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New Zealanders seek to save endangered kiwi bird

Since humans began populating New Zealand, some 75 percent of the islands’ indigenous bird species have gone extinct. Due to habitat loss and nonnative predators, it looks as though the same fate may befall the kiwi, New Zealand’s iconic flightless bird. Kiwi populations are estimated to be declining by 2 to 5 percent each year; […]

Health officials concerned about mercury pollution from crematories

More and more Americans are electing to be cremated, teeth and all. Stay with us here: Many dental fillings contain mercury, and health officials across the U.S. are raising concerns that mercury emissions from crematories will have adverse health effects on those still living. In one Colorado county, officials won’t allow a mortician to move […]

Controversial Alaska gold mine tiptoes forward

If Alaska’s proposed Pebble Gold Mine goes forward, it could be North America’s largest mine. It would necessitate the construction of the biggest dam in the world — right at the headwaters of the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery. Environmentalists and commercial fishers are up in arms about the project; mining companies Northern Dynasty Minerals […]

Find out where you can recycle your holiday tree

Done with your holiday tree? Don’t try to stuff it in the trash — on green site Earth911, you can identify your state and nearest city to bring up a list of treecycling options near you.

Up to six giraffe species may exist — and some are endangered, says study

The long-held assumption that the giraffe is a single species may be incorrect, says a new study in the journal BMC Biology. Researchers may have identified at least six separate species. Unfortunately, that means that “some of these giraffe populations number only a few hundred individuals and need immediate protection,” says lead author David Brown. […]

Norway will ban mercury

Come Jan. 1, Norway will completely ban mercury in manufacturing, imports, and exports. “Mercury is among the most dangerous pollutants. Good alternatives to mercury exist already and it is therefore right to introduce this ban,” says Environment Minister Erik Solheim, with due formality. Norway’s standards exceed that of the European Union, which will ban mercury […]

Somewhere in a parallel universe …

Jerry Falwell, President
Moral Majority
Lynchburg, VA

December 25, 1978

Dear Jerry,

It is altogether fitting and proper that we should be meeting at this holy time of year. Attached is the final version of the focus group analysis. Nothing new in the numbers, but we have added several recommendations since the last draft. What we are proposing is controversial, and we expect a lively discussion at the Executive Committee meeting.

Also enclosed please find our fourth quarter bill. Note that we have yet to receive payment for the first three quarters. As you know better than we, miracles are infrequent and the rent must still be paid!

Sincerely,

Ted Nordhaus
Michael Shellenberger

Merry Christmas!

Notable quotable

“Current economic growth, 11.5 percent or above 11 percent, is too fast and at too high a cost … The government should curb economic growth within a reasonable range that is compatible with energy and resource supply and without causing more imbalance.” — Han Yongwen, secretary general of China’s National Development and Reform Commission

New fishing quotas and Japanese whaling ships on notice

The European Union set quotas for 2008, with an 18 percent decrease for cod in most trawling areas except the North Sea, where quotas were raised by 11 percent. Scientists had pushed for cuts to less than half of 2006 levels ...

... the Swedish Board of Fisheries found that no cod had spawned in the waters between Sweden and Denmark this year ...

... two New Zealand fishing companies aimed to earn the Marine Stewardship Council's environmental standard for their Patagonian toothfish (Chilean sea bass) catch ...

...Australia announced plans to send planes and a ship to surveil Japanese whaling ships, and will use the photographs and video gathered in potential future legal action to force Japan to recognize a ban on hunting whales in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary ...