Environment

"the decline was self-inflicted and began with the cutting down of a tree that could have protected them from devastating climate change." - chaz2b from Bookmarklet

"The Espoo-based CSC IT Center for Life Science is one of the Finnish companies that has switched over to green electricity. “We noted that we can take environmental issues into consideration in a positive manner simply through our electricity acquisition contract,” says Tero Tuononen, the company’s head of data management. Subscribing to green electricity led to a 1.5 percent increase in CSC’s electric bills." - A.T. from Bookmarklet

:-( - Kol Tregaskes

"It's interactive map time! Forbes.com has a really cool map showing 200 of the dirtiest power plants in the world (hat tip to Earth First...) " - Bluesun 2600 from Bookmarklet

"Brazil's Environment minister, Carlos Minc, is celebrating the pace of Brazilian deforestation. The last numbers released by the National Institute of Space Studies (Inpe) this Wednesday, November 4, shows that Brazil in September has downed 400 km² (154 square miles) of trees in the Amazon or the equivalent of a half New York City. As big as this number seems it's the lowest deforestation Brazil has ever experienced, according to Brazilian authorities. Minc credits those results to intelligence activities, increased surveillance and the work of Operation Green Arch, which educates about sustainable development" - chaz2b from Bookmarklet

"Lawmakers capped months of discussions, weeks of tedious negotiations and years of chasing a water deal with approval of major legislation in a marathon session that ended Wednesday as the sun rose." - chaz2b from Bookmarklet

"Angela Merkel spoke out on the urgent need for all countries to accept binding obligations on climate change in a rare address before the US Congress, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall" - chaz2b from Bookmarklet

"Republican senators on Monday demanded additional studies on the cost and job impact of a climate bill before it is voted on by a key committee, exposing the sharp partisan divide in Congress over legislation aimed at addressing global warming. Ranking GOP members of six Senate committees that are playing a part in crafting an overall bill to cut greenhouse gases said that an Environmental Protection Agency analysis was unsatisfactory, although supporters of the bill called it an exhaustive examination" - chaz2b from Bookmarklet

"Congress has approved a record $50 million to restore the Chesapeake Bay, a sign that the troubled waterway is becoming a greater priority among federal lawmakers, environmentalists said" - chaz2b from Bookmarklet

"US company Envion, has unveiled the Oil Generator, a recycling plant capable of turning plastic waste back into light, medium or emulsified heavy oil." - clarke thomas from Bookmarklet

nspired by the Giving Tree, this project called the “Savior Bud” latches on to trees (one of Earth’s most generous living things) and uses it’s natural recycling processes to obtain water. In a simple process which basically involves collecting the moisture from the leaves and emptying it out into containers, the Savior Bud takes one more step toward acceptable living conditions in Africa. As our intrepid designers note, Africa is plagued twice by their hydration situation. Twice because not only is their water supply low, but the water that’s available is often undrinkable and polluted. The process goes like this: 1. Find a broadleaf tree with lots of leaves. 2. Opening the Savior Bud like a giant clamp, surround a few leaves, and release. The Savior Bud should now be containing the leaves like you see in the picture below, sort of like a greenhouse. 3. In about four hours, the leaves will have produced about one cup of water. Turning the bottom of the bud like a faucet will release... more... - alexxandra from Bookmarklet

In Utopia you can actually find cabs that are willing to take you to your destination. In that same fantasy land, cabs drivers and passengers actually believe in carpooling! For such fantasy situations is the Carpool LED Top Light. This sprightly indicator harnesses the wind energy via the embedded fan to power the indicating lights. Sadly we don’t live in Utopia and we can never find a cab, let alone share one! Designers: Xi Ouyang, Yuanbiao Jin, Yao Sun & Yelu Liu - alexxandra from Bookmarklet

more: http://www.youtube.com/watch... - Ňicķ

Their blog is here: http://blog.holyscraphotsprings.com/ - Michael R. Bernstein

this video is about 2.5 years old, BTW. You can see all the videos they've done here: http://screwdecaf.cx/eco-lod... - Michael R. Bernstein

"if the Copenhagen Talks fall apart, failing to produce a new climate deal then the responsibility would most probably fall on the developed countries due to their inaction and lack of willingness to do what they are obligated to." - mridul from Bookmarklet

two hybrid bears, a male and a female, provide a glimpse of what hybrids in the wild could look like if climate change continues to melt arctic ice, forcing more polar bears onto the mainland where they would encounter brown bears - chaz2b from Bookmarklet

"Scientists with the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna (ICCAT) have said in a new report that a global ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna fishing is justified. ICCAT meets in November to decide if they will follow their scientist's recommendations. ICCAT scientists estimated that the Atlantic bluefin tuna's spawning biomass is less than 15 percent of its original stock before industrial fishing. The decline is steep enough for the tuna to fall under Appendix 1 of Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). The scientists also stated that a total suspension of fishing is the only way for the species to no longer meet Appendix 1 of CITES in ten years time." - John (a.k.a. dendroica) from Bookmarklet

I don't know how well restrictions or bans can be enforced. It requires a lot of cooperation among countries with fishing industries, and it only takes one or two holdouts to make the restrictions useless. - John (a.k.a. dendroica)

"Twelve of the worst pollution problems in the developing world are being cleaned up, demonstrating that tens of thousands of others also could be improved, according to a report released on Wednesday" - chaz2b from Bookmarklet

"Reaching a final global warming treaty will be impossible this year, but the principles of a deal must be settled at the conference in December, the UN's top climate official said on Wednesday" - chaz2b from Bookmarklet

"State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, a Republican firebrand from Cranberry known for controversial remarks, yesterday refused to back down on comments in which he suggested a group of veterans were "traitors" for promoting a message about climate change" - chaz2b from Bookmarklet

"The Interior Department proposed Thursday to designate more than 200,000 square miles of land, sea and ice along the northern coast of Alaska as critical habitat for the shrinking polar bear population. The area, the largest single designation of protected habitat for any species, encompasses the entire range of the two polar bear populations that exist on American land and territorial waters. Government scientists estimate that there are roughly 3,500 bears in the two groups, known the Chukchi Sea and the Southern Beaufort Sea populations. Officials said the bears’ range was shrinking because of the disappearance of sea ice linked to global warming." - John (a.k.a. dendroica) from Bookmarklet

Roberto, I hadn't remembered Sarah Palin said that, but I figured your comment was tongue-in-cheek from the wink. - John (a.k.a. dendroica)

In the vast, pristine forests of Western Canada, the ‘war for water’ has already begun… Thanks to Alberta’s Athabasca oil sands, Canada is now the biggest oil supplier to the United States. A controversial billion-dollar industry is heavily invested in extracting crude from the tarry sands through a process so toxic it has become an international cause for concern. Four barrels of glacier-fed spring water are used to process each barrel of oil, then are dumped, laden with carcinogens, into leaky tailings ponds so huge they can be seen from space. Downstream, the people of Fort Chipewyan are already paying the price for what will be one of the largest industrial projects in history. When a local doctor raises the alarm about clusters of rare cancers, evidence mounts for industry and government cover-ups. In a time when wars are fought over oil and a crisis looms over access to clean fresh water, which resource is more precious? And what price are we willing to pay? - triple t from Bookmarklet