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earthsystems.org news Volume 2 Issue 37
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FROM EARTHSYSTEMS.ORG:
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First, our thanks to Sustainable Jobs Fund, the first sponsor of this
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Venture Capital is Not Just for Internet Companies Anymore!!!
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ISSUE OF THE WEEK
Tire recycling: Where exactly are all those recalled Firestone tires going?
(Also see below)
http://www.earthsystems.org/issues.html
AND NOW FOR SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT......
This week in lieu of a poll, we have an earthsystems.org quiz question.
Test your knowledge by answering the following question:
How many tires are stockpiled in the US each year?
http://www.earthsystems.org/issues.html
LEWIS AND CLARK DIDN'T SEE THIS COMING
Ever wonder what environmental hazards are lurking right in
your neighborhood and county? An online mapping program unveiled
Monday by federal Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo will allow
anyone with a computer to find out what pollution problems
are nearby. The free Internet mapping program allows computer
users to input an address and up pops a diagram with select information
from the Environmental Protection Agency on brownfields, hazardous
waste, air pollution levels and waste water discharge in the area.
Main site (expect congestion or inoperative conditions)
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FROM ENVIRONMENTAL NEWS NETWORK:
http://www.enn.com
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JUST DON'T PUT 'EM ON MY MOM'S CAR PLEASE
In one of the largest recalls on record, consumers are expected to return an
estimated 6.5 million tires to Firestone's nine distribution centers and
1,500 stores across the United States. What will happen to all the tread?
"The general plan is to somehow get them recycled," said a spokesperson in
Firestone's public relations department who asked not to be named.
FOR MORE:
http://www.enn.com/news/enn-stories/2000/09/09202000/tires_31672.asp?site=wwwearthsystemsorg
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FROM GRIST:
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/daily/
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SICK AND TIRED
Recycling advocates hope the high-profile recall of 6.5 million
Firestone tires will make people more aware of tire disposal issues
and give a boost to recycling efforts. In 1999, 66 percent of the
273 million scrap tires in the U.S. were recycled, up from only 11
percent in 1990. They are used to help make everything from cement,
asphalt, and landfill covers to garden hoses, exercise mats, and
playground covers. Many tires are also burned to produce energy.
Still, millions of tires are simply piled up each year in massive
waste heaps, where they are prone to catch fire and cause serious
pollution problems.
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle, Janine DeFao, 09.16.00
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2000/09/16/MN90078.DTL
DEEP-SEA DOO-DOO
Fishing trawlers are causing serious damage to fragile deep-sea coral
reefs, which scientists have only begun to study in earnest in the
last 10 years. As fisheries in shallower waters are depleted, the
massive trawlers drag their large nets along the seafloor in deeper
areas, trapping fish and clearing everything in their paths. Surveys
off the coast of Norway indicate that one third to one half of the
charted deep-sea reefs have been harmed by fishing. Damaged corals
can take hundreds of years to regrow. Biologists, who say the
diversity of deep-sea coral systems rivals that of better-known
tropical coral reefs, are alarmed at the destruction and are calling
for expansions of national and international marine protected areas
to shield the corals from harm.
straight to the source: New York Times, Andrew C. Revkin, 09.19.00
http://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/19/science/19CORA.html
OLIVER SPRINGS ETERNAL
The first major wind turbine project in the Southeast is now
underway, with three turbines operated by the Tennessee Valley
Authority expected to go online next month in Oliver Springs, Tenn.
To mark Earth Day 2000, the TVA on April 22 began offering a pilot
green energy package to customers of a dozen of its 158 local
distributors; residential users will pay about $4 extra per month to
get power from renewable sources. So far, almost 2,000 homes and 115
businesses have signed up for the green power option, and TVA hopes
to boost that to 8,000 homes by next spring. In addition to its wind
power project, TVA already operates four solar collectors.
Meanwhile, Seattle's mayor and a member of the city council write
today in an op-ed in the Seattle Times about the city's Earth Day
pledge to work toward meeting all of its electricity needs while
producing no net greenhouse gas emissions.
straight to the source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Associated Press, Duncan Mansfield, 09.19.00
http://www.stlnet.com/postnet/news/wires.nsf/National/1C627AFF90E9BED88625695F001B68E6?OpenDocument
EVERYBODY CUT FOOTLOOSE
Enviros are asking drivers in 700 European cities to take part in a
car-free day this Friday, hoping to spread awareness of the pollution
and congestion problems caused by cars. Protests against high
gasoline prices have spread throughout Europe in recent days, and
enviros hope the hoopla will encourage citizens to consider
alternative ways of getting around, from public transportation to
bicycling and walking. The Car-Free Cities Network, one of the
groups organizing the car-free day, also wants to push governments to
ban cars from certain areas, charge for the use of some roads, and
increase parking fees, as well as improve bicycle and pedestrian
routes and public transportation.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 09.18.00
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8221
catch it only in Grist Magazine: A car-free day in Italy -- a cartoon by Suzy Becker
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/ha/ha072100.stm
IT'S MY PRAGUE-ATIVE
Up to 30,000 anti-globalization protestors, including many enviros,
are expected to descend on Prague in the Czech Republic this week
during meetings of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.
Inspired by the public uprising in Seattle last year and following on
the heels of demonstrations last week in Melbourne, Australia, the
activists will argue that the World Bank, IMF, and other powerful
economic institutions degrade the environment and exploit poor people
around the world for the benefit of multinational corporations and
the wealthy. Fearing that the protestors will effectively shut down
the city over the 10 days of meetings, schools and businesses in
Prague are planning to close their doors and some city residents are
stocking up on food.
straight to the source: Central Europe Online, Reuters, 09.18.00
http://www.centraleurope.com/news.php3?id=200264
straight to the source: Toronto National Post, Juliette Terzieff, 09.18.00
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/world/story.html?f=/stories/20000918/402928.html
SHEIK, YOUR BOOTY
OPEC nations argued on Friday that a final international accord on
climate change should include a plan to compensate them in case
efforts to cut greenhouse gases lead to a drop in the use of oil.
"We are assuming that only for another 15 years, maximum, will we
have oil as a big share of the energy mix," said Muhammad al-Sabban,
head of the Saudi delegation, at talks in France last week leading up
to a major climate change meeting that will take place at the Hague
in November. China and many other developing nations backed the OPEC
position, while other participants panned it. Opinions are also
split on a U.S. plan for countries to receive credit for reducing
greenhouse gases by growing trees to absorb carbon dioxide. The
U.N.'s top official on climate change, Michael Zammit Cutajar, said
Friday he believed countries should accept the use of forests as
carbon sinks and endorse emissions trading between countries as a way
to tackle global warming, assuming a firm emissions accounting system
were put in place.
source: New York Times, Andrew C. Revkin, 09.16.00
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, Gillian Handyside, 09.18.00
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=8218
COME ON AND EASEMENT DOWN, EASEMENT DOWN THE ROAD
Almost one-third of Maine's 15 million acres of forest have been put
on sale in the last two years, and conservationists are worried that
a good deal of forestland now in private hands may soon be lost to
development. Maine voters last year approved $50 million to buy and
preserve land, and land trusts and enviro groups have been active in
trying to acquire land in the state, too. Groups are also
encouraging large landowners to put their lands under conservation
easements, agreeing not to develop the property. The world's biggest
easement, a $30 million deal on a piece of Maine property larger than
Rhode Island, is almost finalized, and a slightly smaller project on
the West Branch of Maine's Penobscot River is being negotiated.
straight to the source: Boston Globe, Beth Daley, 09.18.00
http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/262/nation/A_race_to_save_Maine_woods+.shtml
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