Great Lakes Fish Virus May Threaten US Aquaculture

In the US Great Lakes the The pathogen, viral hemorrhagic septicemia, or VHS - that has killed tens of thousands of fish in recent years is spreading and poses a threat to inland fish farming, a US Agriculture Department official said on Monday.

The public first began hearing about the virus after a die-off of fish in Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and the upper St. Lawrence River in May 2006 with dead fish washing up on beaches.

Scientists believe the VHS virus has been in the Great Lakes since 2003. Its origin is unknown but researchers think it may have come from bilge water released from one or more of the hundreds of ocean-going vessels plying the Lakes.

"We're not quite sure just how deadly to fish it's going to be yet," said John Dettmers, senior fishery biologist at the Great Lakes Fishery Commission in Michigan. "There are 37 susceptible species so far that we are aware of."

Those species include lake whitefish, walleye and yellow perch, all among the top commercially fished species in the Great Lakes, Dettmers said.

Read more from REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

Thanks, Sarah Gardner - From from the Sustainability Desk!

Thank you for taking the time to visit our site!

 

Chris

China - Tax that win's!

Concerns about energy availability and climate change are becoming more prominent in China; the government  adjusted the tax structure to provide a financial disincentive for the purchase of large-displacement vehicles: a 50% sales tax on engines greater than 4.0 liters, and a 27% tax on engines between 2.2 and 4.0 liters.

 

http://www.greencarcongress.com/2007/04/evaluating_powe.html#more

The dead cannot cry out for justice; it is a duty of the living to do so for them. - Diplomatic Immunity, 2002

 

Fish-Killing Virus Spreading in the Great Lakes

New York Times: A virus that has already killed tens of thousands of fish in the eastern Great Lakes is spreading, scientists said, and now threatens almost two dozen aquatic species over a wide swath of the lakes and nearby waterways. The virus, a mutated pathogen not native to North America that causes hemorrhaging and organ failure, is not harmful to humans, even if they eat contaminated fish. But it is devastating to the ecosystem and so unfamiliar, experts said, that its full biological impact ...

Screw Earth Day! Make This Earth Day Your Last!

... I have to agree with Grist & WorldChanging- Screw Earth Day!

Earth Day, which every year has become less and less the revolutionary event it once was, seems this year to have entered a new phase of meaninglessness. Indeed, this year it appears to gone into a form of retrograde motion and begun to move actively away from the concept of comprehensive sustainability that drives all rational environmentalism. ...

The biggest problem with Earth Day is that it has become a ritual of sympathy for the idea of environmental sanity. Small steps, we're told, ignoring the fact that most of the steps most frequently promoted (returning your bottles, bringing your own bag, turning off the water while you brush your teeth) are of such minor impact (compared to our ecological footprints) that they are essentially meaningless without larger, systemic action as well. The strategy of recycling as a gateway drug -- get them hooked on it and we can move them on to harder stuff -- has failed miserably. ...

What may be worse is the recent plethora of "green issues" and special Earth Day sections that have blanketed our media. A decade ago, we would have been excited to see green ideas (even lame ones) given such prominent play, but these days, such editorial eco-ghettos strike us more as an admission of skewed priorities, with ecological sanity presented as a product feature, like a well-designed cupholder, rather than as a fundamental strategy for avoiding widespread collapse.

Read more here

Celebrating Earth Day through consumption?

Ah, Earth Day. What could be a better way to celebrate our planet than buying more stuff and then having it shipped halfway across the country?

Uganda-Raped of the country's last protected forests for Biofuels

New Scientist: A row over the conversion of rainforests into biofuel plantations is creating a grave political crisis for a country until now seen as a beacon for democracy in Africa. The issue has brought to a head the simmering conflicts between short-term economic gains and the conservation of vital natural resources in the continent. The president of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni, is this week pressing ahead with plans to give a large chunk of one of the country's last protected forests to a sugar ... Read more here

 

VIA - ecoearth.info (thanks!)

Three Decades of Federal Clean Air Act Violations have caused our global crisis

As this and 100's of similar articles point out:  Utilities Have Failed To Follow Federal Clean Air Act Regulations for Three Decades

And now the question should be asked -  Who is accountable?

 

These massive violators have NO problem blaming U.S. consumers and their SUV's for causing global "manmade emissions", but find it impossible to own up to the inarguable fact that these sources caused it (by proof of reems of EPA data).

 

Our nation must hold these companies not only accountable for the massive environmental problems they have caused to our great resources, but also for the restoration of these resources.

 

FACT - Your SUV didn't cause it and can't stop it: Data, facts, laws are right... and you are not wrong, just misinformed.

 

Today's Article: Since 1977, federal law requires utilities to report upgrades they plan at power plants. And if the upgrades increase emissions, the utility must obtain a permit from the government. But few plants have done this, according to a story by Karen Dillon of The Kansas City Star 4/16/07. Read more here... By kdillon@kcstar.com

 

Corn ethanol: it really does suck

Grist lays it out on ethanol... 

"Yes, this is another bitter polemic against ethanol, but I want to make one point up front, because I sometimes forget to: The only concrete alternative energy/climate policy that our political class can agree on -- a plan that unites Democrats and Republicans to commit some $5 billion per year and rising -- is a clear and obvious boondoggle: a cash sieve that has done and will do much more harm than good."

This is our main public intervention into the energy markets on behalf of "alternative fuel"? The opportunity costs alone are staggering. Say what you want about Amtrak, but its annual federal budget amounts to about $1 billion per year. I suppose building out a woefully inadequate train system doesn't quite match the urgency of churning out flex-fuel Hummers and the like.


As for the grand hope of cellulosic ethanol, here's what the authors have to say:
The logistical difficulties and the costs of converting cellulose into fuel, combined with the subsidies and politics currently favoring the use of corn and soybeans, make it unrealistic to expect cellulose-based ethanol to become a solution within the next decade.
So cellulosic is ten years off -- not five, the timeframe its boosters have been flogging for the last, oh, 15 years.

 

Read more From the GristMill - http://gristmill.grist.org/story/2007/4/18/18610/4461

Home Depot set to give away a million CFLs this Sunday

From the hugg (moreminimal)

 Home improvement giant Home Depot is planning what may be the biggest one-time giveaway of CFLs ever. The retailer will give away one million CFLs to customers this Sunday in observance of Earth Day. They're also showing-off a shiny new green website with some very useful features.  » original news

OSHA - Quote of the day:

"So many families will never be the same. Their loss hangs over everything we're doing in the Senate today and will for a very long time. We need to do everything we can here in Congress to save lives and prevent violence from reaching into our schools, homes and workplaces."
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Washington, introducing legislation addressing workplace violence... Go to the full story in Workforce

German firm promising second generation for biofuels

The CEO of Choren says his company plans to start operations later this year at the first commercial-scale site making transport fuels from non-food plants, using second-generation technology. The CEO says that while output of synthetic diesel from woodchips will not be large, it will allow the company to refine its methods. Read more from Reuters

Yahoo - Wants your "GreenBacks" on EarthDay

As know "Green" is the Green to put big corps in the black in 2007.

Yahoo is just trying to compete with their latest attempt to get you to buy their "green" with your $Green$

http://events.yahoo.com/earthday07/

Schwarzenegger can not catch a break

QUOTE: Schwarzenegger has become the GOP's Al Gore but the trouble is that his "environmentalism" isn't about curbing our reckless consumption; it's about having more cool choices -- if you can afford them.

 

Arnold Schwarzenegger does seem to understand that the planet is in trouble. As a green Republican, he is a welcome contrast to the know-nothing, do-less attitude of President Bush. His movie star persona is perfect for delivering lines like "Arnold to Detroit: Get off your butt."

But when he says the problem with environmentalism is that it's not hip or sexy -- that the movement has been a failure because it's based on guilt and sacrifice, not optimism and fun -- I must respond with one of the more eloquent lines from his signature role as an android assassin: Wrong

 

Read more from: Schwarzenegger: The Fake Environmental Hero

 

 

FREE Compact Florescent Lights (CFLs) Energy Savings Calculator

At less than $3 each. I am sold on buying CFLs instead of incandescent bulbs, at least until LEDs become commercially available at cost effective prices.
Calculate the savings for yourself here

 

 

Does Anyone "REALLY" Care About Global Warming?

From Article:
" If man is contributing to global warming, switching over will help to minimize the impact we have. If we are not contributing, switching over will help us adapt to the changes that are going to occur. And in either case, switching over will help us all become financially independent of the energy behemoths that run our lives now and will help mitigate the ecological effects that burning coal, oil and radioactive materials have on this planet, the only planet we know of that supports life."

 

Read full here

 

 

We may not agree on the problem, but the solution...

Governments in the U.S. Prepare for Peak Oil

A recent U.S. Government Accountability Office report says that since most studies suggest decline of oil within around three decades, the U.S. government must prepare the country for that eventuality.

Here are links to this and other reports, plus articles that interpret them.

We will ride the Disneyland biodiesel railroad next week!

VIA boingboing.com: Disneyland has switched the old time locomotives that pull the Disneyland Railroad to biodiesel:

For Disneyland, the switch to biodiesel saves as much as 150,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year, while potentially reducing carbon dioxide emissions by up to 80 percent, Disneyland Resort spokesman Bob Tucker said Monday.

"The decision, once we knew the trains would perform well, was an easy one," said Frank Dela Vara, technical director for Disneyland's Environmental Affairs. 
 (via The Disney Blog) http://www.thedisneyblog.com/

 

China Top CO2 Emitter in 2007 or '08 - IEA

"Either this year or next year," China will overtake the United States as the world's biggest emitter of heat-trapping carbon dioxide (CO2) , the chief economist at the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, said on Wednesday.

 

Latest data show China is building a coal-fired power plant every four days, British foreign ministry official John Ashton said this week.

 

China is having to try and balance 10 percent annual economic growth with environmental and energy suppply issues.

 

The rapid growth in Chinese emissions puts in perspective western efforts to fight climate change, Birol said.

 

"What we do in Europe may be with good intentions, may be very ethical... but if you put it in terms of numbers it's meaning is very limited."

READ FULL FROM REUTERS NEWS SERVICE

The Great (Lakes) Disappearing Act

Water levels in the Great Lakes have been projected to drop, possibly falling five feet. Notoriously cold winters in Michigan are expected to warm by 10 degrees Fahrenheit, and summers by 13 degrees. It sounds nice to trade in your cup of hot chocolate for a fudgesicle, but there are many downsides.

Recreational use of the lakes are going to take a huge slam. Populations of cold-water fish (like trout) will be impacted by the warming waters, which means weekend fishing trips and the fishing industry will feel the hurt (as a sport, estimated to be worth $4.5 billion).

If water drops by five feet, approximately 100 feet of shore will be added to the beaches. As a newspaper in Michigan points out, the new water levels will skyrocket real estate along the lakes but make navigation difficult for boats. Shipments through the lakes can be expected to be reduced by 23 percent, which would certainly hand a financial blow to the region and businesses.

Meanwhile, policy continues to delay serious action, supposedly to preserve the American way of life. When will we fully recognize that our way of life will change dramatically if we do not act?

Read full by Joe at Climate Progress

Kids Allergies On The Rise Around the Globe

From treehugger (Via::CNN)

"We're all aware that people with allergies to nuts must be particularly careful around them because they can prove to trigger a fatal reaction. In fact, the kids in my school have a designated "Peanut Free" table just to keep them from any possible danger. But did you know that the number of young children with peanut allergies literally doubled between 1997 and 2002, according to a survey conducted in 2003? In fact, there are about 2.2 million U.S. school-age children who have food allergies, and roughly 1 out of 17 children under the age of 3 has a food allergy as well according to the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Network. And it's not just in the U.S. either, as children's allergies across the board from asthma and allergic skin diseases to hay fever and allergies to eggs, wheat and dairy products have increased worldwide according to a survey released in August 2006 that looked at more than 700,000 children in 56 countries since 1991. Now that's comprehensive! And while the reasons for the troubling increase are unclear for the moment, there are a number of ideas about the ways in which humans are impacting our environment that could be to blame..."

One points to the fact that the life in the First World has become so incredibly clean and antiseptic that kids immune systems aren't being challenged sufficiently to develop resistance, while another points out that the antibiotics so frequently used to combat childhood infections may be to blame by hindering the development of the friendly bacteria found in the intestinal tract that aid the immune system in warding off allergens. Another idea points to an increase in environmental pollutants, changes in diet, and food-processing techniques that could also be playing a role; while yet another reason could be simply that doctors are diagnosing more allergies now than in previous generations. Whatever the true cause is we're not likely to find out in a hurry, but the overriding truth is that of the reasons given above, the only one that does not have some connection to the way in which humans are impacting our environment in some way is the last… And that may be food for thought as we make decisions that have implications for our own children, and for those around the world.

 

 

 

Ethanol Vehicles Pose Significant Risk To Health, New Study Finds

This was news back on 1998 (EPA) and earlier... where did it go? and why is it back ;-)

Ethanol is widely touted as an eco-friendly, clean-burning fuel. But if every vehicle in the United States ran on fuel made primarily from ethanol instead of pure gasoline, the number of respiratory-related deaths and hospitalizations likely would increase, according to a new study by a Stanford University atmospheric scientist.

Corn: Do We Feed It Or Do We Burn It?

Summary:
While the future of the Cornbelt may be ethanol, the future will also be focused on innovations with livestock feed rations resulting from the availability of distillers' grains. They may make 10% of the ratio less expensive, but the other 90% may be more expensive. At the same time, livestock producers will have to become more adept at balancing rations to adjust for different qualities of the distillers' grains... read more here

Synthetic Fragrances carry in Human Milk

Jessica L. Reiner, Chung M. Wong, Kathleen F. Arcaro, and Kurunthachalam Kannan (Article) DOI: Linked Here

Effects of Ethanol (E85) versus Gasoline Vehicles on Cancer and Mortality in the United States

 Wed, 18 Apr 2007 (Article) DOI: Linked here

Cellulosic ethanol: the hopeless fuel of the future -- gristmill.org

Another day, another story about cellulosic ethanol pointing out that, like the Star Wars missile system, it's a technology capable of sucking up endless tax dollars without ever producing anything that delivers in the real world. From the www.gristmill.org

 

Environmental News Bits (From Laura B.)

Chemical Industry Expands Work with EPA in Solving Environmental Problems
The American Chemistry Council (ACC), which represents 130 companies accounting for approximately 85 percent of U.S. chemical production by volume, has agreed to work with EPA in the Sector Strategies Program. ACC joins the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association (SOCMA), a participant in the program since 1998. Together, ACC and SOCMA represent the majority of chemical production in the United States.

The chemical industry is an essential contributor to the U.S. economy, with about $555 billion in annual revenues. There are approximately 13,500 chemical manufacturing facilities in the United States, owned by more than 9,000 companies. The sector is one of the nation's largest exporters, accounting for 10 cents of every U.S. export dollar.

 

Chemical Manufacturing Sector Strategies Program http://www.epa.gov/sectors/chemical/index.html

 

Degreasers to Cut Air Toxics Emissions
Approximately 50 of the largest degreasing facilities will reduce air toxics emissions under tighter EPA standards that will prevent an additional 1,700 tons of solvent emissions and save the industry more than $1 million per year. Degreasers, also known as the halogenated solvent cleaning industry, use solvents to remove soils such as grease, oils, waxes, carbon deposits and tars from metal, plastic, fiberglass and other surfaces.

EPA issued a national rule to limit emissions of air toxics from degreasing operations in 1994. This rule is one of 96 rules called maximum achievable control technology (MACT) standards that require 174 industry sectors to eliminate 1.7 million tons of 187 air toxics. Congress listed these toxic air pollutants in the Clean Air Act. There are nearly 1,900 degreasing operations in the United States. EPA estimates that the 1994 standards prevent nationwide emissions of air toxics by 85,300 tons per year. A copy of the final rule http://www.epa.gov/ttn/oarpg/t3pfpr.html

 

Small Engine Rule to Bring Big Emissions Cuts
EPA continues to mow down harmful emissions from the non-road sector with a new proposal that sets strict standards for most lawn and garden equipment and small recreational watercraft. (more…)

Americans Report Increased Environmental Consciousness and Expectation That Companies Will Take Action
The 2007 Cone Consumer Environmental Survey released today finds one-third of Americans (32%) report heightened interest in the environment compared to a year ago. In addition, they are overwhelmingly looking to companies to act: 93% of Americans believe companies have a responsibility to help preserve the environment. http://www.csrwire.com/PressRelease.php?id=8183

 

An Inconvenient Tooth: Food Is Major Contributor to Climate Change
Global warming activists have a new ally in their fight to save the planet—lunch. It turns out that food (and all the energy it takes to make it) is one of the largest human activities contributing to global warming. The average American creates 2.8 tons of CO2 emissions each year by eating—even more than the 2.2 tons each person generates by driving, according to recent research (Echel and Martin, 2006). Beginning on Earth Day, 2007, Bon Appétit Management Company—the nation's pioneer in "greening" food service, is launching a national campaign to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions and help their guests do the same. http://www.csrwire.com/PressRelease.php?id=8169

 

 

Read more Environmental News Bits - By Laura B. (Thanks!)
http://lib.wmrc.uiuc.edu/enb

Oakland is No. 1 user of renewable energy

Business Times: Oakland topped a list of U.S. cities using renewable energy, with 17 percent of its power coming from solar, wind and geothermal sources. Oakland beat out cross-bay rival San Francisco, which tied with Sacramento and San Jose for second place in the survey by SustainLane, which was released on Monday. Those three cities each get 12 percent of their power from renewable sources. San Francisco-based SustainLane surveyed the 50 largest cities in the United States for this ..

Link  VIA-(EcologicalInternet.org)

Your wood flooring is destroying endangered habitat

Shoppers are unwittingly playing a part in the destruction of one of the world's last great wildlife habitats by buying flooring made of endangered wood from "paradise forests". Just as demand for mahogany is disfiguring the Amazon, demand for the golden wood merbau is doing immense damage to the forests of New Guinea, described as the place on earth that best resembles "the Garden of Eden". Dozens of new creatures such as a new species of ..Read more VIA EcologicalInternet.org

Going native with plants: A new-old direction for water conservation

Christian Science Monitor: Native plants are emerging as the new heroes in a growing struggle to deal with climate change. In communities that consistently have too little water, drought-tolerant mesquite trees, buffalo grass, and colorful Texas red sage provide attractive landscaping that doesn't require watering. Native plants also come to the rescue in areas with the opposite problem – storms that dump heavy rainfall and overwhelm the infrastructure for dealing with storm water. There, plants such as marsh ...

Link (VIA - EcologicalInternet.org)

Ethanol May Cause More Smog related Deaths

Associated Press: Switching from gasoline to ethanol -- touted as a green alternative at the pump -- may create dirtier air, causing slightly more smog-related deaths, a new study says. Nearly 200 more people would die yearly from respiratory problems if all vehicles in the United States ran on a mostly ethanol fuel blend by 2020, the research concludes. Of course, the study author acknowledges that such a quick and monumental shift to plant-based fuels is next to impossible. Each year, about ... * Link (from EcologicalInternet.org)

Tropical rain forests are being cut down and burned to make way for biofuels

Reuters: Tropical rain forest is being cut down and burned to make way for soy and palm plantations destined to provide plant-based diesel for Europe's fuel tanks, environmentalists said on Wednesday. They cited cases of deforestation in Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia to make way for energy crops, and urged governments there to act. "In Brazil...one of the most affected areas is the state of Mato Grosso, where vast areas have disappeared to make room for soy crops destined for ...    * Link

Green Festival in Chicago

When: April 21 - 22, 2007
Where: McCormick Place, 2301 S. Lake Shore Drive in Chicago
The Chicago green festival features more than 200 visionary speakers and 400 green businesses. The event also includes how-to workshops, green films, yoga and movement classes, green career sessions, organic beer and wine, delicious organic cuisine and live music. Tickets are $10 for general admission or $19 for a Membership Fastpass which includes an organic t-shirt, weekend admission for two adults and other benefits. There are discounts for bike riders, public transit users, seniors and students. For more information, please visit www.greenfestivals.org/content/view/729/388/

 

Link via:  (www.glrppr.org) update, April 13, 2007

Chemists design world's lowest-density crystals for use in clean energy

Chemists at UCLA have designed new organic structures for the storage of voluminous amounts of gases for use in alternative energy technologies http://www.physorg.com/news95617436.html