Earth Island Journal articles from March 2006

Earth Island Journal archives from March 2006

From the editor.(Editorial)
March 22, 2006... One of the tough things about this job is that working with so many passionate, committed activists, and being charged with representing their work to our readership, it's hard to avoid coming close to hagiography. This was certainly the...

Climate skeptic.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 22, 2006... Regarding "Goodbye North Pole?" (Winter, 2005 EIJ "Around the world") You mention that the media is not covering the biggest news story in recent history as the melting of the Arctic ice cap is ignored. Are you also upset about the lack of...

Miles per turd.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 22, 2006... I noticed that the most recent Earth Island Journal included a news brief on the d'Oliveira Natural Gas Refinery referring to the summary article at http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0824dNGR.html You cite a claim that sewage has hundreds of...

The fire last time.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
March 22, 2006... I was disturbed to see Chris Clarke's article on "The year we lost the deserts." (Winter, 2005 EIJ) Blaming so-called "invasive species" for environmental damage is blaming the victim. The notion of being native is an artificial construct...

Pachyderm pact.(AFRICA)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... Twelve countries in West Africa--Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d' Ivoire, Guinea, Guniea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo--have agreed to protect their dwindling elephant populations. Ivory hunting and habitat...

No flaring in Nigeria.(AFRICA)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... Nigeria's Federal High Court ruled that gas flaring is a violation of Nigerians' constitutional rights and must stop. Gas flaring is the burning off of gases released during oil drilling. Flaring releases greenhouse gases, and subjects...

AIDS eco-training.(AFRICA)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... Umzi Wethu, a new program in South Africa, helps children orphaned by HIV/AIDS to learn about the environment and, ultimately, work in the ecotourism or hospitality industries. The program is backed by the Wilderness Foundation of South Africa....

Drought and climate change.(AFRICA)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... Southern Africa's food security is seriously threatened by global warming, said delegates to the UN conference on climate change in Montreal in November. Farmers can no longer anticipate annual rains, greatly disrupting their planting...

Iceberg ballads.(ANTARCTICA)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... German scientists in Antarctica have found an iceberg that sings as water moves through it. Though too low to be heard by human ears, when sped up the music sounds like a swarm of bees or an orchestra warming up. "The tune even goes up...

CO2 highest in 650,000 years.(ANTARCTICA)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... Examination of air bubbles trapped in Antarctic ice revealed that the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is at its highest level in 650,000 years. Carbon dioxide is widely believed to be a major engine of global warming....

Iraq clean-up.(ASIA)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... Years of war and neglect have left Iraq in need of environmental clean-up and reconstruction. Thousands of damaged industrial and military sites pose serious environmental and health risks. Chemical plants, mines, and military junkyards leak...

Green Olympics.(ASIA)(2008 Games will be an eco-friendly event)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... China's Olympic Organizing Committee and the UN Environment Programme are working to make the 2008 Games an eco-friendly event. Environment has been named as one of the three pillars of Olympism, along with sport and culture. The Organizing...

Civilization threatened by kangaroos.(AUSTRALIA)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... Numbering just 20.4 million, Australia's humans face significant opposition in land use issues from a diverse animal coalition led by kangaroos, whose population is conservatively estimated to be 57 million. Feral pigs, cats, camels, and horses...

Hot Oz rocks.(AUSTRALIA)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... After years of preliminary tests, companies in Australia may be ready to use the heat miles below the Earth's surface to generate electricity. Harnessing geothermal energy to power generating turbines is not a new idea. But unlike prior...

Swiss ban GMO crops.(EUROPE)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... Swiss voters have enacted a five-year ban on the production of genetically modified plants and animals. The ban, supported by farmers and environmental and consumer groups, does not apply to research or imported products, but only to...

Resurrecting Venice.(EUROPE)(engineers may inject sea water under Venice to raise the city's elevation)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... Engineers may try to raise the sinking city of Venice by 12 inches by injecting sea water underneath it. If successful, the project would return Venice to the elevation it held 300 years ago. Engineers hope the water will expand the sand...

Poison laws.(EUROPE)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... The European Parliament passed a new law that will require companies to prove the chemicals in their products are safe for the public. Thousands of chemicals made or sold in the EU must be registered and the most potentially dangerous...

EU imports deforestation.(EUROPE)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... By importing illegal timber, the EU is furthering deforestation in other parts of the world, according to a report by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF). After studying trade between EU states and countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America,...

Rising tides.(OCEANIA)(villagers leave Tegua Island in Vanuatu for higher ground)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... For what may be the first time, a village has been forced to move to higher ground because of global warming and rising sea levels, according to a UN report. On Tegua Island in Vanuatu, 100 people packed up their homes and moved them...

New York for the birds.(NORTH AMERICA)(skyscrapers will go dark above the 40th floor after midnight during spring and fall to help save migratory birds)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... New York City skyscrapers will go dark above the 40th floor after midnight during spring and fall to help save migratory birds. Since 1997, more than 4,000 birds have died or been injured after flying into buildings. "New York City is...

The sting.(NORTH AMERICA)(using invertebrates as biological sensors)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... The US may be turning to insects to fill some of its most important government positions. A species of wasp, researchers discovered, can be trained to sniff out bombs, drugs, and bodies in under five minutes and at next to no cost. Wasps...

Bush: get better advice.(NORTH AMERICA)(public health organizations want more balanced Industry Trade Advisory Committees)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... A lawsuit filed December 14 in US Federal District Court by public health and physician groups demands that corporate interests be balanced with public interest representation on US Industry Trade Advisory Committees (ITACs). ITACs advise the...

Deforestation declining.(SOUTH AMERICA)(UN Food and Agricultural Organization )(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... The UN Food and Agricultural Organization reports that worldwide deforestation is slowing, though still proceeding at an alarming rate. Every year an amount of land the size of Greece is logged--some 32 million acres. But replanting and...

Parks and cocaine.(SOUTH AMERICA)(coca growers destroy forests and pollute soil and water)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... To escape aerial fumigation of their coca crops, growers and traffickers in Colombia are moving into nature parks where spraying is banned. In the process, they are destroying virgin forests and polluting the soil and water, leaving officials...

Billy Parish, a former Brower Youth Awards winner and the founder of Energy Action, was featured in the November 3 issue of Rolling Stone.(Earth Island project reports)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... Billy Parish, a former Brower Youth Awards winner and the founder of Energy Action, was featured in the November 3 issue of Rolling Stone. The profile was part of an article called "Warriors and Heroes," which selected Parish as one of the...

Bay Area Wilderness Training.(Earth Island project reports)
March 22, 2006... Join the Bay Area Wilderness Training Climb Team on Mt. Rainier or Mt. Shasta in 2006 and help at-risk urban youth get out of the city and into the woods. Climbers pledge to raise at least $2,500, which will go directly to help local youth...

Brian Williams, director of the Red Panda Project, traveled to Nepal November 13 to 24 to present a paper at the Society for Conservation Biology's Asia section meeting on the importance of the red panda to Himalayan biodiversity conservation.(Earth Island project reports)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... Brian Williams, director of the Red Panda Project, traveled to Nepal November 13 to 24 to present a paper at the Society for Conservation Biology's Asia section meeting on the importance of the red panda to Himalayan biodiversity conservation....

Adam Spangler.(Earth Island project reports)
March 22, 2006... Former Earth Island Journal intern Adam Spangler recently landed a job at Vanity Fair in New York City... congratulations, Adam! Information about internship opportunities is available at earthisland.org.

Earth Island Journal.(Earth Island project reports)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... Earth Island Journal was honored for its long-time leadership in environmentally friendly magazine production at the Folio awards banquet in New York on November 1. EIJ took the silver medal in the first-ever Aveda Environmental Awards.

Women's Global Green Action Network.(Earth Island project reports)(Melinda Kramer and Mary Rose Kaczorowski found organization)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... Earth Island's newest project is Women's Global Green Action Network. Founders Melinda Kramer and Mary Rose Kaczorowski created their organization to empower and unite women who are working in various capacities on issues concerning...

Dagoba Chocolate, a longtime advertiser in Earth Island Journal, recently received the Responsible Business Award and the Spirit of Organic Award in recognition of its leadership in sustainable practices.(Earth Island project reports)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... Dagoba Chocolate, a longtime advertiser in Earth Island Journal, recently received the Responsible Business Award and the Spirit of Organic Award in recognition of its leadership in sustainable practices. The awards were presented at the...

Japan Dolphin Day a global success.(International Marine Mammal Project)
March 22, 2006... On October 8, 2005, environmental and animal welfare organizations around the world came together to support dolphins by demonstrating in front of Japanese consulates and embassies. Demonstrations were held in 28 countries, including France,...

International Marine Mammal Project.(Earth Island in the news)(Mark Berman lobbies to stop Solomon Islands from exporting live dolphins)(Brief Article)
March 22, 2006... In early November 2005, IMMP Associate Director Mark Berman traveled to the Solomon Islands, where he planned to meet with representatives from Soltai, a tuna company owned partly by the Islands' government. While working with Soltai to...

Baikal watch.(Earth Island in the news)(climate change is reaching the Lena River Valley)
March 22, 2006... The term "frozen" often connotes "immune to change." Perhaps no land is so firmly tied to that word as Siberia. Of all parts of Siberia, no place so richly deserves this connection as the grand Lena River Valley. The ninth-longest river in the...

Ethical traveler.(Earth Island in the news)
March 22, 2006... During the past 20 years, the phrases "ecotravel" and "ethical travel" have entered the globetrotter's lexicon. The first term has been so co-opted and abused that it's practically stripped of meaning; even huge luxury hotels and cruise ships...

Safe food and fertilizer.(Earth Island in the news)
March 22, 2006... When most people think of recycling, they think of aluminum cans, newspaper, glass, milk jugs, and cardboard being diverted from landfills to conserve resources for future generations. That is, after all, the process that Congress envisioned...

Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve.(Viva Sierra Gorda)
March 22, 2006... The Sierra Gorda Biosphere Reserve (SGBR), in Queretaro State, Mexico, is home to 10 of Mexico's 11 ecosystems, boasting six feline species, black bears, and more than 30 percent of the bird species in the country. The reserve, roughly the size...

UniversitArea Protegida.(Earth Island in the news)
March 22, 2006... UniversitArea Protegida (UAP) is completing its second year supporting Nicaraguan university students doing ecological and social research in rural communities throughout the country. Many lessons have been learned since the UAP concept was...

Everyone's got a story.
March 22, 2006... Guerrilla marketing is all the rage these days, and rapidly becoming a part of every non-profit fundraiser's arsenal of techniques. But though it may be the flavor of the week, Earth Island Institute's Associate Director Kevin Connelly has...

Letters from Young Activists: Today's Rebels Speak Out.(Letter to the Editor)
March 22, 2006... Letters from Young Activists: Today's Rebels Speak Out Edited by Dan Berger, Chesa Boudin, and Kenyon Farrow, Nation Books 2005 We all write letters to our selves. Sometimes they're uncomplicated, designed to promote direct action: "Pick up...

Divine destruction.(belief in manifest destiny)
March 22, 2006... In 1845, New York journalist John O'Sullivan coined the phrase "Manifest Destiny," an expression that would remain shorthand during the late nineteenth century for the belief that Americans had an obligation to settle the western territories....

Refining power: Venezuela's Hugo Chavez builds new alliances with oil.
March 22, 2006... In this fossil fuel-driven global economy, oil means power. Every country relies on oil to some extent these days, leaving them all at the mercy of their suppliers. It's geopolitical heroin--it might be destroying us, but no one can get enough....

Freeing Keiko: how activists worked to liberate the world's most famous orca.
March 22, 2006... In captivity Keiko shut down his sonar. The clicks of killer-whale echolocation, bouncing around the immediate walls of his Mexican cell, returned no new information. The echoes told him nothing he hadn't learned in his first minute...

Sex, sea turtles, and the Seri: Mexican and native activists choose two radically different strategies for saving marine wildlife.
March 22, 2006... Kino Bay, Sonora, Mexico: Standing at the bow of the boat, Ramon Lopez--an elder Seri man--observes the horizon, the color of the sea, the smells, and the islands, just as his ancestors have for a millennium. The boat travels through schools of...

California energy crisis trial looms: energy traders who gamed the system in California may finally be getting their due.
March 22, 2006... The federal Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to rule soon after press time on a key piece of evidence, kick-starting the long awaited criminal trial involving Houston-based Reliant Energy's alleged scheme to boost profits by shutting...

Food fight: is the "organic" label being amended to uselessness?
March 22, 2006... What's in a name? That was the question riling the sustainable food community last fall as consumer groups, farmers and food processors battled over whether to amend the USDA's "organic" labeling law. The official definition of organic has...

Dumbing down smart growth: Wisconsin's "Smart Growth" law draws fire in a polarized political scene.
March 22, 2006... City limits carved in stone? Heavy-handed public transportation mandates? Wisconsin's controversial comprehensive planning law is relatively innocuous compared to the accusations critics have leveled at it this year during an ongoing repeal...

What will it take for the WTO to notice starving children in Niger or Malawi?(Voices)
March 22, 2006... Trade negotiators from 148 countries gathered at the sixth World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial in Hong Kong in December, with the task of shaping the final agreement of the Doha Development Agenda. The talks are deadlocked on several...

Lessons from the right.
March 22, 2006... In the days after the November 2004 election, students and professors of the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies gathered, trying to imagine the future. Exit polls claimed that a majority of Americans had rejected our sense of...

Jeni Krencicki graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley, where she studied Political Science and Conservation and Resource Studies.
March 22, 2006... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Caption: Jeni Krencicki (L) graduated Phi Beta Kappa from UC Berkeley, where she studied Political Science and Conservation and Resource Studies. Jeni is the founder and chairperson of Deep Roots Nepal, a nonprofit...

Career spotlight: an interview with Phil Brick.(Interview)
March 22, 2006... What work do you do? I am professor of politics and codirector of environmental studies at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. I am also the founder and director of an environmental-studies field program, Whitman College Semester...

Short subjects.
March 22, 2006... Cornell University How can the Cornell University campus do more when it comes to energy efficiency, recycling, reducing pollution, preserving green areas and other efforts that promote sustainability? Themes that emerged from the...

Trash-free grad.(College of the Atlantic)
March 22, 2006... A small college harbored between the Atlantic Ocean and Acadia National Park, College of the Atlantic (COA) has always been focused on the environment. Located in Bar Harbor, Maine, COA was founded in 1969 on the premise that a new educational...

Campus climate challenge.
March 22, 2006... Having dropped out of Yale University before completing his degree, Billy Parish knows that getting an education doesn't necessarily require sitting in a classroom. Parish, winner of a 2004 Earth Island Institute Brower Youth Award and director...

Green dorms.(energy efficient buildings)
March 22, 2006... When I first learned that my new job at the University of South Carolina would require me to live in a "green" building, I remember feeling very reluctant. At the time, I didn't really know much about what exactly living in a green building was...

The Corporate Campus: Commercialization and the Dangers to Canada's Colleges and Universities.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 22, 2006... THE CORPORATE CAMPUS COMMERCIALIZATION AND THE DANGERS TO CANADA'S COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES EDITED BY JAMES L. TURK Do corporate contributions to institutions of higher learning have a detrimental effect on the freedom of intellectual...

A Guide Careers in Community Development.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
March 22, 2006... A Guide: Careers in Community Development Paul C. Brophy and Alice Shabecoff Foreward by Neal Pence and Carol Steinbach It would be impossible to produce a better guide for anyone interested in community development. Not only is the...

I'm the Teacher, You're the Student.(Brief Article)(Young Adult Review)(Book Review)
March 22, 2006... I'm the Teacher, You're the Student Patrick Allitt Patrick Allitt, a history professor at Emory University, has written a book that should be required reading for all undergraduate courses. I'm the Teacher, You're the Student takes...

How to keep on keepin' on as a young environmental activist.
March 22, 2006... When you're young, motivated, and raring to go, there's nothing worse than being discouraged just as you're getting started by those who insist they know better. As I plug along, investing time into the work that I care about, I hear: "Why...