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earthsystems.org news Volume 2 Issue 31
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FROM EARTHSYSTEMS.ORG:
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ISSUE OF THE WEEK
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US Presidential Elections: The Republican Convention is under
way and the Democratic Convention is soon to follow. With under
100 days until the election, whose your favorite candidate?
http://earthsystems.org/issue.html
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POLL OF THE WEEK
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Bush, Gore, Nader, Buchanan? Who do you plan to vote for in
November? OR do you plan to vote at all?
http://earthsystems.org/issue.html#poll
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VOTER REGISTRATION
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Not registered? Visit Rock the Vote and register to vote on-line.
In some localities, it's not too late to register to vote in the
November elections.
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NEW NEWS FEATURE
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In addition to ENS, EarthNet News, and News Now, the earthsystems.org
Environmental News and Weather Center now brings you daily environmental
news updates from ENN.
http://earthsystems.org/headlines.html
GAS REDUCTION POSSIBLE, PROFESSOR KLUMP CITED
The Twelfth Session of the Subsidiary Bodies of the United
Nations UNFCCC was held in Bonn, Germany; 5 to 16 June
2000, to hammer out the details of an agreement to reduce
greenhouse gases for governments to sign onto later this year.
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
has provided on-line coverage of the meetings at the website
http://www.iisd.ca/climate/sb12/>http://www.iisd.ca/climate/sb12/
B.C. FOREST LOGGING NOT SO A.D.
The Sierra Club of BC issued an economic study entitled,
"Cutting for the Economy's Sake", that calls for reducing
the allowable cut in British Columbia to a number that
actually sustains the forest industry. The study found that
the forest companies are logging large trees at a greater
rate than they can be replaced by natural regeneration and
silviculture. The study, conducted by an environmental
economist, Tom Green found that the Government of B.C.
is using flawed economic models which show logging to
be sustainable, when it isn't.
http://www.sierraclub.ca/bc/campaigns/forest_policy/>http://www.sierraclub.ca/bc/campaigns/forest_policy/
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FROM GRIST:
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/gist
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A LITTLE CRAB'LL DO YA
Virginia officials have taken the unprecedented step of declaring a
665-square-mile area of the Chesapeake Bay off-limits to fishers in
order to protect the area's beleaguered population of blue crabs.
Blue crabs have also been suffering in the estuary of the Altamaha
River in Georgia. Long-time Georgia crabber James Holland, tired of
seeing his livelihood ruined by degraded water quality, gup
catching crabs in order to concentrate on catching polluters. He
formed the Altamaha Riverkeeper, an activist group that aims to clean
up the waters in the state's biggest river basin. He represents a
new breed of environmentalist in the South -- folks who don't wear
fleece or belong to the Sierra Club, but who are simply fighting to
defend the natural resources they depend on to make a living.
straight to the source: New York Times, Francis X. Clines, 07.30.00
http://www.nytimes.com/library/national/science/073000sci-bluecrab-animal.html
read it only in Grist Magazine: Finders, Keepers, by Gail Krueger -- in our Out on a Limb section
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/limb/limb072700.stm
20/20 QUESTIONS
ABC News is being hit with questions about the integrity of a "20/20"
report on organic foods that was aired in February and again in July
of this year. The report by John Stossel claimed, among other
things, that non-organic produce does not necessarily have more
pesticide residue than organic produce. Stossel said this claim was
backed up by research commissioned by ABC News, but the two
scientists who did research for the network say they never tested
produce for pesticide residue. One of the scientists did test
poultry and found that samples of conventional poultry had pesticide
residue while organic poultry didn't -- but Stossel neglected to
mention this finding in his 20/20 piece.
straight to the source: New York Times, Jim Rutenberg, 07.31.00
http://www.nytimes.com/library/financial/073100abc-organic.html
read it in Grist Magazine: Donella Meadows debunks the "20/20" report
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/citizen/citizen031300.stm
BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DROUGHT
China is enduring one of the worst droughts in its history, and many
experts are worrying that the nation is running out of water for its
1.3 billion people. Some 400 of China's 668 cities have declared
water shortages, which means that taps may work only a few hours a
day, if at all. At least 20 million Chinese citizens don't have
access to any running water, and another 200 million experience
serious water rationing or shortages. To make matters worse, much of
the freshwater that's available is polluted. Northern China is also
beset by the problem of desertification, with more than 900 square
miles of land turning into desert each year, thanks to excessive
grazing and logging. Overpopulation and climate change are also
worsening the nation's problems.
straight to the source: Toronto Globe and Mail, Miro Cernetig, 07.31.00
http://www.globeandmail.com/gam/International/20000731/UCHINN.html
straight to the source: New York Times, Erik Eckholm, 07.30.00
http://search1.nytimes.com/search/daily/bin/fastweb?getdoc+site+site+117530+0+wAAA+rangji
NOTHING COULD BE REFINER
Thanks to an EPA crackdown on the oil refining industry, two of the
largest oil refiners in the U.S., BP Amoco and Koch Industries, have
reached a breakthrough agreement with the government under which the
companies will spend nearly $600 million to tackle air-pollution
problems at 12 facilities around the nation. EPA Administrator Carol
Browner praised the two companies for voluntarily entering into
negotiations with the feds after the EPA began investigating oil
refineries for possible air-pollution violations, and she warned that
other refining companies should step forward for similar negotiations
if they want to avoid court battles. The EPA is also investigating
paper mills and coal-burning power plants.
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, Marla Cone, 07.26.00
http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environ/20000726/t000070096.html
straight to the source: Casper Star-Tribune, Associated Press, H. Josef Hebert, 07.26.00
http://www.trib.com/HOMENEWS/WYO/RefineryPollution.html
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To subscribe to DAILY GRIST, click here:
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FROM TIDEPOOL.ORG:
http://www.tidepool.org
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TIMBER TOWN CONVERTS TO NEW ECONOMY
Logging trucks still rumble through town as they barrel out of the woods and
head for Weyerhaeuser Co. and Starfire Lumber, the two major wood products
mills now operating in Cottage Grove. This is still a timber town, by and
large. But as the wood products industry has waned in the face of federal
logging cutbacks, global competition, overcutting of private timberland and
shrinking lumber markets, a change is beginning to take place. (7-31-00) From
the Eugene Register Guard.
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Other Archives - Generated on : Tue Aug 01 2000 - 15:22:18 EDT