Obama pledges $50m for organic farming
by David Masters
President Obama is offering US farmers a $50 million incentive to go organic. The US leader, who has already dug up part of the White House lawn to grow organic vegetables, has made the funds available to support organic farmers as well as non-organic farmers who are learning about organic farming methods. Agriculture deputy secretary Kathleen Merrigan announced the funding earlier this month to the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Organic ...
Police attempt to recruit eco-campaigner as spy
by David Masters
British police offered an environmental campaigner thousands of pounds to spy on her fellow protesters. Plane Stupid member, Matilda Gifford, secretly recorded meetings with police officers in which she was offered tens of thousands of pounds in exchange for information on the planned tactics and future demonstrations of the anti-airport expansion group. The officers, who claimed to be from Strathclyde Police Force, threatened the 24-year-old by claiming that she might struggle to ...
MPs offered free lamps to brighten up expenses scandal
by David MastersIn an attempt to brighten up the lives of MPs who've been stung by the recent revelations on expenses, electricals firm RS Components has offered to supply MPs with free energy efficient lamps. The offer comes after the Daily Telegraph illuminated the fact that MP David Willetts billed the taxpayer £115 plus VAT for workmen to replace 25 lightbulbs in his west London second home. The Shadow Secretary of State for Innovation ...
Benn tells US it must lead climate change
by Alan Harten
Hillary Benn, the Environment Secretary, met with United States environmental representatives in DC as well as the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon yesterday, to discuss several key environmental concerns such as food, green economy practices, and climate change. Benn spoke to many in the new Obama administration about sustainability issues emphasising that if they are not addressed at the upcoming UN conference on climate change there could be global implications. He also ...
US, Canadian, consumers most wasteful in the world
by Alan Harten
In an effort to save money on energy costs and as a response to the economic crisis, a study by National Geographic and GlobeScan shows that consumers are more aware of their individual impact on ‘green’ issues and the health of their surrounding environment. The survey took into account 17,000 consumers from 17 countries and looked closely at their consumer behaviour. The results showed that China, Brazil, and India had the ...
Farmers to have environmental stock exchange?
by Alan HartenIn order to encourage farmers and landowners to maintain unpolluted water and wildlife, the CLA (Country Land and Business Association) proposes that those who follow environmental regulations should receive credits. These credits would be exchangeable for stocks and funding that would be used to further protect rural areas of the countryside. Additionally, if the programs were to work, the CLA hopes that the ‘green stock exchange’ system could be extended to proper ...
Huge UK lawsuit over toxic dumping in Africa
by Alan Harten
The largest group lawsuit in British history is in the process of being prosecuted, with over 30,000 people from the Ivory Coast claiming that toxic waste from the oil trading company, Trafigura, was dumped into the coastal areas of the country. The lawsuit targets toxic waste that was chartered aboard the Probo Koala ship and billed as cargo by Trafigura and taken to the Ivory Coast, which incidentally is one of ...
Polluted US land gets $100m clean up
by David Masters
Contaminated land in the United States is to have a $100 million clean up. The Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has set aside $111.9 million for local communities to clean up and revive contaminated brownfield sites. The brownfield program funds will be used to revitalise former industrial sites, turning them into productive business and community areas. "Brownfields program funds are helping clean up distressed properties so they can be productively reused for community benefit," ...
UK school to be heated with biomass
by David Masters
A UK school plans to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels by installing a £60,000 biomass boiler powered by burning wood pellets. Gulworthy Primary School near Tavistock, Devon, has received grants from the Low Carbon Buildings Programme, EDF Energy, and the Co-operative Group to fund the microgeneration system. A monitor on the boiler will show pupils at the school how much energy is being produced, and the amount of carbon dioxide emissions ...
Olympic construction materials delivered by barge
by David Masters
Many of the construction materials for London's 2012 Olympic Park are to be transported to the site on barges, with an east London waterway being dredged and brought back into use. Water transport has just one fifth the carbon footprint of road transport, and barges can carry up to ten lorries' worth of materials without causing extra congestion on London's roads. To make barge delivery possible, a one-and-a-half mile stretch of water ...
Government investigates tidal energy potential
by David Masters
The UK government has announced a study into the potential of marine energy generated from the coastlines of England and Wales. The study, to be completed by 2011, is part of the government's effort to encourage development of wave and tidal renewable technologies. Lord Hunt, climate change minister, said the study shows the government is 'very serious' about marine energy. Environmental consultancies AEA and Hartley Anderson will carry out the study, with input ...
Sustainable cities key to US green economy
by David Masters
Sustainable cities are vital for America's long term future as a green economy, according to a report by US thinktank Living Cities. The "Green Cities: How Urban Sustainability Can and Must Drive America's Climate Change Policies" report, released last week, explains how big cities can simultaneously help to fight climate change, create better jobs, and join the effort for economic recovery. Forty of American's largest cities, including New York City, Los Angeles, ...
Balloon fundraisers defy wildlife warning
by David Masters
A 'green' Irish primary school is to set loose thousands of helium filled balloons in Co Dublin today despite warnings that the fundraising stunt will harm the environment. Mount Anville Primary School in Stillorgan has defied warnings from environmental campaigners that the mass release of balloons has potentially fatal consequences for marine wildlife. Friends of the Irish Environment said balloon fragments from the launch will litter land and sea, and can cause ...
Climate change major threat to human health
by Alan Harten
A new medical report compiled by researchers at the University College London has pinpointed climate change as the largest threat to human health in the current 21st century. Published in The Lancet, the report details that human death tolls will rise as a result of food and water shortages, improper sanitation, and disease that is a direct result of climate change. Part of the problem, according to the medical report, is an ...
Endangered bird list continues to grow
by Alan Harten
The latest updated release of the International Union for Conversation of Nature’s Red List shows that even though conservation efforts have been made in many countries, there is an increasing amount of critically endangered birds. Currently the Red List shows that 1,227 birds are on the endangered list, making up about 12% of the entire bird species on earth. The report identified that logging, invasive species, and agriculture are still the main ...
Coral Triangle under serious threat
by Alan Harten
The Coral Triangle, which is located near Indonesia and Asia, is liable to be wiped out towards the close of this century, warns the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), unless action is taken now. Often compared to the Amazon Rainforest due to large biodiversity, the Coral Triangle contains about 75% of the world’s coral species and has already lost over 40% of its reef area due to a failing ecosystem. This report is ...
US EPA bans common pesticides
by Alan Harten
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced Monday that carbofuran, a common pesticide known as Furdan, is banned from use on food crops due to the high health risks it poses to humans and animals, in particular children. Furdan has been investigated by the EPA for the last several decades and was banned in its granular pesticide form during the middle of the 1990’s because it was linked to the ...
Alaska gold company huge pollution fine
by Alan Harten
Nova Gold Resources, an Alaskan Gold Company has reached a settlement with the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as a result of its failure to follow proper environmental procedures when discharging water from its mine located near Nome, Alaska. The companies violated the terms of their building permit to construct the Rock Creek Mine in Alaska when they discharged storm water into three nearby creeks, Rock Creek, Glacier Creek, and ...
Britain takes Falkland’s seabed dispute to UN
by Alan Harten
On Monday the United Kingdom placed a claim on the area around the Falkland Islands with the United Nations, in an effort to secure the oil, gas, and mineral reserves of the seabed area. This is expected to spur a fight with Argentina, which feels the area belongs to its government, specifically the area around the Falkland Islands, the South Sandwich Islands, and South Georgia which is approximately 1.2 million sq ...
Flooding pollutes Britain’s top beaches
by David Masters
Fewer beaches were clean enough to be awarded a blue flag this year, with flooding blamed as the main culprit. Keep Britain Tidy awarded 71 blue flags for 2009, 11 fewer than were awarded last year. "The drop in blue flags is largely due to flooding over the past couple of years - and there is nothing anybody can do about that," a KBT spokesperson said. KBT also pointed out that the number ...