Archive for October, 2007

  • Getting Lethal Chemicals Out of the Funeral Industry

    GREEN FUNERALS: Putting aside embalming and tombs some believe that services at home and simple caskets gradually will change how society deals with death. Read more

  • States Set to Sue the U.S. Over Greenhouse Gases

    New York is one of more than a dozen states, led by California, preparing to sue the Bush administration for holding up efforts to regulate emissions from cars and trucks, several people involved in the lawsuit said on Tuesday. The move comes as New York and other Northeastern states are stepping up their push for tougher regulation of greenhouse gases as part of their continuing opposition to President Bush’s policies. Read more

  • Everything’s Cool Makes Great Debut at Bioneers

    Bringing a little humor to the table to help promote the cause of Global Warming. Even Bill McKibben sounds optimistic. Coming to a theater near you in November.

  • More Creative Editing from the Bush Administration

    The White House Wednesday denied charges that it had "watered down" congressional testimony on the impact climate change is having on public health testimony delivered by the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As is customary, Dr. Julie Gerberding, director of the Atlanta-based CDC, a government organization, submitted her report to the administration for review before giving testimony on Capitol Hill Tuesday. Of the 14 original pages in her report, only six survived the White House editing process. Read more

  • Discussion Forum in BirdLife International

    Recent paper by the PimmGroup started a discussion forum in BirdLife International. Follow it

  • Ecuador clears Petrobras for Block 31 oilfield

    QUITO, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Ecuador has authorized an environmental permit for Brazil's Petrobras to develop the Block 31 oilfield in the Amazon region, which should start production in 2009, President Rafael Correa said on Tuesday. Read more

  • U.S. Senators Propose Compulsory Greenhouse Gas Cuts

    WASHINGTON, DC, October 18, 2007 (ENS) – A bipartisan bill introduced today in the U.S. Senate proposes mandatory, not voluntary, limits on greenhouse gases with the goal of reducing the nation's emissions more than 60 percent by mid-century. The bill's authors say the plan is a serious and viable effort to tackle global warming and key Democrats aim to get the legislation out of committee and before the full Senate by early next year. The proposal, introduced by Connecticut Independent Joe Lieberman and Virginia Republican John Warner, would impose greenhouse

  • Moving up

    Mariana Vale of the Pimm Group is now Dr. Mariana Vale having just received her Ph.D. from Duke University in recognition of her work in infrastructure development and bird conservation in the Brazilian Amazon. Amazing work. Watch a clip here

  • The Search for the Grey-winged Cotinga

    All adventures end at precisely the same point. Thirty seconds into the hot shower, a stream of dirty water runs down the drain. It takes with it the mud, changing skin color from blotchy grey to pink, uncovers the until-now forgotten scrapes and cuts, and exterminates the thriving ecosystem of bacteria and fungi, each with its own distinct and pungent smell, to which one's skin had been playing host. This is exactly when one has the first dangerous notion that the last days or weeks might have been fun. Most adventures start the same way - packing one's gear and heading to the airport.

  • Tackling the Biodiversity Crisis – BBC 4 Interview with Stuart Pimm & Georgiana Mace

    The Earth is losing its biodiversity at an alarming rate. Species are becoming extinct between 100 and 1,000 times faster than normal, as a direct result of human activity. In 2005, the UN-commissioned Millennium Ecosystem Assessment highlighted the damaging effect that declining biodiversity is having on human well-being, by for example threatening food supplies and the provision of clean air and water that we all depend on to survive. Listen to it here