern Vietnam’s mangroves and 14 percent of its hardwood forests.)

Even the movement of refugees during wartime can inflict serious damage on the environment, DeWeerdt writes. Of the 2 million Hutus who fled the Rwandan genocide in 1994, nearly three-quarter of a million settled near a United Nations World Heritage site, Virunga National Park. To get the firewood and building materials they needed to survive, the refugees cut down about 35 square kilometers of the protected forests.

The full environmental impact of the ongoing Iraq war remains to be seen, according to DeWeerdt. However, scientists have already found that the first Gulf War damaged the protective layer of microorganisms that covers desert areas. The loss of that cover, which might takes thousands of years to bounce back, is being blamed for more sandstorms in the region.

When Iraqi forces retreated from Kuwait during the first Gulf War, they torched nearly 800 oil wells across the region. The fires burned for eight months, and any oil that didn’t burn pooled into lakes that have since hardened or sunk into the sands. The United Nations Environmental Program called the act “one of the worst engineered disasters of humanity.”

Then there are the environment and health threats posed by nuclear materials in today’s Iraq. Not the fabled weapons of mass destruction that were never found, but the depleted uranium the U.S. is using for armor and missiles and the radioactive materials that were looted early on in the conflict. The Sierra Club of Canada reports that barrels of uranium oxide stolen from the Tuwaith nuclear plant in Iraq in 2003 were dumped out then washed in rivers. The containers have subsequently been used to transport and store food.

Incidents like that could eventually cause more than 1,000 people to die of leukemia, according to Iraq’s national nuclear inspector.

“Warfare is likely to have the most severe, longest-lasting effects on protected areas that harbor endangered species, and slow-to-recover ecosystems such as deserts,” DeWeerdt writes in her article. “Even in the most fragile environments, sometimes nature — and people –can surprise us.”

Hunger is a Perspective

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 01:49:14 +0000

By Anthony J. Gerst

The war-torn and ravaged nation of the Democratic Republic of Congo is a rather confusing issue. A rapid-fired crash course on the subject brings up some interesting facts, however. This nation has basically been at war since 1998, and the result has been an estimated 3.5 million deaths. There are more residents classified as internally displaced persons (IDP’s) than established citizens. OK, that may be a stretch but not by much.

Oddly enough in the nomadic camps throughout this nation, we find citizens from the entire region, as the populations of these camps are composed of people from Angola, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Sudan and of course the Republic of Congo. So what on earth is going on here, in a nation that recently saw an outbreak of Ebola deep in its jungle recesses? Well, to understand anything of the area is to understand what makes the Congo go around. This nation is home to a vast array of precious metals and resources: found here are reserves of cobalt, copper, uranium, timber, gold and silver to name but a few. It is the control over these resources that brings about the constant battles within the Congo. On any given day, from 6-10 different factions are battling for control. Within this number are local indigenous peoples who are simply trying to stay alive.

Terror and terrorism is alive and well here, as the battles are waged at the expense of anyone in the vicinity. The groups battling have no honor; they are simply armed groups of masquerading hired thugs. They instill fear in the populous with rape and rampage. According to the UN, 90,000 people were forced to flea their homes in September alone. The ongoing warfare has prevented 150,000 people from receiving food aid from the UN World Food Programme.

Read more of this story »

The Real Toy Soldiers

Jennifer Lance — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 16:08:00 +0000

The real toy soldiers are children, and it is estimated that 250,000 children are exploited every day by paramilitary, guerrilla, and state-run military groups. Nine countries have been identified as using child soldiers, and eight of those countries receive US military assistance. How could this be?

It is obvious that being a child soldier is detrimental to children’s social and emotional development. It is bad enough to live in a war zone, let alone become a fighter for whatever cause at a young age. This is no longer the age of Sparta, children have a right to be children.

“Early on when my brothers and I were captured, the LRA explained to us that all five brothers couldn’t serve in the LRA because we would not perform well. So they tied up my two younger brothers and invited us to watch. Then they beat them with sticks until two of them died. They told us it would give us strength to fight. My youngest brother was nine years old.”
- Martin, recruited by the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda at age twelve

Rep. Jim Marshall (D-GA) has offered a bill to demobilize and rehabilitate child soldiers. The bill would limit US military aid to countries that use child soldiers. This only makes sense.

As promised, this will be my last political rant for awhile; however, if you are wondering what the link between war and the environment is, click on PlanetThoughts.

It’s Time to Make a Call for Peace

Jennifer Lance — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 22:11:00 +0000

Well, I apologize for being so political this week,but I can’t help it.

At a recent United Nations summit meeting there was special session focused on improving the lives of the world’s children. It was agreed that no authentic progress would be made until one fundamental question had been addressed: how do we get the people of one nation to actually care about the children of another nation?

From (M)other, MAU Live: Theatre for Empowerment

Mother’s Acting Up is calling on Americans to telephone every day for the next week our senators and representatives to demand we stop funding the war. A sample message suggested by Mother’s Acting Up is:
“My name is ______, I am a Mother Acting Up and I passionately urge the Senator/Representative to vote NO on the Iraq War supplemental spending bill. One of many reasons to Vote NO is: _______________. This war is not making our children safer; vote NO on more war funding. Thank you.” (If you want to add a Mama Grizzly Bear growl to further get your point across, go for it.)

In addition, Mother’s Acting Up suggests we take action with our children.
Chalk messages for Peace in public places with your children and/or friends. Bring activism into the daily life of your family. Along with beautiful peace signs and words of peace, give a call to action: “Ask Representative X at xxx-xxxx to VOTE NO on WAR FUNDING, for children’s sake!” I like this suggestion for involving children in protest, as I have been hesitant to take my children to marches. Too often, these marches turn violent, and I want my children to learn there are peaceful methods of expressing your opinion and bringing about change.

In a related study, the Institute of War and Peace Reporting suggests that Iraqi classrooms are in chaos, and the war may be creating a generation of ignorant civilians.

Iraq’s education system was once the equal of almost anything in the Middle East, a rare bright-spot in Saddam Hussein’s brutal rule. But a decade of war with Iran, then the first Gulf War and a decade of sanctions left it in ruins. Only half of Iraq’s children were in school by the end of the 1990s.

International donors made restoring education a priority after 2003, but in an atmosphere when college professors carry guns, it’s hardly surprising that reconstruction has taken second place to just staying alive.

I promise, after Monday (when I will be discussing child soldiers) I will return to toys and green living posts. Sometimes I have a hard time keeping politics out of my mind when the world’s children are affected.

If we have to kill people, let’s at least do it in an environmentally friendly way

Noelle dEstries — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 17:06:14 +0000

Holy crap, did you know that your average U.S. soldier in Iraq uses 88 AA bateries during a five day mission!?! The U.S. Military blows through 2.4 million gallons of fuel every day in Iraq and Afghanistan and 2/3 of the stuff soldiers carry in combat is fuel.

All political issues aside, that is a terribly inefficient way to run an army. The military needs to get way more aggressive about embracing renewable energy. Soldiers, missions, and equipment would be more flexible; you would eliminate the need for a lot of convoy driving, which would save lives, equipment, and money; and a whole lotta pollution would be kept from the air.

I’m pragmatic about the world we live in and see the need for our nation to have a strong and kickass military. I have major problems with how it’s been abused by the Bush administration, but that aside- the U.S. Military has gotta be badass.

So why not do it in a way that is smart. Dump a ton of military R&D funds into advancing solar, wind, and thermal energy generation technology. Get advanced solar panels on top of every vehicle, develop panels that can be sewn into uniforms, and build single unit small scale energy power stations that use wind and solar. Consumers will feel the technology overflow love and the whole effort to green up this world will be that much further along.

Swing over to Mother Jones for to read more about the Military’s work to green itself up, also a quick post about how much of an energy hog the military is at the Seattle pi.

Links on Parade: Plastic bags in Africa, more Mountaintop Removal, 87% of Americans are “seriously concerned” about the environment, and yeah- global warming is still on

Noelle dEstries — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:57:26 +0000

I links, you links, we all links, for my links.

Enjoy!

• Africa wages war on scourge of plastic bags

• Crab fishing in the North Sea is a dangerous profession

• Bush thinks the main lesson to be learned from the Vietnam War was that we withdrew too early

• Dirty Coal Boss gets a free pass from CNN on Utah Coal Mine disaster

• North Carolina’s seawall ban

• Mountaintop removal mining: No respect for the hollow

• Global Warming: Still Happening

• Japan To Use Disposable Chopsticks For Biofuel

• Opening up the American lawbooks

• Reality: America Isn’t Conservative

• New Study: 87% of Americans “seriously concerned about the environment”

Read more of this story »

Iraq War Jeopardizing Children’s Mental Health

Jennifer Lance — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 18:13:00 +0000

Imagine losing your only brother to a shooting incident, and then having your parents fear for your safety so much that you are not allowed to leave your home. This is what is happening in Iraq to children and their families. Children are being raised in a climate of fear and violence, and in my opinion, this upbringing will fuel further hatred of the United States. According to an article in IRIN,

“Children have become prisoners of their own families,” Dr Fua’ad Azize, a psychologist in Baghdad, said, but he warned that keeping them locked up inside could seriously affect their development. “Children need to move, read, learn and play but today in Iraq such normal things might lead to death or injury,” he said. “Some children and youths are being manipulated and brainwashed into helping militias and insurgents - sometimes with the blessing of their families.”

Abdallah’s mother is sure that keeping her child at home is the best way to save his life but she knows he is not happy: “I will protect my child with all my strength. I know he isn’t happy being kept in all the time but I know it is for his protection,” Um Faisal said.

“I try to do my best to make him feel comfortable at home. I buy him chocolates, biscuits and ice-cream, and even if he gets mental problems, that’s better than a bullet in the head.”

Mohammed Abdul-Aziz, a statistician at the Ministry of Education, told IRIN that at least 125 children had been killed and 107 injured since 2005 in attacks on schools. These numbers do not include children killed or injured on their way to or from school.

In this country, we may fear lead in our children’s toys or BPA in baby bottles, but the constant fear Iraqi parents must feel is incomprehensible. This conflict must end. I don’t have the answers, but surely war is not one of them.

Greening the Golden Years Podcast: Raging Grannies, Seniors With An Agenda

Max Lindberg — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 13:34:48 +0000

The Raging Grannies, pursuers of activist causes since 1986 are still going strong. From humble beginnings as a peace group in Canada, to The Today Show, magazine articles, newspaper and tv coverage, the grannies have a rich history. They’ve been arrested, investigated, cheered and jeered, but still they go out and rage for change.

Join me in a look at the history and accomplishments of this group of seniors who are as much at home making brownies for their grandchildren as they are in front of a military recruiters office, trying to dissuade young men and women from joining the military. Shrinking violets they aren’t, and that makes their story even more interesting.

George W. Bush is a Jerk of a Bully

Noelle dEstries — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 14:14:19 +0000

I am so ashamed of our moronic, mean spirited, dumbass President. At a recent press conference at Camp David, Bush channeled his inner 9 year old and ripped on the BBC’s political editor Nick Robinson for being bald.

Later on, Bush poked fun at the bare-pate of Robinson, joking, “You’d better cover up your bald head, it’s getting hot out.”

The respected British reporter shot back, “I didn’t know you cared.”

Bush responded with a cool, “I don’t.” The Mirror reports that Bush then “snorted disdainfully” and “walked away to laughter.”

Read more of this story »

More bad news from Iraq: The magnified negative impact of war on children

Noelle dEstries — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 16:56:45 +0000

We. Must. Get. Out. Of. Iraq.

There are too many reasons now why Bush’s stupid war needs to be ended yesterday. Add this one to the pile…

As would be expected, Iraqi children living in Jordanian camps report witnessing gruesome events related to the war. These sorts of trauma leave indelible marks on children’s social and emotional development. According to a World Vision report Trapped! The Disappearing Hopes of Iraqi Refugee Children, “43 per cent of children surveyed in Amman, Jordan witnessed violence in Iraq, and 39 per cent said they lost someone close through violence.”

I can’t imagine how it would be to grow up in a war zone or have to flee your home for a refugee camp. Even as refugees, the children do not feel safe. Electronic Iraq reports, “‘These children have been kidnapped and held for ransom, witnessed brutal home invasions, suicide bombings and murders. Now refugee life offers them little option but to go to work as child laborers, exposing them to the threat of deportation,’ said Ashley Clements, author of the report. Understandably, 25 per cent of the Iraqi refugee children World Vision surveyed did not feel safe in their Jordanian homes. This is a combination of past experiences, lack of refugee status, which leaves the entire family unsure, and the absence of healthy routines like going to school, the report says.”

Read more of this story »

Violence Scarring Iraqi Children

Jennifer Lance — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 11:47:00 +0000

As would be expected, Iraqi children living in Jordanian camps report witnessing gruesome events related to the war. These sorts of trauma leave indelible marks on children’s social and emotional development. According to a World Vision report Trapped! The Disappearing Hopes of Iraqi Refugee Children, “43 per cent of children surveyed in Amman, Jordan witnessed violence in Iraq, and 39 per cent said they lost someone close through violence.”

I can’t imagine how it would be to grow up in a war zone or have to flee your home for a refugee camp. Even as refugees, the children do not feel safe. Electronic Iraq reports, “‘These children have been kidnapped and held for ransom, witnessed brutal home invasions, suicide bombings and murders. Now refugee life offers them little option but to go to work as child laborers, exposing them to the threat of deportation,’ said Ashley Clements, author of the report. Understandably, 25 per cent of the Iraqi refugee children World Vision surveyed did not feel safe in their Jordanian homes. This is a combination of past experiences, lack of refugee status, which leaves the entire family unsure, and the absence of healthy routines like going to school, the report says.”

Studies have shown that one caring adult can help children develop resiliency to overcome dire situations. For Iraqi children, education offers such respite, although the infrastructure of Jordan is already overburdened. There are two million children displaced by this war (not all in Jordan). We need to end this thing now for their sake.

Only 5 days left to leave a comment and enter our monthly drawing for a hemp Eco Child’s Play bag.