November 17, 2008 :: Denver Lessing :: No Comment Yet
The cloud of soot and smog choking India and China and their neighbors is worsening. The massive brown cloud hovering over Asia now poses serious long-term health risks and environmental dangers to much of the continent, according to a new UN report. The world’s largest pollution phenomenon already drastically reduces the amount of daylight reaching ground level in many Chinese cities, and there is concern the sunlight-blocking effects could impede agricultural production.
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July 18, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: 4 Comments
The former vice president of the United States, Al Gore, yesterday announced an ambitious goal, which he says the nation can meet, of transitioning its entire domestic energy production to clean resources by 2018. The speech marks a major moment in the process of transition to the green technology boom, which will be the next step in the ongoing economic development of the United States and the world. Gore, however, warned that failing to meet the challenge to date means “the United States of America as we know it is at risk”.
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July 17, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
Former US vice-president Al Gore is calling on the nation to marshal its resources and divorce itself from the combustible fuels economy. Gore says the US can produce all its energy requirements from renewable resources within 10 years, if action is taken. The bold initiative is designed to drive debate on the topic and move discussions about how to deal with high fuel prices toward the new opportunity they provide for funding renewable infrastructure development.
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July 14, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
The chairman of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Stephen Johnson, says the Clean Air Act is “ill-suited” to fighting the greenhouse effect, and that Congress should pass laws mandating the regulation of carbon emissions, with global warming in mind. The move may lead to a more comprehensive regulatory regime, but as the Guardian newspaper notes: “Last year’s Massachusetts v. EPA Supreme Court ruling had found that greenhouse gases can be regulated under the U.S. Clean Air Act. The decision pressured the EPA to reconsider its refusal to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from new cars and trucks.”
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July 9, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
After many accusations and much speculation, a US government whistleblower has said the vice-president ordered testimony altered to hide findings of the negative impact of carbon emissions and the threats from global warming. VP Cheney is accused of demanding that official EPA findings be altered and that sworn testimony before Congress be “redacted” to exclude […]
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April 9, 2008 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
9 April :: Reuters reporting: “The self-described mastermind of the September 11 attacks on New York City and the Pentagon [Khalid Sheikh Mohammed] has been assigned a U.S. military lawyer to defend him in the Guantanamo war court, where he could face execution if convicted, The Miami Herald reported”… Famed Harry’s Bar, owned by Cipriani […]
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March 23, 2008 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
23 March :: US military has reported 4,000th soldier killed in Iraq conflict; BBC reports 4 US soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Baghdad, “In Baghdad, the heavily-fortified Green Zone suffered sustained mortar and rocket fire, which killed at least 15 civilians”… Dr. James Hansen, NASA’s leading climate scientist, says both Republican […]
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March 13, 2008 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
TheHotSpring.com :: The emergence of ecological economic trends, methods and industries, means that a wave of job creation could be the stabilizing factor which helps American industry recover both momentum and public appeal, potentially helping to ease pricing pressures and banks’ concerns about lending to individuals and small and medium-sized businesses.
An industry-environmentalist joint conference in […]
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February 11, 2008 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
At a meeting of European scientists, in Stockholm, Sweden, the man who coined the term ‘anthropocene’ to describe the new geological epoch in which human influence dominates natural processes, announced that the term has gained acceptance in a growing number of fields. The real import of the term, and of its increasing relevance to what science is showing about the effects of human civilization on the environment, globally, is that ecological information is increasingly vital to implementing human ambitions in a responsible and sustainable way.
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February 4, 2008 :: admin :: 14 Comments
The global climate change crisis may soon enter a new phase in terms of human society’s reaction, efforts to curb harmful activities that exacerbate the problem. The United States Dept. of the Interior is considering a proposal to list the polar bear as the first species facing extinction specifically as a side-effect of global warming.
The […]
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December 22, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
22 December :: The two chairmen of the investigatory commission for the 9/11 attacks, Lee Hamilton and Thomas Kean, have said their review of classified evidence suggests the CIA made a concerted effort to “impede” the inquiry by hiding evidence of abusive interrogation techniques; according to Reuters, “Among statements that the memo suggested were misleading […]
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December 16, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
The UN climate change policy conference on the Indonesian island of Bali has ended in dramatic fashion, as EU and US delegates found themselves in a war of words over differences in how to reach long-term reductions in “heat-trapping gases” emitted by human societies, essentially: carbon emissions.
The International Herald Tribune reports on the confrontations […]
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December 16, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
16 December :: Bali climate change conference goes into extra day, as EU, US reach agreement on language for roadmap to global emissions rules; CNN reports “The European Union and the United States reached agreement on a compromise for a global warming pact Saturday, setting the stage for intense negotiations in the next two years […]
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December 14, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
14 December :: New Jersey Assembly has passed death penalty ban, Gov. Corzine says he may sign within one week; 8 men currently awaiting execution will have sentences commuted to life in prison, observers comment some states may begin to follow suit, after DNA evidence has demonstrated high rate of erroneous convictions… The Bush admin. […]
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December 9, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
9 December :: LA Times reporting “The Justice Department and the CIA’s Office of the Inspector General said Saturday that they had launched a joint inquiry into the CIA’s controversial destruction of videotaped interrogations of two Al Qaeda suspects”; unnamed staffer for Senate judiciary committee said probes could lead to charges of obstruction of justice, […]
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December 7, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
6 December :: UN says US Senate plan to cap greenhouse gas emissions is step in right direction for US, for public health worldwide, in effort to reduce climate change impact; after new Australian gov’t ratified Kyoto Protocol at Bali talks, US is only developed nation not signed on, while Bush admin. representative at Bali […]
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December 4, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
4 December :: Revised US National Intelligence Estimate says Iran halted nuclear weapons program in 2003, no current work being done to pursue bomb; NIE is consensus report from 16 US intelligence agencies, current analysis contradicts White House policy, as well as 2005 NIE citing Iran’s determination to build bomb; according to current NIE, Iran […]
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December 3, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
3 December :: With 54.5% of vote counted, Putin’s ‘United Russia’ party has reportedly gathered 62.9% of the vote, the Communist party a distant 2nd with 11.6%; NY Times reporting “Across Russia in recent weeks, members of opposition parties said they had been subjected to intense harassment from the authorities, and people who worked for […]
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December 3, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
TheHotSpring.com :: Between the years 2008 and 2020, we are likely to see a still unimaginably sweeping shift away from fossil fuels and high-contamination modes of powering our economy. The transition will have a political component, but will be driven mostly by cost concerns, resource scarcity, and public demand for cleaner air and responsible […]
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November 27, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
27 November :: 40 nations to gather at Annapolis summit for Mideast peace negotiations; Israel, Palestinian leaders express hope for progress on comprehensive peace deal, while Hamas leader, ex-Palestinian PM, Haniyeh, says the Palestinian people will not be bound by what his rival Abbas agrees to… French pres. Nicolas Sarkozy has urged calm as riots […]
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November 19, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
19 November :: Fmr UK PM Tony Blair, envoy for ‘Quartet’ —UN, US, EU, Russia— to Middle East, has proposed a sweeping economic regeneration, job-creation plan for Palestinian territories, to dissuade militancy, get territories on path to viable statehood, long-term peace; plan to include Jericho trade-park, a checkpoint-free Jordan-Jericho trade corridor, public works projects like […]
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November 18, 2007 :: J.E. Robertson :: No Comment Yet
Due to the science we already have, the laws we have to govern our own activity and to force government to act for the public health, we face the real possibility of being forced, in American courts, in the future, to pay for damage done to the most affected populations in other parts of the world, as a result of inaction by our government. And if not in court, then as a matter of the de facto urgencies of international political stability.
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November 12, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
12 November :: Judge Mukasey was sworn in Friday as US attorney general, after key senators said they were re-assured by his promises not to endorse any interrogation practices beyond the law… “A 4,000-year-old temple filled with murals has been unearthed on the northern coast of Peru, making it one of the oldest finds in […]
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November 3, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
3 November :: Senate subcommittee approves America’s Climate Security Act, legislation aimed at capping greenhouse gas emissions, now to be voted by full Environment and Public Works committee; bill touted as milestone in US climate policy; Sen. Lieberman has said it is the “Manhattan Project” for climate change that activists have long called for, bill […]
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October 24, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
24 October :: More than 500,000 Californians have been evacuated as wildfires blaze out of control, more than 1,000 structures destroyed; firefighters admit they cannot control the fires, can only hope at present to protect people; Gov. Schwarzenegger has warned the White House the fires are too vast to be dealth with by state agencies… […]
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October 14, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
Sentido.tv :: Can the world prepare to face the potential economic fallout from increasingly intense weather phenomena, prolonged heat waves, desertification, ice-melt and flooding? While there is no clear proof Hurricane Katrina was a direct result of climate change, hurricanes of such intensity will become increasingly frequent as Gulf waters warm; the aftermath […]
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October 14, 2007 :: admin :: One Comment
Climate change is no longer controversial; it has been accepted as scientific fact by a global consensus of researchers and policy makers, including the Bush White House, which resisted acknowledging human activities were a vital contributing factor, until recently. Now the Nobel committee selecting the Peace Prize laureate has raised the issue of warming posing a major international security crisis.
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October 12, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
12 October :: UN Security Council passes unanimous non-binding declaration that it “strongly deplores” the violence used by Burma’s military gov’t against peaceful demonstrators; statement also calls for release of “all political prisoner and remaining detainees”, as well as urging direct talks with opposition, pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, significant action to move Burma […]
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October 9, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
9 October :: The fabled ‘Northwest Passage’ through northern Canada was ice-free this summer for the first time in recorded history, and is being explored by a Canadian Coast Guard ice-breaker, whose journey will be far easier than any before through the glacial route; climate models had not foreseen such intense Arctic-wide ice-melt until one […]
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October 3, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
3 October :: Guardian newspaper reports Sarkozy campaign against immigrants has led to police “storming” private residences, people falling from balconies —at least one woman killed, one youth in coma—, new underground network of conscientious citizens hiding children to prevent parents’ deportation, estimated 20,000 have joined ‘new resistance’ to prevent rounding up of neighbors… Intense […]
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October 1, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
1 October :: US pres. George W. Bush has promised in a speech at his climate change conference in Washington, DC, the US “will do its part” to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce risk of dangers caused by human-induced climate change; critics continue to say his approach is designed to postpone any comprehensive global regime […]
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September 29, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
29 September :: 2 thousand gathered in Rangoon to call for end to military rule, bystanders applauding protesting students; US bars 3 dozen members of military gov’t, their families from travel to US, in response to mounting violence in Burma; pressure mounting as demonstrations thin, calls for general to cede power spread; CNN reports “British […]
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September 27, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
27 September :: Reports emerge from Rangoon military junta has raided monasteries in effort to end pro-democracy rallies; UN Security Council has urged regime to meet with special envoy, China says it views Burma crisis as “internal affair”; reports suggest 70 monks were abducted from one monastery alone by security forces; junta has warned demonstrators […]
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September 25, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
25 September :: UN Sec. Gen. Ban Ki-moon has called for concerted action to slow global warming, saying “I am convinced that climate change, and what we do about it, will define us, our era, and ultimately the global legacy we leave for future generations”… Discovery reports “Antarctica’s once fringe-thawing is moving well inland, say […]
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September 24, 2007 :: admin :: No Comment Yet
24 September :: Estimated 100,000 march in Rangoon (Yangon) to support Buddhist monks calling for end to military rule in Burma; some fear junta will impose another harsh crack-down… Iran pres. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said his nation does not need nuclear weapons and is not headed for war with US; news comes amid heightened tensions […]
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