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War and Environment Day … yesterday

Gristmill contributor Geoff Dabelko, who's having a little trouble with the posting widget, sent this to me, and I'm passing it along to you.  Enjoy:

A couple years back the U.N. General Assembly declared today [ed.: yesterday], November 6, to be International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.  

In resolution 56/4 [PDF], the U.N. called attention to the often long-lasting damage done to the natural environment done in times of conflict.

Having a special day for an issue is great, but what is the U.N. really doing about environmental security links on the ground?

You forgot Colorado!

Reader (and Colorado resident) Gary Wockner writes to remind us that not all the news is bad:

The Powell and the Glory

Lake Powell is drying up; Glen Canyon is coming back Lake Powell is dropping by a foot every four days, thanks to ongoing drought in the West — and many enviros couldn’t be happier about it. Veteran conservation leader David Brower called the completion of Glen Canyon dam in 1963, and the subsequent drowning of […]

Love Hurts

Worries over ecotourism on the rise Ecotourism and its more profit-centric cousin nature tourism make up about 20 percent of international tourist travel. These two sectors are growing by 10 to 30 percent a year, and generate hundreds of billions of dollars — money that often helps the ecosystems being toured, not to mention local […]

Solution Dilution

Bush admin opposes recommendations in Arctic climate-change report Last week, details emerged about a comprehensive study on the accelerated and destructive effects of global warming on the Arctic, involving more than 300 scientists from eight nations and six indigenous tribes. Now some members of an eight-nation negotiating team are accusing the U.S. of working to […]

Un-bear-able

Last known indigenous female brown bear in Pyrenees shot and killed The last known reproducing female brown bear in the Pyrenees along the French-Spanish border — known as Cannelle, French for “cinnamon” — has been shot and killed by hunters. The whereabouts of her 10-month-old cub, which fled after seeing his mother shot, are unknown. […]

Making environmentalism palatable to social conservatives

There is much food for thought in the discussion here.

Reader Keith F. Saylor, an avowed conservative and Bush voter (no, Keith, that doesn't disqualify your comments -- you are welcome here, please hang around) left this comment, which got me thinking. He says environmentalism "is crippled by its marriage with the Democratic Party and its policies."  (Da silva, who I assume is not a Bush voter, agrees here.) Further downthread, Tina Rhea, an avowed atheist (yup, you're welcome here too, Tina -- Grist is all about the big tent!) says environmentalists "could do more to reach out and make common cause" with Christians. These two suggestions are related, and I think they both have merit.

Now, here are two premises I assume are not controversial:

Faster, Pussycat! Krill! Krill!

Food web unraveling in Antarctic, thanks to global warming Krill, the shrimp-like crustaceans at the center of the Antarctic food chain, are rapidly disappearing, and scientists suspect global warming may be the culprit. In some key ocean regions, krill have declined by more than 80 percent in the last 25 years, according to a study […]

Windbalkers

Wind farms ignite controversy in Scotland and California A proposal to build the world’s biggest on-shore wind farm on Scotland’s rugged Isle of Lewis is triggering a pitched battle. Lewis Wind Power, a joint venture between British Energy and construction group AMEC, claims the project would create hundreds of jobs and generate enough electricity to […]

Mad Props, Yo

California approves measure to block citizen lawsuits against businesses By a significant margin, California voters on Tuesday approved Proposition 64, which curtails the right of private citizens and public-interest groups to bring legal action against companies under the state’s Unfair Business Competition Law — a move that could hamper efforts to protect the state’s environment. […]