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Conservationists vs. indigenous peoples?

Conservation Refugees is a gutsy feature from the November/December issue of Orion Magazine, describing how the biodiversity-preservation efforts of the world's biggest conservation groups are getting indigenous peoples thrown off their ancestral lands.

It's no secret that millions of native peoples around the world have been pushed off their land to make room for big oil, big metal, big timber, and big agriculture. But few people realize that the same thing has happened for a much nobler cause: land and wildlife conservation. Today the list of culture-wrecking institutions put forth by tribal leaders on almost every continent includes not only Shell, Texaco, Freeport, and Bechtel, but also more surprising names like Conservation International (CI), The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Even the more culturally sensitive World Conservation Union (IUCN) might get a mention.

Rebuilding New Orleans: Corps can’t fix levees by hurricane season

Just in case you missed it: A fascinating and sobering feature ran a few days ago on National Public Radio on promises vs. reality in rebuilding New Orleans.

As Dave notes in his Top Five of 2005, a big facet of the Katrina story is how unprepared we are for climate disasters. Daniel Zwerdling's report from New Orleans suggests that's sinking in at the local level in The Big Easy, despite Bush administration attempts at spin. Walter Maestri, the man who runs emergency operations in New Orleans' biggest suburb, Jefferson Parish, where there was a major levee failure, doubts that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers can fulfill their promise that the levees will be rebuilt -- properly -- in time for 2006's hurricanes. In fact, his whole sense of who and what he can believe has been upended:

The Army Corps took decades to design and build the New Orleans levee system -- and that system failed in spectacular ways. Given that fact, Maestri questions how the Corps can assert that they already know how to fix those past mistakes. Pointing to a new steel wall that the Corps is erecting along the 17th Street Canal, Maestri notes that similar walls crumpled like tin foil during Katrina along other parts of the levee.

"We really felt all along that the Corps was a group that we could absolutely trust," Maestri says. "They wouldn't do sloppy work, or allow sloppy work. They realized that this community basically lives and dies on the strength of those levees. Now, what's happened -- it's like finding out that your mother lied to you all the years of your life."

Click here to read the whole story.

Woman marries dolphin

When people argue against animal rights with gems like, "What's next, the right to vote? To drive?" I just have to roll my eyes and shake my head. And when people argue against same-sex marriages with "next humans will be marrying animals," I just sigh. But then there's this ...

Woman marries dolphin

Sharon Tendler met Cindy 15 years ago. She said it was love at first sight. This week she finally took the plunge and proposed. The lucky "guy" plunged right back.

In a modest ceremony at Dolphin Reef in the southern Israeli port of Eilat, Tendler, a 41-year-old British citizen, apparently became the world's first person to "marry" a dolphin.

Dressed in a white dress, a veil and pink flowers in her hair, Tendler got down on one knee on the dock and gave Cindy a kiss. And a piece of herring.

(Via BB)

Russia attempts to use energy supplies as political tool; fails

Some folks -- take, for instance, me -- have argued that the whole hubbub over "foreign oil" is a bit of a red herring. Generally speaking, energy commodities are fungible, sold on the world market. If one producer (say, Saudi Arabia) suddenly refuses to sell to us, they'll just sell to someone else, and we can buy from that someone else. If we've got the money, eventually we'll get the oil.

(The world's declining oil and natural gas reserves are, of course, a problem, but there's no need to add the sheen of xenophobia, however satisfying.)

Others -- for instance, Bart in comments -- argue that as energy reserves decline, those who have oil and natural gas will start using them as political weapons. In effect, their political value will exceed their economic value. (And since the U.S. has much domestic demand and little domestic supply, we'll be screwed.)

Right now the discussion is mostly theoretical, but in the past week we've had a bit of a test case. As you may have heard, Russia cut off natural gas supplies to the Ukraine. Supposedly, the move was a response to Ukraine's refusal to sign a new contract and pay much higher, Western-Europe-style prices. (Ukraine wants a three-month phase in of new prices.)

But the subtext is political: Russia is ticked off about the Orange Revolution and Ukraine's desire to join the E.U. and NATO. While Ukraine is being asked to suddenly pay $230/cubic meter (up from $50), the more Russia-friend Belarus pays just $47/cubic meter.

The U.S. State Department said this:

Forth by Northeast

Seven Northeastern states sign greenhouse-gas pact Thumbing their noses — or whatever states have where noses should be — at the Bush administration, seven Northeastern states have committed to cut their planet-toasting carbon dioxide emissions 10 percent by the end of 2018. New York Gov. George Pataki (R) dreamed up the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative […]

My Left Soot

EPA proposal on soot emissions ignores scientists, ticks off enviros Finally getting around to updating air-quality standards that were supposed to be revised in 2002, the U.S. EPA late last month unveiled a proposal that pleases … nobody. It would lower the daily limit for fine-soot pollution, which comes from coal-fired power plants, cars, and […]

Come Back, J. Edgar Hoover, All Is Forgiven

FBI’s been monitoring green groups, using secret informants Ever get the creepy feeling somebody’s watching you? Well, it’s not the weed: The FBI has been spying on U.S. environmental, animal-liberation, and other activist groups — though the feds insist it’s the innocuous, totally legal kind of spying. Greenpeace and PETA, among others, have shown up […]

Strange Ted Fellow

Ted Stevens, thwarted on Arctic Refuge, threatens to take toys home When last we checked in with you, dear readers, Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska) was threatening to attach a provision to a defense appropriations bill that would open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. Well, not only did he do that, he also […]

All the News That’s Fit to Regret

The top five environmental stories of the past year As years go, 2005 … well, it could have been better. Amidst the war, torture, terrorism, and spying, environmental concerns did occasionally pop into public view. Alas, your bold switch to LED “holiday” lights didn’t get the widespread attention it deserved. Instead, the big green stories […]

How green printing can make a good impression

Can’t go paperless? Go green. Photo: iStockphoto. Look around your workplace, and you’ll likely find plenty of printed material, from business cards to brochures to books. Printing words and images on paper may seem like one of the more environmentally benign things your company does, but that isn’t necessarily the case. If you examine the […]