Environmental Bottom Line News

Group Warns on Consumption of Resource

Associated Press, 22 October 2004 - Humanity's reliance on fossil fuels, the spread of cities, the destruction of natural habitats for farmland and over-exploitation of the oceans are destroying Earth's ability to sustain life, the environmental group WWF warned in a new report Thursday...

School district bans Halloween festivities

A Washington state school district has banned Halloween parties during the school day because it says children dressed up as goblins and witches take time away from learning, officials said Thursday.

China in for Extreme Weather as Climate Change Felt, Report Says

China can expect more droughts, floods and other extreme weather as it struggles to balance rapid development with environmental concerns, a report on climate change released on Tuesday said.

Reports Offer Inside Look at City Agency's Lapses

Insightful article on the inner workings of a NYC government agency charged with protecting the city's water supply.

Arctic Thaw

The Washington Post notes that the Arctic Council's report on climate change predicts polar sea ice to decline by 50% in the next 100 years, bringing flooding to low-lying areas worldwide and threatening many polar animal species with extinction. The editorial notes with some alarm that the U.S. government is declining to support language that links climate change to carbon emissions, and seeks a "practical, commonsensical and depoliticized approach to what will certainly be one of the most pressing environmental issues of the next half-century." The Washington Post (free registration) (11/9)

Putin Ratifies Kyoto Protocol on Emissions

Russia ratifies Kyoto Protocol. Sites possible economic risks, but also acknowledges its responsibility to advance international cooperation.

Bush Stands by Rejection of Kyoto Treaty

President Bush is holding fast to his rejection of mandatory curbs on greenhouse gases that are blamed for global warming, despite a fresh report from 300 scientists in the United States and seven other nations that shows Arctic temperatures are rising.

Pressure on Europe's bird species

A study by BirdLife International points to a steep decline in the diversity of Europe's bird population, with 43% of species in decline as a result of intensive agricultural methods and alterations in habitat brought on by climate change. Many species are facing extinction, while a few bird populations are showing signs of growth due to conservation efforts.

Global warming 'will redraw map of world'

Top British science adviser Sir David King warned experts at a climate change conference in Berlin that the ramifications of polar ice decline will be written on the map of the world. If northern ice caps continue in their current rate of retreat, King said, "humanity had better be prepared for a complete realignment of the coastal zones, where most of the world's major cities are sited."

Britain Hopes to Push U.S. on Climate Change, Says Adviser

The British government's top scientific adviser, David King, said his country hopes it can have more influence over the U.S. during President George W. Bush's second term when it comes to dealing with climate change initiatives. "We'll be in there very quickly discussing these issues with them prior to our G-8 presidency. I think we can feel quite optimistic about that," King said.

Due Process on Dams

IT'S NO SECRET that the Bush administration wants to tilt environmental rules to favor business interests. But the Interior Department has recently taken that approach to a new level of brazenness.

Plan May Keep Bird Off Endangered List

An initiative by the Bureau of Land Management to conserve the habitat of the northern sage grouse is complicating efforts to earn the bird designation as an endangered species.

EPA Backs Nanomaterial Safety Research

The Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $4 million in grants to study the health and environmental risks posed by manufactured nanomaterials -- the new and invisibly tiny materials that are revolutionizing many industries but whose effects on living things remain largely unknown.

Priming the Public For Hydrogen Fuel

A hydrogen-dispensing pump at a Washington DC gas station is the first installed in the country, according to officials from Shell Hydrogen and General Motors Corp., who will team up today to introduce it.

U.S. Genetically Modified Corn Is Assailed

NAFTA Report Calls Grain a Threat to Mexico; Administration Disputes Study

Brazil Creates Two New Forest Reserves

Brazilian President Lulu da Silva pleased environmental activists by announcing the creation of two new government-protected reserves in the Amazon state of Para, adding to the percentage of the Amazon forest that is off limits to miners, loggers and other forms of "environmental degradation" in so-called "extractivist" reserves. The move will allow local inhabitants to remain in the area and subsist on "regenerating" goods from the forest. Environmental News Network/Associated Press (11/10)

Pollution in Buyat Bay

Indonesia's natural resources are among the most bounteous in the world. They are also among the most abused. Desperate for foreign investment and plagued by corruption and weak regulation, Indonesian governments over the years have virtually invited multinational corporations - and, for that matter, their own citizens - to clear-cut the country's incomparable rain forests, foul the air and pollute the water. Now more than 80 percent of the country's 19,700-square-mile reef system, the world's largest, is at risk.

Species disappearing at an alarming rate, report says

The world's biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, the recognized global watchdog on endangered species said Wednesday in announcing its annual list of most vulnerable wildlife.

A Seashore Fight to Harness the Wind

A proposal to build the world's largest offshore wind power plant in Nantucket Sound is pitting environmentalists against opponents who foresee it as a blight.

U.S. and 13 Other States Agree on Push to Gather Methane Gas

The U.S. is underwriting the cost of the methane agreement, which includes developing countries like India and China.

Climate change issues heat up in D.C.

EPA signs partnerships, McCain wants more action

Starbucks Will Use Cups With 10% Recycled Paper

Starbucks has received F.D.A. approval to use recycled paper in its cups. The company says no one else uses recycled paper.

Chernobyl neighbors ignoring long-term risk

SVETILOVICHI, Belarus - The signs say “KEEP OUT” and warn of radiation contamination, but the mushroom-pickers trudge right past them carrying their pails.

Age of green cars arrives as Canadians cut emissions

Cars that are environmentally friendly may be coming to drivers in North America faster than anyone expected after the Canadian government pledged this week to a dramatic 25 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from all vehicles sold inside its borders by the end of the decade.

Commentary: Arab oil-producers find new customers in energy-hungry Asia

As relations between oil-producing Arab countries and many of their Western customers fail to regain much of the traction they held prior to the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Arab states are increasingly looking to Asia for new business opportunities, writes Michael Vatikiotis in the International Herald Tribune. A rapid increase in energy consumption in China and less "suspicion and scrutiny" from Asian consumers are helping fuel the trend, Vatikiotis writes. International Herald Tribune (11/17)

McCain raps Bush on global warming

 

Green chemistry takes root

A new kind of chemical revolution is brewing, 150 years after the first one transformed modern life with a host of conveniences.

Green chemistry takes root (text)