Earth Island Journal articles from December 2002

Earth Island Journal archives from December 2002

From the editor.(dedication to environmentalist and photographer Galen Rowell)
December 22, 2002... You have probably already noticed that this issue of Earth Island Journal looks a bit different than previous ones. We've embarked on a major new stage in the Journals life history: a redesign--courtesy of our friends at Public Media Center--to...

Errata.(Correction Notice)
December 22, 2002... In the last issue, we mislaid the hyphen in the name of the Earth Island project Eco-Village West, and goofed completely on the name of EII's Boreal Footprint Project. The title of Bari and Cherney's album is "They Sure Don't Make Hippies Like...

Animal testing. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
December 22, 2002... To clarify further the editorial "PETA Says No To Testing (Autumn '02 EIJ), I must add the following. PETA provided substantial documentation on the horrific and redundant chemical tests being conducted on tens of thousands of animals under EPA...

Boner-os. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
December 22, 2002... I was shocked and disgusted with the article in your Summer 2002 issue. Having lived 35 years in Malaysia, I can say: There is no "Borneo government." Borneo was divided into Kalimantan and Malaysia 45 years ago. Parti Bersato Sabah is not in...

Credit where due. (Letters).(Letter to the Editor)
December 22, 2002... Jonathan Rowe's long and otherwise worthwhile exploration of "The Promise of the Commons" (Autumn 2002) accomplishes something extraordinary: He extensively discusses the "commons" concept and literature without once mentioning the author who...

Forests of the Congo. (Africa).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Johannesburg -- The world's five richest countries, plus the World Bank, international conservation groups and mega-logging companies have pledged to spend up to $100 million to save the forests of the Congo Basin. Although the final...

Nigerian women protest ChevronTexaco. (Africa).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Escravos, Nigeria -- A hundred women hijacked a ChevronTexaco ferry, took over the radio and ordered the driver to take them to the main oil terminal, where they trapped 700 employees inside the terminal and threatened to demonstrate naked. The...

Angola levies fine for oil spills. (Africa).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Angola -- The Angolan government has fined ChevronTexaco $2 million for environmental damage from oil spills in its offshore Cabinda oil field--the first such fine against an oil company operating in its waters. A company investigation claimed....

Parks for sale. (Africa).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Liberia -- President Charles Taylor has been selling timber concessions inside Sapo National Park, one of West Africa's main protected forest reserves. The Oriental Timber Co. of Hong Kong bought the rights for several million dollars. Sapo...

Sahara creeps south. (Africa).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Niger -- Sixty million people are expected to leave their villages in the Sahel, south of the Sahara, over the next 20 years because there is no more food. In land-locked Niger, households in some villages are down to one meal a day. Young...

Africans refuse GM food. (Africa).(genetically modified corn)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Zambia, Zimbabwe -- Two southern African countries facing a famine that threatens the lives of 13 million people are refusing US-sourced donations of maize because it is genetically modified. James Morris, executive director of the World Food...

Killer haze. (Asia).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Southern Asia -- A two-mile-thick toxic brown cloud of soot, fly ash and sulphuric acid over southern Asia has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people over the last decade, according to a United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)...

War is not healthy etc. (Asia).(diseases)
December 22, 2002... Afghanistan -- Kabul is under attack--by waterborne disease. Diarrhea kills an estimated 85,000 children a year in Afghanistan. There have also been sporadic outbreaks of cholera. The World Health Organization is working with public health...

Anti-poaching general murdered. (Asia).(General Vitaly Gamov)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Russia -- A top Russian general was murdered by fishing interests in the Pacific island of Sakahlin. General Vitaly Gamov had tried to stop fish and crab poaching in the rich waters around Sakahlin and neighboring Japan. Fishermen--angered...

Spice mines? (Asia).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Cambodia -- The central Cardamom Mountains may soon become the centerpiece of a 2.44-million-acre chain of protected areas. The area is inhabited by threatened species such as Siamese crocodiles, tigers and pileated gibbons. The area is...

Local opposition diverts Thai pipeline. (Asia).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Thailand -- A deal between the Thai and Malaysian governments to build a 230-mile gas pipeline is going ahead despite an extra $5 million required to divert the pipeline away from fishing villages that oppose its construction. The pipeline runs...

Chinese pipeline won't benefit locals. (Asia).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... China -- A gas pipeline from the west Chinese province of Xinjiang--also known as East Turkestan--will benefit energy-hungry Shanghai and the Chinese government, but not the people whose land it crosses, says the London-based Free Tibet...

Economic scheme saves snow leopard. (Asia).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Mongolia -- The snow leopard now stands a better chance of survival in Mongolia, thanks to a scheme that rewards local people financially for keeping it alive. A Mongolian organization, Irbis Enterprises ("irbis" being the Mongolian name for...

Continent in reverse. (Australia).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Australia -- A report commissioned by environmental and conservation groups to counter an official account released to the Johannesburg Earth Summit describes Australia as "a continent in reverse." The report claims that emissions of greenhouse...

Clean up the World. (Australia).(United Nations-affiliated environmental organization)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Sydney -- In 1989, yachtsman Ian Kiernan decided he'd seen enough trash on his ocean travels and wanted to do something about it. With the help of a few mates (40,000 of them), he organized the first "Clean up Sydney Harbor Day." One day became...

Toxic rivers. (Europe).(flooding in Europe creates environmental hazards)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Central Europe -- Flood waters surged down the rivers Elbe, Danube and Vltava in central Europe, the result of 10 days of torrential rain in August, claiming at least 91 lives in Germany, Russia, Austria and the Czech Republic. Twelve thousand...

Post-Soviet clean up. (Europe).(environmental remediation)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Baltic States -- Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia were left with outdated factories and toxic military sites at the end of the Soviet era. To join the European Union, the nations must modernize aging refineries, reduce air pollution and meet...

Glacial landscape to be dammed. (Europe).(aluminum smelter in Iceland)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Iceland -- Eastern Iceland's glacial wilderness is about to be despoiled by a large aluminum smelter. US industrial giant Alcoa signed an agreement with the Icelandic government in July to allow the $3 billion project to go ahead this summer. A...

Return to sender. (Europe).(Japan ships mixed uranium and plutonium oxides back to the United Kingdom)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... UK -- Two lightly armed ships left Japan in July on an undisclosed route across the Pacific. Their final destination: the point of origin of their waste, the UK. The ships carried their cargo of MOX--mixed uranium and plutonium oxides--rejected...

UK military messes with Cyprus. (Europe).(United Kingdom antenna array may encroach on wetlands)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Cyprus -- Journal correspondent Patricia Radnor Kyriacou reports local opposition to the British army's plans to expand their antennae array on the Akrotiri Peninsula over a protected wetland. The peninsula is of strategic importance--not just...

Corporations must pay for global warming. (North America).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... US -- The German insurance company Munich Re has estimated that the bill from weather damage, pollution, industrial and agricultural expenses, among others due to climate change could amount to $300 billion annually by 2050. The price tag for...

Wildlife strikes back. (North America).
December 22, 2002... US -- A mischievous raccoon was blamed by Entergy Corporation for inconveniently shorting out the 1,173 megawatt Grand Gulf nuclear power unit in Mississippi in June. The unit was offline for over 48 hours.--Reuters/Planet Ark, June 25

Toxic waste returns. (North America).(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... US -- It left Philadelphia 16 years ago aboard the Khian Sea, sailed to the Bahamas, was refused entry and for the next two years roamed the seven seas in search of a home: 14,000 tons of incinerated household garbage. Rejected by at least 11...

Just java. (North America).(fair trade coffee initiative in Berkeley, California)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... US -- Berkeley, California, leading the nation again, has an measure on the November ballot to delight advocates of fair trade. The initiative calls for all cups of coffee sold in the city to be "Fair Trade" or "shade grown." The law would not...

New Mexico nearly nuked. (North America).(accident in transport of nuclear waste)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... US -- A tractor-trailer truck transporting nuclear waste from Idaho to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad, New Mexico was hit by a pickup truck early Sunday morning, August 25. The pickup truck burst into flames. The pickup truck's...

Just java #2. (South America).(fair trade coffee )(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Peru -- Sales of Fair Trade coffee are continuing to rise, despite a slump in world coffee prices. Coffee producers allowed to use the "fair trade" label are currently selling their beans for at least $1.26 per pound--more than twice the...

Peru debt for nature. (South America).(debt to United States traded for conservation project expenditures)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Peru; US -- The US cancelled $14 million of Peru's debt repayments over the next 16 years in a debt-fornature swap under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act. Of the $14 million, Peru will spend $10.6 million on conservation over the next 12...

Spying on the rainforest. (South America).(Amazon region)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Brazil -- A new $1.4 million detection system of radar, control towers and aircraft is being launched in the Amazon. The system could be used to gather invaluable data on plant and animal life, deforestation, water quality, and weather...

Raised standards for coca spraying. (South America).(Colombia)(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Colombia -- A US law enacted in January will thwart US herbicide spraying in Colombia. The coca eradication program must now meet the same health and safety standards as spraying in the US. "Colombia is far away, but we are making decisions...

Staff and projects. (Earth Island Institute).(directory)(Directory)
December 22, 2002... Earth Island Institute Life on Earth is imperiled by human degradation of the biosphere. Earth Island Institute develops and supports projects that counteract threats to the biological and cultural diversity that sustains the environment....

Earth Island project reports. (Around Earth Island).
December 22, 2002... It's Earth Island's 20th anniversary, and our annual Party for the Planet takes on a special significance. The party will take place at San Francisco's historic Avalon Ballroom on Friday, October 25, 2002, featuring organic food and wine, live...

Borneo Project: Penan gather to fight logging. (Around Earth Island).(indigenous society)
December 22, 2002... A recent wave of logging activity in Sarawak's interior has spurred a new series of protests by the Penan, Borneo's most isolated tribe. Since March, the Penan have erected nine spontaneous blockades intended to keep loggers out of traditional...

City Talk: Africa wants to develop. (Around the Earth Island).(development in Uganda)
December 22, 2002... Pay a visit to a developing country--previously known as "third world" or "underdeveloped." During the last two years I have spent time in Uganda, which fits that definition. I'd call it "poor": Uganda's per capita Gross Domestic Product was...

Baikal Watch: Siberian parks in peril. (Around Earth Island).(Lake Baikal)
December 22, 2002... There are few places left on Earth like Lake Baikal. In Soviet times it was the most popular summer tourist destination. These days, it's a little-known getaway spot that adventure travelers are on the verge of rediscovering. Those...

International Marine Mammal Project. (Around Earth Island).
December 22, 2002... Keiko hunts on his own Nearly 60 days after the orca Keiko left his sea pen in Iceland this summer as part of a historic and unprecedented effort to reintroduce him to the wild, visual observations made in Norwegian waters confirm that he...

IMMP: Bush ok's navy's whale-killing sonar. (Around Earth Island).(International Marine Mammal Project)
December 22, 2002... In August, despite opposition from marine scientists and environmental groups, the Bush Administration approved the use of the Navy's controversial Low Frequency Active (LFA) Sonar system throughout 80 percent of the world's oceans. As part of...

Brower Youth Awards. (Around Earth Island).(environmental activism)
December 22, 2002... Six outstanding environmental and community leaders from across the United States have been named recipients of the 2002 Brower Youth Awards, the nation's most prestigious recognition of environmental activists aged 13-22. Awardees were chosen...

Oil, gas and the grizzly: energy exploration may push Yellowstone's charismatic megafauna over the edge.(Yellowstone National Park)
December 22, 2002... A burly brown grizzly strides across a meadow in Yellowstone National Park in late spring, as the last light of day filters through the cloud cover. Elk and bison look up from their grazing. The bear, weak from hibernation, is focused on...

Earth Summit falls flat: NGOs shut out, Colin Powell is booed offstage, and a mediocre time is had by all.(non-governmental organizations)
December 22, 2002... A telling thing happened to delegates from non-governmental organizations (NGOs) as they attempted to enter the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), in Johannesburg from August 26 to September 4: most of them weren't allowed in. WSSD...

Tower kill: our burgeoning network of towers for mobile phones, pagers, and digital television kills millions of migratory birds a year--and prevention may be as simple as changing a lightbulb.
December 22, 2002... It's a rainy night in Georgia, and across the state line in northern Florida. Under a low ceiling on this October evening in 1955, thousands of neotropical migrant songbirds--warblers, thrushes, vireos, tanagers, buntings--are moving south....

To reflect and preserve: Nate Walker paints to celebrate the natural world's beauty, and to provoke thought and action in its defense.
December 22, 2002... The saying, "Take a picture, it'll last longer!" has traditionally been used with greatest effect on someone caught looking at you for too long. These days, unfortunately, the phrase could be used as a comment on our environment. The dilemma of...

Losing the leatherback: the world's largest living reptile may go extinct so that we can eat swordfish.
December 22, 2002... More than 35 government officials, fishers, scientists and environmental group leaders convened in late April at the International Leatherback Survival Conference to address the emergency of the Pacific leatherback turtle, a species teetering...

The sinking feeling: their island nation on the verge of disappearing due to sea level rise, citizens of Tuvalu prepare for repatriation.
December 22, 2002... Tuvalu is one of the smallest and most remote countries on earth. About halfway between Hawaii and Australia, it is one of the nine tiny atolls in the South Pacific that represent the Oceania island group. They're studded with coconut palms and...

A gift to terrorists? George Bush's nuclear waste transport and disposal plan puts millions of Americans at risk.
December 22, 2002... America's atomic powerplants are burdened with growing stockpiles of spent fuel-rods and other radioactive wastes. "Temporary" fuel storage ponds at most reactors were filled long ago and, as aging reactors face the end of their operating (and...

9-11.(Book Review)
December 22, 2002... Noam Chomsky Seven Stories Press, 2001 $8.95 ($13.50 Canadian) Few commenters on American political life are more astute than Noam Chomsky, famously referred to by the New York Times as "arguably the greatest living American intellectual."...

Small Wonder.(Book Review)
December 22, 2002... Barbara Kingsolver Harper Collins, 2002 $23.95 Ever since 9/11, many writers the world over have crossed swords to vindicate or vilify the United States. Some of those writers, having pointed out the attacks may have been considered,...

Calendar.
December 22, 2002... 4 October The Culture of Whales: The Animals, The People, The Connection (ends 10/6) Seattle, WA. Presented by the American Cetacean Society. Includes special field trips, plenary sessions, exhibits, panel discussions, silent...

Voices.(airplane contrails)
December 22, 2002... The article "Stolen Skies: The Chemtrail Mystery" (EIJ, Summer 2002), contained many inaccuracies which deserve correction. Beginning with the subtitle, "Jet Trails in the Sky Used to Disappear; Now they Linger" author William Thomas leads the...

Thought for food: a special section on genetically engineered foods.(Brief Article)
December 22, 2002... Genetically engineered foods have become the site for testing democracy and truth. Across the world, consumers want to exercise their freedom to choose and their right to make an informed choice. Mandatory labeling laws are therefore a...

Playing with our food: a massive food experiment already underway.(genetically engineered foods)
December 22, 2002... Most Americans know little if anything about a massive food experiment already underway in our nation's fields and grocery stores. Already thousands of products, including many of the best-known brand name foods found in millions of households,...

True food shopping list.(genetically engineered and non-genetically engineered foods)
December 22, 2002... BREAKFAST Breakfast bars NON-GENETICALLY ENGINEERED INGREDIENTS Hain Kidz Marshmallow Crisp Bars Health Valley (Hain) Granola Bars: Blueberry, Raspberry, Apple, Raisin, Marshmallow Breakfast Bars: Red Raspberry, Country Apple,...

Genetically Engineered Food: Changing the Nature of Nature.
December 22, 2002... by Martin Teitel, Ph.D, and Kimberly A. Wilson, 206 pages, paperback A gripping account of the environmental, social, political, ethical, legal and economic decisions that affect opinions and decisions about genetic engineering and our...

Dinner at the New Gene Cafe: How Genetic Engineering is Changing What We Eat, How We Live, and the Global Politics of Food.
December 22, 2002... by Bill Lambrecht, 383 pages, hardcover Written by an award-winning journalist who specializes in environment and resource issues, this book splices facts into a fascinating read, complete with a great sense of humor. Lambrecht takes the...

Genescapes: the Ecology of Genetic Engineering.
December 22, 2002... by Stephen Nottingham 212 pages, paperback. On dense information-filled pages, this book provides an overview of a variety of ecological problems, both those that have come to fruition and those that may yet lurk beneath the surface. Each...

Genetically Engineered Food: A Self-Defense Guide for Consumers.
December 22, 2002... by Ronnie Cummins and Ben Lilliston, 208 pages, paperback An excellent source of information, covering all the facts about GE foods. Written in bite-size pieces, the book is divided into chapters that cover the common questions and...

The Debate Over Genetically Engineered Food: Healthy or Harmful?
December 22, 2002... by Kathiann M. Kowalski, 128 pages, hardcover This book is aimed at a high school level reader, and provides both sides of the argument. Kowalski explains the origins of DNA experimentation and the thought process behind the current...

Seeds of Contention: World Hunger and the Global Controversy Over GH Crops.
December 22, 2002... by Per Pinstrup-Andersen and Ebbe Schioler, 164 pages, paperback Can genetic modification of food solve the world hunger problem? The promise of genetic modification being a solution to a world-wide crisis has not been met. The authors of...

Against the Grain: Biotechnology and the Corporate Takeover of Your Food.
December 22, 2002... by Marc Lappe, Ph.D., and Britt Bailey, 164 pages, paperback The authors of this book provide interesting historical and sociological insight into reactions to genetic engineering from around the world. A thoroughly logical argument that...

Biopiracy: the Plunder of Nature and Knowledge.
December 22, 2002... by Vandana Shiva, 152 pages, paperback The current trend to monoculture in both human and plant species is the antithesis to Shiva's promotion of diversity. Written by one of the Earth's most passionate, outspoken and fierce defenders,...

The Ecological Risks of Engineered Crops.
December 22, 2002... by Jane Rissler and Margaret Mellon, 168 pages, paperback The introduction of GE crops into the fields is viewed by many as little more than grand-scale experiment with innumerable uncontrolled variables. This book provides an intelligent...

Travels in the Genetically Modified Zone.
December 22, 2002... by Mark L. Winston, 272 pages, hardcover Mark Winston's well-balanced book is an attempt to listen impartially to both sides of the GE debate without recourse to the kind of histrionic babbling that has often typified this dispute. He leads...

Fatal Harvest: the Tragedy of Industrial Agriculture.(Book Review)
December 22, 2002... Edited by Andrew Kimbrell, 396 pages, paperback Very rarely does a book come along for which no praise seems high enough. And when it does, as in the case of Fatal Harvest, one's vocabulary seems suddenly rife with cliche, as if...

GE or not GE ... creating choice for consumers; in business, balancing personal values and mission with the bottom line can sometimes be a difficult task.(genetically engineered ingredients)
December 22, 2002... The debate about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is heating up around the world. As the label debate stalls in the US, the European Parliament recently voted for mandatory labeling of all products that contain 0.5 percent or more of...