U.S. Interior Dept throws out Bush logging plan

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Interior Department on Thursday killed a plan issued by the Bush administration to allow more logging in western Oregon that reduced protection areas for the endangered spotted owl, saying it was "legally indefensible and must be withdrawn."

"We have carefully reviewed the lawsuits filed against the (logging plan) and it is clear that as a result of the previous administration's late actions, the plan cannot stand up in court and, if defended, could lead to years of fruitless litigation and inaction," said Interior Secretary Ken Salazar.

This is the latest action by the Obama administration that overturns decisions issued by the Bush administration that threaten wildlife or the environment.

Salazar previously pulled federal tracks in the West that the department had leased for oil and gas drilling under Bush. …

U.S. Interior Dept throws out Bush logging plan

Technorati Tags: logging,habitat loss

Longest insect migration revealed

Matt Walker, Editor, Earth News 

Every year, millions of dragonflies fly thousands of kilometres across the sea from southern India to Africa.

So says a biologist in the Maldives, who claims to have discovered the longest migration of any insect.

If confirmed, the mass exodus would be the first known insect migration across open ocean water.

It would also dwarf the famous trip taken each year by Monarch butterflies, which fly just half the distance across the Americas.

Biologist Charles Anderson has published details of the mass migration in the Journal of Tropical Ecology.

Each year, millions of dragonflies arrive on the Maldive Islands, an event which is well known to people living there.

"But no-one I have spoken to knew where they came from," says Anderson, an independent biologist who usually works with organisations such as the Maldivian Marine Research Centre to survey marine life around the islands. …

The dragonflies are clearly migrating from India across the open sea to the Maldives, says Anderson.

"That by itself is fairly amazing, as it involves a journey of 600 to 800km across the ocean," he says.

Quite how they do it was a bit of a mystery, as in October at least they appear to be flying against the prevailing winds. …

Longest insect migration revealed

Technorati Tags: biodiversity,ocean

SpaceX launches first commercial satellite to orbit

Awesome video:  http://www.spacex.com/webcast.php 

by Paul Marks

PayPal founder Elon Musk's civilian spaceflight company, SpaceX, achieved its first commercial success this week after its Falcon 1 rocket lofted a Malaysian Earth-imaging satellite into orbit.

The launch late on Tuesday from Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Marshall Islands inserted the RazakSAT spacecraft into a near-equatorial orbit at an altitude of 695 kilometres.

Malaysia hopes that RazakSAT, which will fly over its territory 12 times a day, will help scientists better manage the country's forests, farmland and marine resources.

The launch for its first paying customer is a big step for SpaceX, since the firm has won a contract from NASA to haul cargo to the International Space Station. Until now its Falcon 1 rocket had only lofted a dummy payload successfully – before that it had three launch failures. …

SpaceX launches first commercial satellite to orbit

Technorati Tags: space flight

Exxon to invest $600 million in making fuel from algae

And this is after GreenFuel went under. Hmm…

By Tom Bergin

LONDON (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp has agreed to invest possibly more than $600 million in a venture to develop biofuels from algae, the oil major, which previously dismissed renewable energy as uneconomic, said on Tuesday.

Exxon said in a statement it was forming a research and development alliance with Synthetic Genomics Inc., a privately held company focused on gene-based research.

"Algae-based fuels could help meet the world's growing demand for transportation fuel while reducing greenhouse gas emissions," said Michael Dolan, senior vice president of Exxon. …

Exxon to invest $600 million in making fuel from algae

Technorati Tags: algae,biofuel

Alanis Morissette and Woody Harrelson launch RECO Eco jeans

 

How harmful are your jeans? If they’re made of cotton, they most likely went through a process that included nasty pesticides, polluting dyes and waste-generating production before you decided to put them on your legs. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Singer Alanis Morissette and actor Woody Harrelson have teamed up to bring us Reco Jeans, which are made with 50% recycled denim. That might not seem like a lot - ideally it would be 100%, but Reco is one of the only jeans companies that has been able to get it to even that level. …

Bid here>

Alanis Morissette and Woody Harrelson Launch RECO Eco Jeans!

Technorati Tags: recycling

Communities print their own currency to keep cash flowing

By Marisol Bello, USA TODAY

A small but growing number of cash-strapped communities are printing their own money.

Borrowing from a Depression-era idea, they are aiming to help consumers make ends meet and support struggling local businesses.

The systems generally work like this: Businesses and individuals form a network to print currency. Shoppers buy it at a discount — say, 95 cents for $1 value — and spend the full value at stores that accept the currency.

Workers with dwindling wages are paying for groceries, yoga classes and fuel with Detroit Cheers, Ithaca Hours in New York, Plenty in North Carolina or BerkShares in Massachusetts.

Ed Collom, a University of Southern Maine sociologist who has studied local currencies, says they encourage people to buy locally. Merchants, hurting because customers have cut back on spending, benefit as consumers spend the local cash.

"We wanted to make new options available," says Jackie Smith of South Bend, Ind., who is working to launch a local currency. "It reinforces the message that having more control of the economy in local hands can help you cushion yourself from the blows of the marketplace."

About a dozen communities have local currencies, says Susan Witt, founder of BerkShares in the Berkshires region of western Massachusetts. She expects more to do it. …

Communities print their own currency to keep cash flowing

Technorati Tags: local currency

Illegal Amazon timber passed off as eco-certified in massive wood laundering scheme

A Brazilian federal prosecutor is leading an investigation into charges that illegal timber from the state of Pará is being laundered as "eco-certified" wood and exported to markets in the United States, Europe, and Asia, reports Sunday's edition of O Globo.

Prosecutor Bruno Valente Soares has found evidence to suggest that timber companies are doctoring paperwork and using other methods to disguise timber that is being illegally cut from reserves and indigenous lands.

International buyers pay a premium for certified timber, which they can market as being more sustainable than other wood. The timber goes to furniture makers and construction companies abroad.

The scheme allegedly involves up to 3,000 companies across Pará's timber sector, writes Liana Mello.…

Illegal Amazon timber passed off as eco-certified in massive wood laundering scheme

Technorati Tags: Amazon,poaching,deforestation

Proposal for London Bridge has solar power, vertical farm

 

London Bridge isn't falling down, it is just really boring. It used to be an exciting place, an inhabited bridge full of shops and taverns, but they got rid of all that centuries ago and then shipped the thing off to Lake Havasu in Arizona. But the idea of London Bridge is 800 years old this week, and the Royal Institute of British Architects and the wonderfully named Worshipful Company of Chartered Architects ran an architectural competition to design a new inhabited bridge. Laurie Chetwood was the winner. …

Proposal For London Bridge Has Solar Power, Vertical Farm

Technorati Tags: green architecture,agriculture,solar power

Carbon capture and storage progressing toward feasibility

 

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) has the potential to cut global Co2 emissions dramatically. We’re talking huge cuts. It has been estimated that a plant implementing CCS can cut emissions by 80-90 percent compared with a plant that doesn’t use CCS. Sounds great, right? Well, there are some some problems.

Cost is the number one challenge that CCS faces. “Applying it would significantly increase the cost of electricity beyond what society is likely willing to pay,” said Sarah Forbes,  a World Resources Institute Senior Associate. Another challenge is that no fully integrated demonstrations have taken place. The pieces have been tested individually, but the entire puzzle is yet to be seen. …

Carbon Capture and Storage Progressing Toward Feasibility

Technorati Tags: carbon sequestration

Critically endangered Buena Vista Lake Ornate Shrew granted a reprieve from extinction

 

Bakersfield, Calif.- As a result of a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agreed Thursday to review and redesignate habitat that is critical for the survival and recovery of the one of the most endangered mammals on the planet - the Buena Vista Lake ornate shrew.

The agency had, under the Bush administration, proposed only 4,649 acres of critical habitat for the shrew in 2004, which it further slashed to a meager and unsustainable 84 acres in 2005. This move was typical of the administration, which adamantly opposed protecting species under the Endangered Species Act. Indeed, the administration protected only 62 species in eight years, compared to 522 species protected under the Clinton administration. 

Thursday's settlement requires that the agency repropose the 4,649 acres within the next 90 days and issue a final designation of the critical habitat on or before March 22, 2012. Until that date, the current designation of 84 acres remains in place.

"This settlement is an important victory for the Buena Vista Lake ornate shrew and California's invaluable wetlands in the arid San Joaquin Valley," said Ileene Anderson, ecologist with the Center for Biological Diversity. "The agreement requires that the agency that is supposed to be protecting this rare mammal take a hard look at what is needed — not only to keep this unique animal from extinction, but to increase the population to levels that ensure its survival." …

Critically Endangered Buena Vista Lake Ornate Shrew Granted a Reprieve From Extinction

Technorati Tags: extinction,mammal decline,endangered species

Plantagon develops vertical farm that can go anywhere

 

Plantagon is more than just another vertical farm. We learn from PSFK that it "will dramatically change the way we produce ecological and functional food. It allows us to produce ecological with clean air and water inside urban environments, even major cities, cutting costs and environmental damage by eliminating transportation and deliver directly to consumers. This is due to the efficiency and productivity of the Plantagon® greenhouse which makes it economically possible to finance each greenhouse from its own sales."...

Plantagon Develops Vertical Farm That Can Go Anywhere

Technorati Tags: green construction,green architecture,green agriculture

Milestone: 100th coal plant unplugged

Posted by: Bruce Nilles at 11:32AM EST on July 9, 2009

As of today, 100 coal plants have been defeated or abandoned since the beginning of the coal rush. Late yesterday, news came down that Utah-based Intermountain Power Agency is abandoning plans for a third coal-fired generator in the state.

This news comes as President Obama is at the G8 summit in Italy discussing action on global warming. As other countries like China say they will not act until the U.S. does, these 100 stopped plants are a sign from Americans. We are taking action against global warming, and it's time to join us.

This also comes just a week after Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced the city would end coal use by 2020, and was announced the same day as a decision by Basin Electric Power in South Dakota to pull plans for a new coal-fired power plant. The decision marks a significant milestone in the shift to clean energy.

Since the first coal-fired power plant started operation in the U.S. more than 100 years ago our country has been wedded to dirty coal power.  Despite the availability of affordable, cleaner energy alternatives, there were still plans on the drawing board for more than 150 new coal-fired power plants as recently as last year.

We are seeing a movement. That movement has kept well over 400 million tons of harmful global warming pollution out of the air, making significant progress in the fight against global warming. Stopping 100 new coal plants has also kept thousands of tons of asthma causing soot and smog pollution, as well as toxins like mercury out of our air and water.

This milestone also marks a significant shift in the way Americans are looking at our energy choices. Cities, states, businesses and electric utilities are all moving away from the polluting coal power of the past. …

Milestone: 100th Coal Plant Unplugged

Technorati Tags: coal,carbon reduction

Report shows the power of US cities to mitigate climate change and steps they need to take to adapt

(Carbon Disclosure Project)

US cities are starting to plan ways of coping with climate change, says a new report. Flooding of subways and other infrastructure caused by extreme weather and sea level rise, shortages of food, water and energy, and health and economic risks are among concerns of city planners in 18 US cities surveyed, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Denver, West Palm Beach, Portland and Las Vegas. Many are also implementing carbon reduction programs for municipal activities as a prelude to leading citizen CO2 reduction efforts. …

Report shows the power of US cities to mitigate climate change and steps they need to take to adapt

Technorati Tags: climate change,carbon reduction

Zipcar launches London electric car club

James Murray, BusinessGreen, Wednesday 8 July 2009 at 00:15:00

Plug-in hybrid Prius and all-electric Citroën offered as part of new Westminster car club

Members of the Zipcar car club will from this week be able to pick up electric and plug-in electric hybrid vehicles from its new Electric Vehicle Pod in central London...

Zipcar launches London electric car club

Technorati Tags: electric car

Stanford: Geoengineering will not help oceans

“Geoengineering” experiments proposed to reduce global warming by blocking sunlight with atmosphere-injected particles may cool the world but still leave carbon dioxide levels dangerously high, Stanford scientists say.

Sunlight-blocking particles would fail to solve the problems of ocean acidification and dying corals, two significant repercussions of climate change, according to a study by Ken Caldeira of Stanford University and the Carnegie Institution, Damon Matthews of Concordia University, and Long Cao of the Carnegie Institution. Atmospheric carbon dioxide dissolves in ocean water, making it more acidic and difficult for animals to build their shells or skeletons, especially corals.

Proponents of geoengineering have called for injecting small, reflective particles into the atmosphere to partially block sunlight and cool the earth, just as ash from an erupting volcano does. The resulting carbon-dioxide-rich climate would cause land plants to grow more vigorously, hold onto more carbon and release less to the ocean. But the difference would not be enough to fundamentally alter the plight of coral reefs, Caldeira said.

The researchers used computer models of the Earth’s climate system and biosphere to simulate the effect of sunlight-reflecting particles on climate and ocean chemistry. Such geoengineering methods “might be able to address some of the climate effects of carbon dioxide but they don’t fundamentally address the chemical effects posed by carbon dioxide,” Caldeira said.

“Instead of taking till 2050 until there’s no place left in the ocean where corals can survive, it might be 2053. The carbon cycle effects of the geoengineering might delay that outcome in the ocean by a few years but wouldn’t prevent those outcomes from occurring,” he said. The scientists’ work was published in Geophysical Research Letters. …

Global warming tactic cools climate but won’t help corals, say Stanford researchers

Technorati Tags: ocean acidification,geoengineering

EPA wants to clean up large ocean-going ships

 

 Canada Could Also Adopt an Harmonized Regulation

In a similar vein to what California is doing with ocean-going ships, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has proposed a new set of rules under the Clean Air Act that would require all U.S. flagged ocean-going vessels to meet stricter diesel engine and fuel standards, leading to cleaner air along the coasts of the US (and Canada, who's also working on a similar regulation). …

EPA Wants to Clean Up Large Ocean-Going Ships

Technorati Tags: ocean,pollution

Solar-powered blimp set to fly across English Channel

 

Perhaps propelled by the recent dawn of solar powered airplanes, this stunning solar powered blimp is poised to take flight by harnessing sunlight for fuel. Dubbed Nephelios, the solar-powered helium blimp was designed and built by high school engineering students in France. The history making blimp will begin test flights in the next 2 weeks, and by summer’s end the designers hope to fly Nephelios across the English Channel, “just to show that it’s possible.” Nephelios will be the first manned solar airship in existence, and its inaugural flight will prove that CO2-free air travel is now a reality. …

Solar Powered Blimp Set to Fly Across English Channel

Technorati Tags: solar power,air travel