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earthsystems.org news Volume 2 Issue 2
Please, visit our site at:
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What's New at earthsystems.org
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earthsystems.org receives $200,000 donation!
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A Virginia businessman has made a $200,000
donation for earthsystems.org to continue its work
in the field of environmental education.
For all the details, please read our press release:
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Issue of the Week
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For the past several weeks, Greenpeace ships have challenged Japanese
whaling ships in the Antarctic. A recent collision between two of the
opposing ships has brought the issue to a head.
http://earthsystems.org/issues.html
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Poll of the Week
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Should the International Whaling Commission allow Japanese whaling
operations in the Antarctic?
http://earthsystems.org/issues.html#poll
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>From GIST:
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/
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THE FRENCH ARE FLY
The French government is proposing a tax on carbon emissions that would
help the country meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions under
the Kyoto climate change treaty. Prime Minister Lionel Jospin's
legislative package, to be presented next week, will include the tax, which
would take effect in 2001 and apply to France's state-owned power utility,
makers of steel, cement, and glass, and other industries. Jospin's package
will also contain about 100 other measures intended to cut greenhouse gas
emissions, including a plan to reduce the use of cars in urban areas.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, the French government will announce its plan to
help restore the nation's forests, which were devastated by December wind
storms that destroyed about 300 million trees.
straight to the source: Planet Ark, Reuters, 01.10.00
http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=5357
straight to the source: San Francisco Chronicle/Examiner, Associated Press, 01.09.00
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2000/01/09/international1633EST0744.DTL
straight to the source: Nando Times, Agence France Presse, 01.09.00
http://www.nandotimes.com/healthscience/story/body/0,1079,500152032-500186330-500782167-0,00.html
(earthsystems.org editor: Remember how fast a carbon tax went down the tubes
when Gore introduced it in the US? Be interesting to see how it goes in
France, a better chance of passing we think)
TH!NK DIFFERENT
Ford will announce today that it has created an independent brand, Th!nk,
that will develop and market low-pollution and electric-powered vehicles,
as well as battery-powered bicycles. Th!nk, named after an electric car
produced by a Norwegian company that Ford bought last year, will soon begin
selling bikes and an electric golf-cart-like vehicle over the Internet as
well as at dealerships. Ford has said it is committed to getting a
gas-electric hybrid sedan car to market by 2003. Meanwhile, the Sierra
Club on Friday gave its first-ever endorsement of a car to the Honda
Insight, a 70-mile-per-gallon, gas-electric hybrid that went on sale in the
U.S. in December.
straight to the source: USA Today, James R. Healey, 01.10.00
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000110/1830070s.htm
straight to the source: New York Times, Associated Press, 01.10.00
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/f/AP-Ford-Electric-Vehicles.html
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, John O'Dell, 01.08.00
http://www.latimes.com/business/20000108/t000002323.html
GLOBAL CLIMATE COALITION BENZ OVER
Saying there may be evidence of global warming, DaimlerChrysler withdrew
yesterday from the Global Climate Coalition, an industry group that argues
against the reality of climate change. Still, DaimlerChrysler -- like
Ford, which withdrew from the coalition last month -- said it will continue
to oppose the Kyoto climate change treaty, which would require
industrialized countries to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
DaimlerChrysler's decision is another major blow to the coalition, which is
comprised of more than 40 corporate members, including General Motors, oil
companies, and mining firms. Other high-level defectors from the industry
group have included British Petroleum, Shell Oil, and Dow Chemical.
Enviros applauded DaimlerChrysler's move. Dan Becker of the Sierra Club:
"It's the middle of a stampede to the door that will sound the death knell
of this very anti-environmental organization."
straight to the source: Detroit News, David Mastio, 01.07.00
http://detnews.com/2000/autos/0001/07/01070082.htm
see it only in Grist Magazine: Abandon ship! -- a cartoon about Ford's
defection from the GCC
http://www.gristmagazine.com/grist/imho/imho120799.stm
MORE POWER TO 'EM
Electricity deregulation is giving a boost to clean energy in Pennsylvania
-- about a third of state residents who have chosen a new electricity
supplier since the market opened have switched to renewable energy,
according to officials at Conectiv Energy, which operates windmills in the
state. Demand for wind energy has exceeded the company's supply, pushing
Conectiv to construct more wind turbines. Green Mountain Energy recently
broke ground on a $10 million wind farm in the state, with eight turbines
that will produce enough electricity to power 2,500 homes. Last month,
Conectiv teamed up with the Clean Air Council to offer photovoltaic panels
free to Philadelphia-area schools, with the stipulation that the schools
would buy from Conectiv any additional power needed beyond what the solar
panels provide. This effort is helping to advance a federal program that
aims to install solar systems on one million rooftops in the U.S.
straight to the source: Philadelphia Inquirer, Wendy Tanaka, 01.06.00
http://www.phillynews.com/inquirer/2000/Jan/06/tech.life/POWER06.htm
A TREE GROWS IN BROOKLYN'S TRASH
The massive Fresh Kills landfill, where New York City has dumped its
garbage for 60 years, will be shut down two years from now, and city
officials are already daydreaming about making the land into a large city
park. The city's sanitation department has hired Steven Handel, a plant
ecologist at Rutgers University, to study the possibilities for restoring
the 3,000 acres into coastal plain woodlands and grasslands. Handel and
his students are concentrating on finding out what native plants can thrive
on the mounds of trash. With 6,000 landfills across the country all
eventually faced with the problem of what to do after closing, Handel is in
the forefront of a growing field in ecology.
straight to the source: New York Times, Anne Raver, 01.06.00
http://www.nytimes.com/library/home/010600ny-landfill.html
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>From EDF:
http://www.edf.org/
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ARE YOU RECEIVING TOO MANY CATALOGS?
With the holiday shopping season just behind us, it won't come as a
surprise that in 1998 the catalog industry produced more than 60 catalogs
for every man, woman, and child in the U.S. An Environmental Defense Fund
report suggests ways the industry -- and the rest of us -- can green up our
act.
http://www.edf.org/pubs/EDF-Letter/1999/Dec/a_catal.html
To start receiving your own copy of EDF DISPATCH, just fill in this simple
form on the web:
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