Posts Tagged ‘environment’
Thanks to the NY Times!
One of the greenest cities in the country is making another big change in the name of environmental awareness.
On Monday, the Seattle City Council voted to ban plastic bags from being given out in stores. In their place, retailers can offer paper bags for a 5-cent fee.
The fee is meant to encourage shoppers to bring their own reusable bags. Amendments in the bill exempt food banks and low-income residents from having to charge and pay the extra fee.
The ban is expected to reduce pollution, free up landfill space and improve the environment. Seattle’s residents use 292 million plastic bags and 68 million paper bags a year. About 82 percent of paper bags are recycled, while only 13 percent of plastic bags are recycled.”
Seattle is not the first city to take such steps. Several municipalities in the state of Washington and all around the country have targeted plastic bags.
If the ordinance goes on to become law, it will take effect in July of 2012.
Courtesy of Forest Ethics
We are stuck in a sticky oil slick.
Get comfortable… because it is not likely we are going to escape from the mess anytime soon.
While alternative sources of energy (wind, solar etc) are explored, our addiction to fossil fuels will continue unabated.
To feed our needs, energy companies are constantly looking for new sources of the mucky stuff.
They have found a tempting new prospect in nearby Canada. This could be a massive boost to American energy prospects… and a gigantic sludgy mess.
The location is the tar sands located near Alberta, Canada. Also known as oil sands, this is a very dark dirty earthy mix from which a variety of chemicals and fuels can be extracted.
But there is a hitch…the processing of the tar has a host of production and environmental hazards.
Still, after the the terrible recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, some folks consider a land based fuel source a safer bet.
Now there is news of a pipeline from Canada to Texas (where the sludge would be refined).
This is stirring a ton of controversy with protests in Washington resulting in a record number of arrests.
There is also opposition from a group with a fair amount of political power in Canada— the indigenous tribes.
Native Canadians and Americans have partnered to stop this pipeline to preserve the Boreal Forest near its construction.
President Obama (not Congress) has the final say on the pipeline. Advocates are promoting the prospects of new jobs the project might create (a plus in this bad economy).
We should hear soon.
With concern about America’s addiction to fossil fuels, this debate, like global warming will continue to heat up.
Image thanks to the LA Times!
It’s okay Silvio, the Italians are pretty sick of you too.
Wake up and smell the smog!
Don’t have time to read Dick Cheney’s whole memoir? No worries - the Daily Beast has the highlights!
Cultural cohesion…through hot dogs?
A reflection on Labor Day: end of summer, workers’ movements, and cleaning the house.
Image from CBS News
Ready to quit? FDA releases new, gruesome cigarette warning labels.
Close to extinction: World’s oceans are in worse condition than anyone previously thought.
The fallout continues! Two more Gingrich aides leave floundering campaign.
Bringing ‘em home: President Obama set to announce outline for Afghanistan troop withdrawal.
Lately, there has been a lot of talk about “fracking,” but what the frack is it?
To start, the term refers to an oil drilling process that uses hydraulic fracturing. It consists of breaking through rock by using high pressured fluids.
Fracking requires up to 13 million gallons of water each time it’s used, and that’s putting a strain on places like Texas, where water is already in limited supply.
The water crisis in Texas, the biggest oil- and gas-producing state in the United States, highlights a continuing debate in North America and Europe over fracking’s impact on water supplies.
Fracking’s need for water isn’t the only aspect causing concern.
Environmentalists argue the process is putting water supplies in danger of serious pollution.
Now, reports of contaminated water and alleged disposal of carcinogens in rivers have caught state and federal regulators, and even environmental watchdogs, off guard. Sometimes the fracking mix includes diesel fuel. Between 2005 and 2009, drillers injected 32 million gallons of fluids containing diesel into wells in 19 states, an investigation by Representative Henry A. Waxman (D-Calif.) concludes.
As the process becomes more and more popular, there is sure to be a lot of fracking talk to come!
Thanks to Zimbio
Don’t add “diplomat” to Justin Bieber’s repertoire. Pop star might be ruining relations in Israel.
Long road ahead; President Obama lays out 12 year plan to cut spending and borrowing.
Environment or economy? China weighs their options.
Republican governors will be Republican governors: Labor supporters angered by Florida’s GOP governor.
Other than the burning parliament and resilient protesters in Libya…
A 6.3 magnitude earthquake rocks New Zealand,
U.S. Democratic-leaning states are now fewer in number,
and will we recognize our own planet in 40 years?
When we recently saw a DVD titled “Resisting the Green Dragon,” we were thought it had to be a bad 1980’s Kung-Fu movie.
We were wrong… it was MUCH WORSE than an 80’s Kung-Fu movie…
This 12-piece DVD set comes from a coalition of religious groups, including Right Wing Watch.
It battles with the newest demon to threaten the world as we know it: ENVIRONMENTALSTS!!!!
Check out this bit from the press release:
“One of the greatest threats to society and the church today is the multifaceted environmentalist movement,” says Cornwall Alliance founder and national spokesman Dr. E. Calvin Beisner. “There isn’t an aspect of life that it doesn’t seek to force into its own mold.”
Essentially, this series intends to dispel “rumors” of climate change and delegitimize “radical environmentalists”.
Evidently Right Wing Watch thinks environmentalists intend not to save the planet but to (insert scary music here) destroy the Bible and Christianity as we know it!!!
We at US Democrazy are huge supporters of democracy, and enjoy a robust discussion on issues of the day.
But we also think crazy contributors to this discussion should be challenged vigorously.
Do you think “Resisting the Green Dragon” is a little on the crazy-side?
Courtesy of Maps by alphadesigner
They were probably inspired by OUR MAP! One artist takes a stab at mapping stereotypes from different nations perspectives. Geography with an un-politically correct twist- view them all at the Geography of Prejudice.
We’re wailing for the whales as a pod of 74 whales, NOT from Wales, but from New Zealand are stranded on the beach. About 25 are already deceased and with such huge mammals involved who knows the end outcome!
The topic of much discussion, candidate Christine O’Donnell, is now boycotting the nation! Er…Nation(al) media that is, as she favors Delware’s local scene. Here’s why.
For those of you who participated in Earth Hour 2010, welcome back to technology! For those of you who didn’t, there’s always next year!
Earth Hour is the name of an initiative aimed to get people to turn off all electrical appliances for at least an hour. Yup, that means no computers, T.V.s, or microwaves. It’s celebrated all around the world. Everything from Big Ben to the Sydney Opera house turned off its lights.
What do you think? Is it a good tool for promoting environmental causes, or just an interesting event?
The past decade has been full of environmental appeals asking us to recycle, make use of reusable containers and bags, and the degradation of the world around us. Some are clearly more effective than others, but this short film by Ramin Bahrani uses the narrative format to create something that’s fresh, strange, and interesting all at the same time. …read more.
Thanks to nhop.ca!
Haiti’s having a pretty hard time right now, since the massive earthquake earlier this month.
Fortunately, a lot of good people from around the world are trying to help… with food, money, kidnapping… KIDNAPPING?!?!
Ten U.S. Baptist missionaries were charged with kidnapping 33 Haitian children and trying to take them across the Haitian border to the Dominican Republic.
The Haitian Prime Minister, Max Bellerive, states,
It is clear now that they were trying to cross the border without papers. It is clear now that some of the children have live parents… And it is clear now, that they knew what they were doing was wrong.
According to ABC News, children were drawn to follow the missionaries with pictures – pamphlets, actually – that showed pools, large houses, and clothes.
The children, although allegedly being taken to an orphanage, were not orphans. …read more.
Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s Prime Minister, is left with a bloody nose after an attack.
Is it a riot or climate change talks?
A mystery couple spreads the Christmas spirit.
At The Copenhagen Climate Summit there are bound to be some disagreements among nations. One big dividing line is between the rich nations and the poor nations of the world. They often disagree as to how to pay for any new pollution controls. The cartoon above suggests that perhaps the rich and the poor will be working together in the future. Is the cartoonist being a little too cynical? (Cartoon by KAL)
Thanks Wikicommons
We here at USDemocrazy worry quite a bit about the climate, particularly as our editors are fond of locking us out of the building. As a result we closely follow climate-related news from sites like these:
The Guardian, a British daily, has a whole section devoted to climate change-related news.
British-based BBC News also has a section devoted specifically to climate change.
The New York Times similarly has such an offering stateside.
The Los Angeles Times takes a slightly different approach, providing a section on Environmental news.
The Economist, a weekly news publication, offers environmental and climate news in its Science & Technology section.
