Uncategorized

Johnson astonishes Whitehouse

I meant to highlight a post on Warming Law that contains this delightful bit from a recent hearing on the consequences of Mass. v. EPA: When asked to identify our most serious environmental challenge, [EPA administrator Stephen] Johnson again refused to say, explaining “I don’t see one being most serious.” Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse […]

Not all amphibians are toast

Not all amphibians are toast. From Mongabay:

Poison arrow frogs appear to make special effort to avoid exposure to damaging ultraviolet-B radiation ... The researchers found that the two species of frogs appear to be exhibiting UV-B avoidance behavior, with vocalizing frogs found at sites where UV-B levels were more than six times lower than average.

The ozone depletion problem is generally assumed to be under control for now, though I'm sure you can find scientists who would argue otherwise, especially if fame and wealth would result (as with the topic of global warming). A lot of people have confused the two largely unrelated issues. However, UV-B radiation levels are still elevated and are suspected to be a major factor in the present amphibian extinction crisis. If so, then there is hope that the amphibian extinction event may slow as UV-B radiation levels continue to drop:

Indigenous leader Julio Cusurichi Palacios battles for an intact Amazon

Julio Cusurichi Palacios. Photo: Goldman Environmental Prize. The Peruvian Amazon is one of the most remote places in the world. In its wildest corners, in the Madre de Dios region along the Brazilian border, some indigenous communities continue to live far from modern society. But their solitude is eroding: Loggers are pushing deeper into the […]

Conservation plan nixed

Though eel populations have declined 99 percent since the 1970s, according to a spokesman for the European Union, an EU eel conservation plan three years in the making was nixed by the French, according to a story by Charles Clover.

Mr. Clover is the environmental editor of the United Kingdom's Telegraph newspaper, and author of one of Oceana's favorite books The End of the Line.

Willie Corduff has taken arms against a sea of Shell troubles

Willie Corduff. Photo: Goldman Environmental Prize. “We’d never objected to anything in our whole lives,” says Irish farmer Willie Corduff. But when Shell Oil proposed to put a high-pressure gas pipeline through his family farm, Corduff changed his quiet ways. He and a handful of his neighbors refused to allow Shell on their property — […]

Hammer Simwinga provides alternatives to African poaching

In the 1970s, one of the densest populations of elephants on the African continent roamed the Luangwa Valley of Zambia. By the end of the next decade, massive poaching for the ivory trade had decimated herds throughout Africa, and the elephant population in North Luangwa National Park had plunged from 17,000 to 1,300. Though international […]

Interviews with the 2007 winners of the Goldman Prize

This year’s Goldman Prize winners fight for justice in the farm fields of Ireland and far beyond. Photo: Willie and Mary Corduff The digital age might allow us to transcend geography, but real places — places far and near, exotic and humble — still matter. Just ask the six winners of the 2007 Goldman Prize, […]

Ducked Ape

East African gorillas make a comeback Good news, ape fans: thanks to conservation efforts, East Africa’s mountain gorillas are eking their way toward not-endangeredness, at least in one national park. While still threatened by war, poaching, and habitat loss, an encouraging 340 mountain gorillas have found Uganda’s Bwindi Impenetrable Forest National Park at least penetrable […]

New York City considers congestion charge, and more

Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: The Gothman Prophecies Buzz Light Year What About Excess Waist? A Cult Oriented Now This Is Corn-fusing You Can Green It. They Can Help. Read the articles mentioned at the end of the podcast: Tighten Up The Spoken Word Heating Elements

Readers write in about April Fools’ stories, ungreen magazines, seal clubbing, and more

  Re: Cover Story Dear Editor: To my astonishment, the story about the proliferation of “green” issues of magazines like Glamour, Sports Illustrated, and Town & Country made no mention of the paper these magazines use. Where is the cynicism, irony, and humor in the face of outrageous hypocrisy? With only the exception of Outside, […]