Indonesia applies for World Bank forest CO2 scheme
| Climate change is blowing in the wind around Antarctica, affecting animals food supplies. Changing wind patterns linked to global warming are altering the food chain in Antarctica and may lead to further increases in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. |
| Hungary burns carbon credibility propping up budget Hungary - a major seller of carbon creditsEUR will weaken its credibility in the growing international carbon markets by using revenues to prop up its budget rather than green its energy production, WWF-Hungary has warned.Mr Imre Szabo, the Minister of Environment, announced that “the Ministry will cut its annual budget this year by freezing 67 million Euros from its 2009 Kyoto carbon trading revenues”. |
| Press Release: In Midst of Drought, New Report Makes Hard-hitting Recommendations for State Action on Groundwater FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Laura Marbury, Environmental Defense Fund, 512.691.3430
Media Contact: Laura Williamson, Environmental Defense Fund, 512.691.3447-w or 512.828.1690-c or lwilliamson@edf.org
(AUSTIN, TX – Mar. 5, 2009) An ongoing and disastrous statewide drought paves the way for a new report released today from Environmental Defense Fund. Down to the Last Drop dissects current flaws and inefficiencies with Texas” current groundwater management process and makes hard-hitting recommendations for state action.
“Groundwater is the lifeblood of Texas” future,” said Laura Marbury, Texas Water Projects Director for Environmental Defense Fund and co-author of the report, “Now that many parts of the state are in a drought of record, Texans are finally starting to wake up to the limitations of the resource.”
According to State Comptroller Susan Combs” recent report on Texas” water resources, groundwater provides almost 60 percent of all fresh water available in the state, but that is decreasing due to groundwater pumping in excess of its ability to replenish itself.
“Our state”s groundwater resources face many pressures today,” Marbury said. “Not only is Texas” population expected to double over the next 50 years, but a variety of interests are lining up to get a straw into the dwindling groundwater pool. If we don”t strengthen our groundwater system to handle increasing pressures, we could completely devastate the resource.”
Down to the Last Drop highlights three issues that Texas” groundwater resources face: the connection between groundwater and surface water and the lack of consideration this receives in current management; flaws in the current Groundwater Management Area process, which sets goals for how healthy our groundwater resources should be in the future; and opportunities to modernize the groundwater management process.
One recommendation found in the report concerns regionalizing groundwater management in parts of the state experiencing significant groundwater development pressures. Often covered by a hodge-podge of single-county groundwater districts, areas such as east of I-35 overlying the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer would benefit from a consistent, predictable and sustainable management framework. The economic and environmental benefits from consolidating into regional entities, similar to the Edwards Aquifer Authority, far surpass single-county management.
The report”s section on the Groundwater Management Area process, which was initiated by legislation in 2005, is one of the first detailed reports on this process that offers concrete direction for improving it.
“We must ensure our aquifers are effectively managed so that they remain viable into the future,” Marbury said.
Co-authors of the report include Laura Marbury and Mary Kelly, Senior Counsel of the Center for Rivers and Deltas at Environmental Defense Fund.
An electronic copy of the report is available http://www.edf.org/documents/9326_2009_TX_Groundwater_Report.pdf.
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| Press Release: Environmental Protections Must be Upheld as Mining Expands
For Release: March 12, 2009
Contacts:
Geoff Gisler (attorney) or Kathleen Sullivan (communications), SELC, 919-967-1450 or ksullivan@selcnc.org Sam Pearsall, EDF, 919-881-2938, spearsall@edf.org, or Dave McNaught, 919-881-2921, dmcnaught@edf.org Molly Diggins, NC Sierra Club, 919-833-8467 or molly.diggins@sierraclub.org Jim Stephenson, N.C. Coastal Federation, 252-393-8185 CHAPEL HILL, NC—A permit issued by the N.C. Division of Water Quality illegally approves the largest destruction of wetlands in the state”s history by PCS Phosphate, according to papers filed by the Southern Environmental Law Center today in state administrative court. The permit presumes the state will write new rules that accommodate the company”s ambitions.
“This permit challenge asks whether PCS”s mine expansion has to comply with the laws protecting the environment, fisheries and public health,” said Geoff Gisler, attorney, Southern Environmental Law Center. “The long-term economic and environmental health of eastern North Carolina depends on the state holding PCS to those standards. By issuing this permit the state is strip-mining the law and the region”s future.”
In April 2008, after delaying the permit process for several years by pushing for illegal mining in public waters and pursuing court proceedings, PCS Phosphate–a subsidiary of Potash Corp of Saskatchewan, Inc.–applied for a permit to destroy approximately 4,000 acres of wetlands and almost five miles of streams along the Pamlico River and upriver from the Pamlico Sound, an area about two-thirds the size of Ocracoke Island. By permitting the mine expansion in January 2009, the state authorized this massive destruction.
A pre-existing permit authorizes ongoing mining by PCS Phosphate until December 2017. The company has identified about 70,000 acres of land in the area that contain economically recoverable phosphate ore.
“A win-win alternative must be found that will protect North Carolina“s economy, its environment and public health, instead of selling North Carolina“s people and natural systems short,” said Sam Pearsall, an ecologist from Environmental Defense Fund.
According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the PamlicoRiver and its tributary creeks are critical parts of an essential nursery habitat for most commercial and recreational fish and shellfish in the North Carolina coastal area and important habitat for waterfowls, shorebirds and other migratory birds.
“Expanding the existing mine into sensitive wetlands threatens immediate and long-term harm to these ecosystems and natural resources,” said Pat Carstensen, chair of the NC Chapter, Sierra Club.
The most immediate impacts would be felt in adjacent waters. According to records from the last 11 years, the section of the PamlicoRiver within BeaufortCounty produced nearly $3 million annually in commercial finfish and shellfish harvests. Annual commercial landings for BeaufortCounty had an average dockside value of $6.5 million between 1994 and 2005. Effects from the mine would also be felt further downstream, adversely affecting the statewide commercial finfish and shellfish industry in North Carolina which produced nearly $1 billion annually between 1994 and 2005.
Because of these impacts, both the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the N.C. Division of Marine Fisheries recommended denial of PCS Phosphate”s proposed mine expansion. The National Marine Fisheries Service and the South Atlantic Marine Fisheries Commission have also publicly declared that the mine expansion would do long-term damage to fisheries in this estuary system.
In addition to providing habitat, natural wetlands improve water quality, buffer hurricanes and storms, and act as freshwater reservoirs when water is scarce. These benefits are ever more vital for North Carolina as the climate changes.
In filing today”s challenge in state administrative court the Southern Environmental Law Center represents Environmental Defense Fund, North Carolina Coastal Federation, Pamlico-Tar River Foundation, and North Carolina Sierra Club. The suit is filed against the North Carolina Division of Water Quality.
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About Southern Environmental LawCenter
The Southern Environmental Law Center uses the power of the law to protect the health and environment of the Southeast (Virginia, Tennessee, North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama). Founded in 1986, SELC”s staff of 40 attorneys includes experts on air and energy, water, forests, the coast and wetlands, transportation, and land use. SELC is a non-profit organization and works with more than 100 partner groups. www.SouthernEnvironment.org
About North Carolina Sierra Club
Sierra Club is the nation”s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization with over 17,000 members in North Carolina.
About Pamlico-TarRiver Foundation
The Pamlico-Tar River Foundation, founded in 1981, is a grassroots environmental organization representing greater than 2000 members and a licensed member of Waterkeeper Alliance, Inc. Our mission is to enhance and protect the Pamlico-TarRiver watershed through education, advocacy, and research.
About North Carolina Coastal Federation
The North Carolina Coastal Federation (NCCF) is the state”s only non-profit organization focused exclusively on
protecting and restoring the coast of North Carolina through education, advocacy and habitat restoration and
preservation. www.nccoast.org
About Environmental Defense Fund
A leading national nonprofit organization, Environmental Defense Fund represents more than 500,000 members. Since 1967, Environmental Defense Fund has linked science, economics, law and innovative private-sector partnerships to create breakthrough solutions to the most serious environmental problems. For more information, visit www.edf.org.
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| UN Reaches Landmark Agreement to Reduce Global Mercury Pollution Representatives from more than 140 countries today committed to reduce global mercury pollution, which will help protect the world’s citizens from the dangerous neurotoxin. This agreement was propelled by the United States’ reversal in policy, which also influenced policy reversals of other countries, including China and India. The announcement is a historic step forward in the fight against mercury pollution, according to scientists and policy experts at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC). “This is great news for reducing mercury pollution around the world, and shows a commitment from the Obama Administration to international environmental issues,” said Susan Egan Keane, policy analyst for NRDC. “The United States has taken a leadership role that will chart a new course on mercury protections around the world. We have set a strong example that is already influencing others to do the same.” |
Self-Heating Ecological House We come across scores of people unmindful of giving back to nature what they are taking and consuming the resources of nature, haphazardly. But we also come across a privileged few who care about environment and their surroundings and they believe in consuming less and utilizing the resources of nature intelligently. Veljko Milkovic belongs [.]Posted in: Environment, Future Energy, Inventions |
| Links: Cool Graphics and Magic Tax In case you missed it, washingtonpost.com featured a set of graphics about a carbon cap on its home page all last weekend. A couple of them looked very familiar to us. Take a look.We’ve been using a graph that tracks the price of emitting acid rain (sulfur dioxide) pollution for years now — like on [.] |
| Earth: The Sequel on the Discovery Channel Don’t forget to watch Earth: The Sequel Wednesday, March 11th at 10pm on the Discovery Channel! This special gives voice to the green energy inventors and new business leaders, who reveal the secrets behind their cutting edge technologies. Check out the preview below: |
| Indonesia applies for World Bank forest CO2 scheme SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Indonesia has applied to join a World Bank program that supports developing nations’ efforts to fight deforestation and help them earn cash through the sale of tradable carbon credits.The Bank’s $350 million Forest Carbon Partnership Facility aims to support developing states design and create projects under a U.N.-backed scheme that could eventually earn poorer nations billions of dollars a year by protecting their forests. |