Archive for the 'Environment' Category
Some U.S. Farms Outsourced to Mexico
May 27th, 2008Via: AP: Antonio Martinez used to pay smugglers thousands of dollars each year to sneak him into the United States to manage farm crews. Now, the work comes to him. Supervising lettuce pickers in central Mexico, Martinez earns just half of the $1,100 a week he made in the U.S. But the job has its […]
Every Adult in Britain Should be Forced to Carry ‘Carbon Ration Cards’
May 27th, 2008I have an idea about this carbon sinning nonsense. It goes back to Escape from Freedom by Erich Fromm. In short: Because modern society destroys human identity, mindless conformity to all order of fascist, technocratic prison policies gives the masses a sense of belonging to something. Religions worked for a while. The vengeful sky god […]
Teenage Student Isolates Microbe that Breaks Down Plastic
May 26th, 2008This is incredible. Full text follows. Via: TheRecord: Getting ordinary plastic bags to rot away like banana peels would be an environmental dream come true. After all, we produce 500 billion a year worldwide and they take up to 1,000 years to decompose. They take up space in landfills, litter our streets and parks, pollute […]
Former CIA Chief Puts Terrorism and Global Warming on Even Par
May 22nd, 2008Occasionally, when I get irritated, I write rants—that usually contain jokes… That eventually come true. For example, when I joked about the upcoming War on Global Warming… Here’s part of a comment that I wrote on, “Green Confessions” to Help Eco-Sinners Find Forgiveness: Do you notice how there’s some form of pointless distraction for every […]
“Green” City to Rise in the Desert
May 6th, 2008Oh sure. Via: TheStar: A new kind of oasis is forming in the middle of the desert. In one of the harshest environments imaginable, where temperatures regularly rise to 50C and sandstorms can limit visibility to a few metres, construction has begun on what will be the greenest city on Earth. Abu Dhabi is developing […]
Burma Cyclone Death Toll Exceeds 22,000
May 6th, 2008Via: CNN: A Myanmar government radio station said Tuesday that more than 22,000 people are dead and 41,000 missing after the catastrophic cyclone that battered the country. A news broadcast on the state-run station said Tuesday that 22,464 people had been confirmed dead after Cyclone Nargis. The broadcast added that 41,000 more were missing. The […]
Hundreds of Ducks Dead After Landing in Pond Owned by Canadian Oil Sands Company
May 1st, 2008Via: IHT: Alberta’s environment minister said the provincial government’s efforts to allay environmental concerns about its booming oil sands industry will be hurt by the deaths of hundreds of ducks that landed on a pond filled with toxic waste. Environment Minister Rob Renner concedes the deaths have put a dent in Alberta’s efforts to counter […]
What’s that Smell? A Whiff of Europe
April 19th, 2008When I first read about this, I thought that it might be the sweet musk of corruption emanating from banks in The City of London. Via: Guardian: The Met Office described it as an “atmospheric aroma”. But those who caught a whiff of the foul smell hanging around southern England yesterday used rather less dainty […]
New Zealand to Accelerate the Exportation of Its Remaining Top Soil to China
April 8th, 2008Kiwis will get even cheaper jandles in return. Bargains. Sorry, I don’t feel like looking at this one squarely in the eyes right now. It’s too grim, and too close to home. Via: New Zealand Herald: Helen Clark said the free trade agreement opened the door for New Zealand business to step up the pace […]
Weather Engineering in China
April 7th, 2008Via: MIT Technology Review: To prevent rain over the roofless 91,000-seat Olympic stadium that Beijing natives have nicknamed the Bird’s Nest, the city’s branch of the national Weather Modification Office–itself a department of the larger China Meteorological Administration–has prepared a three-stage program for the 2008 Olympics this August. First, Beijing’s Weather Modification Office will track […]
