Japan

Hunting season ends with Japan catching fewer whales than planned

Japanese whalers had a quota of 850 minke whales for the just-ended hunting season but are heading home having caught only 551, which the country’s Fisheries Agency blames on “sabotage by activists.” The militant Sea Shepherd Society had been all up in whalers’ biz throughout the season. Anti-whalers were quick to point out that hunters […]

Sports continue to ‘go green’

It’s everyone’s favorite time: sports roundup time! And our sport-by-sport structure worked so well last time, perhaps we should try it again. Basketball: Three of the four teams in the NCAA Final Four — UCLA, North Carolina, and Memphis — are signatories to the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment. Get with the program, […]

Notable quotable

“Is it all right to hurt humans in order to protect whales? I think whales are cute and important creatures, but even so, hurting humans is unforgivable.” — Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura, criticizing anti-whaling activists

Activist says he was shot in confrontation with whalers

The captain of the radical anti-whaling Sea Shepherd Conservation Society says he was shot in a clash with Japanese whalers on Friday. Paul Watson says he found a bullet in his Kevlar vest; Japan’s fisheries agency disputed the accusation, saying those onboard the whaling ship retaliated with non-lethal flash grenades after activists threw stink bombs […]

Norway says whale consumption is good for the planet

Eating whale meat is better for the planet than eating beef, pork, or chicken, according to a comparative carbon-emissions calculation by Norwegian lobbying group the High North Alliance. Says the alliance’s Rune Froevik, in what may be a bit of an exaggeration, “Basically it turns out that the best thing you can do for the […]

Japan says it can meet Kyoto goals

Reuters reports:

Japan will be able to meet its greenhouse gas emissions limits agreed under the Kyoto Protocol through additional, mainly voluntary, agreements with industry, a government panel said.

The measures will help Japan cut 37 million tonnes or more of carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent a year, a joint panel on climate change under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of Environment said in a final report approved on Friday.

This is offered in the spirit of actually posting some climate progress now and then ...

This post was created for ClimateProgress.org, a project of the Center for American Progress Action Fund.

Aussies release gruesome footage of Japanese whale hunt

There’s a new twist in the twisty tale of Japan’s off-then-back-on-again whale hunt: the Australian government has released gut-wrenching footage of what it says is a mother and baby minke whale being harpooned and hauled aboard a Japanese ship. An unamused official at Japan’s Institute of Cetacean Research denied that the large and small whales […]

Protesters converge on Japan’s whaling fleet; Aussie court rules Japan hunt illegal

It’s been high drama on the high seas the past few days as the unpopular Japanese whaling fleet has been at the heart of legal action and a target of direct-action protest. Earlier this week, Greenpeace successfully tracked down Japan’s whaling fleet in Antarctic waters and has been chasing them around, disrupting the hunt. Today, […]

Toshiba said to have developed mini nuclear reactor

Says Next Energy News: Toshiba has developed a new class of micro size Nuclear Reactors that is designed to power individual apartment buildings or city blocks. The new reactor, which is only 20 feet by 6 feet, could change everything for small remote communities, small businesses or even a group of neighbors who are fed […]