Earth Island Journal articles from January 2007

Earth Island Journal archives from January 2007

From the editor.(Editorial)
January 1, 2007... In 1994 my wife Becky and I drove a long, dusty road through the Sonoran Desert, to a spring-fed pond fringed with tules and cottonwoods. It was January, and so the air was cool, a mere 80 degrees or so. The pond was still in the afternoon sun,...

Cetacean correction.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... I appreciated Mark Palmer's piece "Remembering Maxine McCloskey", which a friend forwarded to me here in Jerusalem. However, the Whale Bus started as a project of Project Jonah, then was under the auspices of General Whale, and finally found...

Green sexism.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... You said it! Sexism is common in the environmental community. I see it in books, conferences, and magazines all the time. I was just leafing though Audubon in a waiting room and the issue's articles were all written by men. Imagine if they were...

We love Rachel.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2007... First, I admit I have a problem with your writing. I feel I need a translation of your editorials that appear in each issue, so it may be that I misinterpret your article. But is seems to me that you are denigrating Rachel Carson and her book...

Black rhino gone?(AFRICA)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Last seen in northern Cameroon, the West African black rhinoceros is feared to be extinct. There has been no sign of any black rhinos within the last year, according to the African Rhino Specialist Group (AfRSG) of the World Conservation...

Green tax cuts.(AFRICA)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Leaders in Africa recommended cutting taxes on fertilizers as one of 12 measures to start a "Green Revolution" to alleviate hunger in Africa. One-third of sub-Saharan Africans face recurrent famine and malnutrition, partly resulting from...

African glaciers melting.(AFRICA)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Glaciers on the Rwenzori Mountains, located on the Congo-Uganda border, are expected to disappear completely within the next 20 years due to global warming. A group of British and Ugandan scientists who have surveyed the mountains for the last...

Seychelles seashells.(AFRICA)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Rising sea temperatures result in lasting destruction of coral reefs, according to researchers studying the reefs in the Seychelles, where damage from a massive bleaching can still be seen. Between Autumn 1997 and Spring 1998 the ocean...

If only those penguins weren't so darn cute.(ANTARCTICA)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Polar scientists and government officials gathered in Scotland to discuss, among other things, the environmental impact of the rapid increase in tourism to Antarctica. In the last eight years the number of tourists has quadrupled. Cruise...

China to clean up air for the Olympics.(ASIA)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... China has two years to clean up its act, and its air, before Beijing--one of the most polluted cities in the world--hosts the 2008 Summer Olympics. China's pollution problem stems in part from its economic boom and subsequent embrace of modern...

Like oil and water.(ASIA)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Backed by citizens' concerns, environmental and political officials are blowing the whistle on the recent pumping and burning of "black oil," or low-grade fuel oil, in the valleys and reservoirs near the Tigris River. Ahmed Mahmoud, an...

Extinct in Nepal.(ASIA)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... After a recent ceasefire between the Nepalese government and Maoist insurgents, conservationists were able to enter Royal Bardia National Park (Bai Valley) for the first time in two years. And it doesn't look good. Scientists and park staff...

Himalayan forests disappearing.(ASIA)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Another biodiversity hotspot is expected to vanish unless conservation efforts are ramped up. Nearly one quarter of the plant and animal species that call the Himalaya their home--including black bears, tigers, leopards, and golden...

Ibis rediscovered.(ASIA)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Three members of the northern bald ibis species, a large bird thought to be extinct until four years ago, were recently tagged in Syria. The northern ibis is now classified as critically endangered. There are only 13 individuals left in...

No C[O.sub.2] please, we're British.(EUROPE)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The British government has pledged to go carbon-neutral by 2012. In an effort to model sustainable behavior for the rest of the country, all government agencies will prevent the release of as much carbon as they produce. This will save an...

Lynx for life.(EUROPE)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The Iberian lynx is the world's most critically endangered cat species, but a recent on-site conservation program in the Valle de Yeguas (Sierra Morena, Andalusia, Spain) is helping to boost the cat's numbers. In four years the Valle de...

Charged up.(EUROPE)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Under a new European Union battery law, producers must pay for the collection and recycling of a million tons of batteries, and for media campaigns that encourage consumers to recycle their dry-cell batteries. Nearly 95 percent of...

Outrigger outlawyered.(OCEANIA)(volcano at Mauna Kea, Hawaii)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Mauna Kea, Hawai'i, the Pacific's tallest mountain at 13,796 feet above sea level, has been a sacred site to Hawai'ians since time immemorial. The volcano is also a battleground of sorts. NASA plans to build up to six telescopes at a cost of...

Gonna take a rising ocean of calamine lotion.(NORTH AMERICA)(atmospheric carbon dioxide)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Here's another reason to skip summer camp. According to a six-year study conducted by Jacqueline E. Mohan of the Marine Biological Laboratory (Woods Hole, MA), poison ivy thrives on carbon dioxide (C[O.sub.2]) and increases its toxicity when...

Toxic produce.(NORTH AMERICA)(azinphosmethyl being phased out )(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced that it will phase out the use of azinphosmethyl (AZM), a highly toxic pesticide that has been poisoning farmworkers for years. AZM was derived in the 1950s from nerve agents used in World...

Extinct frog lives.(SOUTH AMERICA)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... A South American frog once thought to be extinct was spotted in its native Colombia in early May. The painted frog, which is found only in the Boyaca region of Colombia, was last seen in 1995. But the discovery by Professor Carlos Rocha of the...

Knock, knock, you're sued.(SOUTH AMERICA)(Natural Resources Defense Council sues Department of Homeland Security for mahogany trade)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) and two Peruvian indigenous groups are suing the Department of Homeland Security, federal agencies, and import companies for allowing contraband Peruvian mahogany to enter the US. Nearly all of...

Earth Island project reports.(Earth Island in the news)(Public notice)
January 1, 2007... EcoVillage Farm Learning Center hosted the 14th Annual Middle College High School Consortium Student Leadership Conference on Saturday, April 29, 2006. The theme of "Corporate Responsibility to the Environment" was selected by the students at...

Dolphin-safe tuna has less mercury.(International Marine Mammal Project)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... IMMP, which has pioneered efforts for the "Dolphin Safe" tuna label for more than two decades, recently hailed a new study regarding mercury in canned tuna. "Without doubt, the actions by American tuna companies to sell only tuna that was...

Dolphin slaughter protested at IWC.(International Marine Mammal Project)
January 1, 2007... During the recent annual meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) in St. Kitt's, dolphin expert Ric O'Barry of the French animal rights organization One Voice surprised attendees by walking into the meeting wearing a TV set showing...

Japan dolphin day.(International Marine Mammal Project)
January 1, 2007... The world's largest slaughter of dolphins and porpoises takes place in Japan every single year. Please help protest the inhumane massacres before the killing season starts! We need as many organizations and individuals as possible to protest in...

Japan versus whales.(International Marine Mammal Project)
January 1, 2007... Tensions were high on the Caribbean island nation of St. Kitts during the recent meeting of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). In the early going, Japan lost a number of votes on several key issues. Japanese delegates had been hoping...

Penan continue blockade.(Borneo Project)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... In February 2004, the Penan of Long Benali, Sarawak erected a road blockade to mark their territory boundary and prevent logging incursions and road expansion by Samling Plywood (Baramas) Sendirian Berhad. According to community reports sent to...

Illegal logging stopped.(Borneo Project)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The Dusun community of Terian, Sabah, recently won a major victory stopping an illegal logging road that was headed for their rainforests on the border of Crocker Range National Park. Terian is renowned for its successful microhydro power...

Keluan wins grant, restores rainforests.(Borneo Project)(Brief article)
January 1, 2007... The Kayan longhouse community of Uma Bawang/Keluan, Sister City of Berkeley, California for the past 15 years, has been awarded a $50,000 grant by the United National Development Program's Small Grants Program to Promote Tropical Forests. The...

Brower Youth Awards.(Earth Island in the news)(Jessica Assaf)(Ruben Vogt)(May Boeve)
January 1, 2007... David Brower understood that although it's important to dream, it's even more important to act on those dreams. He dedicated his life to creating change not just through activism, but also by engaging others to emphasize the importance of his...

Nigeria--the engine room of Africa.(West Africa Rainforest Network--US)
January 1, 2007... The US now gets more oil from Africa than from the Middle East. Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, with 130 million residents. Nigeria is also Africa's largest oil producer and third largest economy (second only to South Africa and...

Everyone's got a story.(Karen Gosling)
January 1, 2007... Optimism, flexibility, stamina. That is what it takes to work in the non-profit world and Earth Island Institute Membership Director Karen Gosling demonstrates all of those qualities. For 30 years, she has worked and volunteered for various...

The battered border: immigration policy sacrifices Arizona's wilderness.
January 1, 2007... "Whenever the soil is disturbed, there's a faint color change." Mike Crelia peers at the tracks of workboots that head through a thick stand of tamarisk and up an embankment. "Fresh sign will actually be a different color than when it's a day...

Bolivia burning: an environmentalist's vision in ashes.
January 1, 2007... Genero has taken a chance going in broad daylight. There is no place to hide his boat. But he tells the teenaged driver to stay put and signal him if he sees anyone coming up the river. The river guide disappears into the tangled green hive...

Health without harm: prescriptions for the healthcare industry's ills.
January 1, 2007... First do no harm--the motto of the healthcare industry. Few other industries can claim such a noble maxim. In fact, not only does the healthcare industry aim not to harm, it aims to heal. It seems especially ironic then that the healthcare...

The ecology of genocide.
January 1, 2007... A caravan of a hundred camels traverses the cracked Saharan plains on a several-day journey to the nearest water source in North Darfur as I barrel down the bumpy trail, crammed into the back of a 1960s-model pickup. Stony hills give way to...

Twenty years after Chernobyl.(Chernobyl, Ukraine, Nuclear Accident, 1986)
January 1, 2007... While the Chernobyl disaster has faded into history in the minds of Westerners, it still looms large over the people of Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus. Twenty years after the Chernobyl disaster, the former Soviet Union is still contaminated. Even...

The seed goes on.(farm management with heirloom seeds)
January 1, 2007... Stroll through a local farmers' market these days and you may happen to come upon some unfamiliar produce: bell peppers shaped like miniature, wrinkled pumpkins. White squash and scalloped-edged melons. Strange tomatoes ranging in color from...

In review.(An Inconvenient Truth)(Movie review)
January 1, 2007... I finally got around to seeing An Inconvenient Truth before press time. If you, like me, have been telling yourself you don't need to see it because you know all that stuff already, go see it anyway. I got a few important things out of it. ...

Life without cars.(Voices)(automotive emissions )
January 1, 2007... "American cars and pickup trucks are responsible for nearly half of the greenhouse gases emitted by automobiles globally, even though the nation's vehicles make up just 30 percent of the nearly 700 million cars in use, according to a new report...