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Some big whales no longer in trouble
There’s bad news and good news from the world of marine megafauna. The bad: Almost a quarter of the 80 types of whales, dolphins, and porpoises are in trouble, with nine listed as “endangered” or “critically endangered” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Entanglement in fishing gear poses the main threat. The good: […]
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Stopping MTR
“Now there is an increasingly powerful and vocal national movement to stop mountaintop removal [mining]. I’m saying we’re going to have it stopped by the end of next year … the end of 2009.” — Matt Wasson, director of programs for Appalachian Voices
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Galbraith on ‘the free market’
TPM Cafe is hosting a roundtable on economist James Galbraith’s new book The Predator State: How Conservatives Abandoned the Free Market and Why Liberals Should Too. Here’s a bit from Galbraith’s introductory post: The judicial coup of December 2000 that installed Bush and Cheney brought back some of Reagan’s men and his most extreme policies […]
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Snippets from the news
• Corporate boards go green. • California condors will go extinct unless lead bullets banned. • Big-box stores go for solar. • Chem industry tries to convince consumers that BPA is safe. • Villages won’t move for Sudanese dam. • Is there lead in your garden?
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Bush admin tries sneaky attack on endangered-species protections
The Bush administration is trying to push through changes to the Endangered Species Act that would — surprise! — be detrimental to endangered species. Under regulatory changes proposed Monday, tens of thousands of projects funded, built, or authorized by federal agencies each year would be exempt from currently mandated independent reviews. Instead, the administration has […]
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Cleanup funding inadequate for Bush-designated marine monument
Remember when President Bush designated the world’s largest protected marine area in Hawaii in 2006? Environmentalists cheered, fish clapped their fins, and Bush aides crossed “burnish green reputation” off the presidential to-do list — but the aftermath has been underwhelming. Tons of debris drift into the 140,000-square-mile Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument each year, posing a […]
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Snippets from the news
• Federal protection of Hawaii islands more in theory than actuality. • Is London mayor backtracking on green goals? • Protesters converge on site of proposed U.K. coal plant. • Geothermal lease sale sets record. • Great Salt Lake full of mercury. • Organic garden blooms in front of S.F. City Hall.
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Smog settles on Beijing for opening ceremony
Friday: On the day of the Olympic opening ceremonies, the Air Pollution Index reading was a moderate 94 (see the “Beijing Air Quality” box on the right side of this page): View of Beijing’s third ring road and CCTV building. Photo taken Aug. 8. And here’s the same view one week earlier, when the API […]
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What if a public/private partnership tried to invent the stop sign today?
What if there were no stop signs and a 21st century corporation tried to invent one under contract from a 21st century government department? Yep, there are downsides to public investments …
