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Brazil aims to protect Amazon by using sustainably harvested rubber in condoms

Photo: iStockphoto Hard up for ways to preserve the Amazon rainforest, the Brazilian government has announced it’s opening a condom factory that will use rubber harvested sustainably from the imperiled rainforest — no tree-chopping required. The latex will come from the Chico Mendes reserve, named for a well-known Amazon activist gunned down by ranching interests. […]

A roundup of news snippets

• Rubber plantations to feed China’s booming tire industry are threatening rainforests. • The Kansas legislature continues to push for new coal plants. • More polar bears venture out of their usual habitat. • Canada will create a huge new national park. • Climate change may increase your risk of cataract blindness.

Food prices and ‘level playing fields’

In last week’s Victual Reality, I took Alice Waters and Michael Pollan to task for praising recent hikes in industrial food prices as a prod for promoting sustainable agriculture. "Higher food prices level the playing field for sustainable food that doesn’t rely on fossil fuels," Pollan told The New York Times. Not likely so, I […]

Getting distracted

There the World Health Organization goes again: Millions of Asians could face poverty, disease, and hunger as a result of rising temperatures and increased rainfall expected to hit hardest poor countries, the World Health Organization warned Monday. Malaria, diarrhea, malnutrition and floods cause an estimated 150,000 deaths annually, with Asia accounting for more than half, […]

Militant activists charged in seal protest

Two members of the militant Sea Shepherd Conservation Society have been charged with sailing too close to a Canadian vessel while protesting the country’s annual seal hunt. Capt. Alexander Cornelissen and First Officer Peter Hammarstedt face up to nearly $100,000 and a year in prison if convicted. Sea Shepherd sailors say the hunters were the […]

Photosynthesis and invertibrate sex

Two new studies may upend previously accepted understanding of photosynthesis. A widespread type of cyanobacteria may not use as much carbon dioxide in photosynthesis as presumed, meaning the oceans are capable of less carbon dioxide absorption than scientists had thought ...

... in other cyanobacteria news, scientists discovered that viruses may play a key role in prompting the phytoplankton to consume carbon dioxide and release oxygen ...

... the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration dropped buoys into the water off the coast of Massachusetts that will record sound for the next 30 months in an attempt to understand the effect of ocean noise on marine wildlife ...

A roundup of news snippets

• British Columbia unveils a cap-and-trade plan. • U.S. droughts endanger Canada’s water. • Mexico City bans smoking. • Pesticides are wiping out American songbirds.

Elton John, Lindsay Lohan, and 50 Cent unite to free a killer whale — meet the man who brought them

Celebs are flipping out over Lolita’s living conditions. Photo: Krosstok Hollywood producer Raul Julia-Levy’s current project involves an impressive cast ranging from Johnny Depp, Lindsay Lohan, and Harrison Ford to Elton John, 50 Cent, and Plácido Domingo. He’s attracted high-powered producers including Cameron Crowe, Ed Elbert, and Ron Howard. It’s a veritable A-list role call, […]

Me and Vanity Fair

As noted by James Wolcott here (a small thrill for a longtime Wolcott fanboy), I have a guest residency this month on the Vanity Fair green blog, which is running throughout April in conjunction with their green issue. As you’ll see at the link, I have a few things up already. Drop by!

A roundup of news snippets

• An independent expert recommends an up to $16 billion fine for Chevron’s role in polluting the Ecuadorian Amazon. • “Eco-fur” doesn’t fly. • More funding is needed to fix the Gulf of Mexico dead zone. • A Paris airport will tap geothermal energy. • The sun still isn’t causing global warming.