Global: Consequences of Animal Agriculture

Glen Merzer has a brilliant,unique style in presenting the facts. Here is a brief podcast re the climate crisis that we have caused, and how to fix it. (For future reference, I keep the "Real Truth About Health" feed in the sidebar to my blog under "A Few More Favorite Feeds)

Global cities: Crown Volume of Urban Trees, Public Health, & Low Income Housing

Forest & Cedar Park, Bellingham WA

As is often the case, the healthiest approach also makes economic sense.

Quoting Dr. Nadina Galle, "...a street with fewer trees but larger crowns is better for your health. Ecologically, it adds up. Health and well-being-wise, it checks out. But the economics make sense too." In her blog post "Smart New Ways to Protect Wise Old Trees" Dr. Galle explains a few important points in urban forest caretaking during these anxious times. She outlines exciting developments in counting, measuring, mapping trees and how LIDAR sensors even help quantify crown volume.

https://www.nadinagalle.com/blog/smart-new-ways-to-protect-wise-old-trees

Meanwhile, on the same day, I noticed Treehugger's great article on the importance of greenery in people's everyday lives.  While this topic has been in the general press lately, I am not sure that governing bodies and citizenry will take it to heart. Biophilia, restoration, and similar nature topics warrant a whole lot of attention from schools, community leaders, property owners and corporations. Those actions which slow climate destruction also benefit people's health and well-being.

https://www.treehugger.com/how-biophilia-can-improve-your-life-4868182

I receive a Google alerts on the topic "Low Income Housing Tax Credit" (LIHTC). This is a category of housing which many people have benefited from in my region. I like to observe the trends and learn a bit about what may be on the horizon. There have been many articles in the general press about this topic too. The thriving LIHTC construction industry this year seems to be accelerating. The program is attractive to both developers and governments. One article for example that was cited is:  "Bid in Congress to expand low-income housing tax credit gains support"

https://www.nhbr.com/bid-in-congress-to-expand-low-income-housing-tax-credit-gains-support/

Many old trees are removed in favor of big construction projects. Recent housing designs tend to be block buildings without greenery or lush public parks nearby. It would be wise to follow in the steps of cities and other groups who are developing sites that are simultaneously lucrative for investors, healthful for residents of all ages, and mindful of the irreplaceable value to all of us of the natural world.

Tibet & Earth: Please help Lobsang Yangtso PhD & her team get to #COP27

I live thanks to water from Mt Baker (per Wikipedia "Mount Baker, also known as Koma Kulshan or simply Kulshan, is a 10,781 ft active glacier-covered andesitic stratovolcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc and the North Cascades of Washington in the United States.Wikipedia).  Many people worldwide and wildlife are similarly graced with such natural wonders. Our leaders should immediately put a stop to the accelerating world temperatures or else we are finished. Please help Lobsang and her team get to COP27 in Egypt if you can. For a bit of information about the glaciers of Mt. Baker, please see the May 2020 article Mt. Baker Glaciers are Disappearing by Clara Deck in Whatcom Watch. 

----- Forwarded message ----
From: Allison Johnson, SumOfUs <us@sumofus.org>
Date: Thu, Nov 3, 2022 at 2:27 AM
Subject: Re: Lobsang Yangtso
To: 

In Tibet, ice is melting 3x faster than anywhere else. ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

We helped Lobsang last year -- can you help do it again and make sure Tibet has a voice at the world's most important climate summit? If you've saved your payment information with SumOfUs, your donation will go through immediately: Donate $4Donate another amount Lobsang Yangtso escaped from Tibet by climbing over the Himalayas when she was just 9 years old. Today, she's an environment and climate crisis expert with a Ph.D. And she's terrified about what is happening in her Tibetan homeland, where ice is melting 3x faster than anywhere else on the planet. As home to a glacier that provides water for 1 in every 5 people on Earth...we should all be terrified. Lobsang wants to sound the alarm at the critical COP27 climate conference in Egypt, just a week away. But the high cost of attending means she and other front-line activists and experts are scrambling to ensure they can take part -- leaving the fossil fuel lobby to control the narrative and stop real action. We can change that -- if thousands of us chip in, our community can send Lobsang to meet our leaders...and fund campaigning for real climate impact at the conference and beyond. Can you chip in to help? If you've saved your payment information with SumOfUs, your donation will go through immediately: Donate $4Donate another amount The world's biggest oil and gas companies will descend on COP27 in an all-out offensive to protect their profits. Their plan is to exploit the EU energy crisis to lock in gas as a path forward instead of actual clean energy. And if they succeed, it will mean we continue down our currently catastrophic pathway to 2.5+ degrees of heating. Imagine what it would mean for the next generation. The good news is we know what we have to do to win: centre the stories of those on the front lines of climate disaster to show world leaders that the cost of inaction is just too high. But a combination of travel costs and visa complexities makes it very tough for the people we most need at the table to get there. Lobsang knows exactly what is happening to the environment in Tibet and has witnessed firsthand the impact of the climate crisis in this fragile and vital land. If we're going to have a shot at taking on the massive oil and gas lobby, we need voices like Lobsang's at COP27. Can you give just a small amount to send Lobsang and her team to Egypt? If you've saved your payment information with SumOfUs, your donation will go through immediately: Donate $4Donate another amount The threats we face are a matter of life or death. If we don't slam the brakes on runaway climate change, our future is extreme weather, food shortages, and millions displaced. The next few months will decide if we succeed or fail, but to win we need to centre the voices of the communities with everything at stake. The SumOfUs community has come together time and time again to stand in solidarity with communities risking everything to change the world -- from the Indigenous peoples of the Amazon to Bangladeshi labour organisers to communities across the globe taking on corporate power. We even helped Lobsang attend last year's climate conference. Let's do it again to save the planet we all call home. Thanks for all that you do, Allison, Sondhya and the SumOfUs team More information: Cop27 climate summit: window for avoiding catastrophe is closing fast, The Guardian. 30 October 2022. Why are the glaciers in southeast Tibet melting so fast?, Phys.org. 08 September 2022.

SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.

Everywhere: Using Rodenticide is Bonkers

I first became aware of the hazards of rodenticide in the 90s. It is a nationwide problem serving only to make money for exterminators.  Poison may be touched by children and vandals, transported by rat or other victims to countless spots far from the bait box, and cruelly impact more than one creature or one species. I hope readers can examine the issue and share their findings with others in their networks. 

Bald eagles (such as the ones who built the vacant nest in the photo) feed mostly on fish, but will prey on a wide variety of other lives as well - marine life, reptiles, amphibians, small mammals, and other birds. I have witnessed an eagle capture a squirrel and another time a duck. They are known to eat rats too. I have seen a rat enter a pile of metal rails (can be seen in the photograph) below the eagles nest near where I live and another time I saw one who was traveling through rocks at Shell Beach on Bellingham Bay. Both times the rat eyed me too as they passed by, and I must confess, each brought to mind Walt Disney's beloved characters Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. Maybe what I saw were big chubby mice, but it doesn't matter which species is being targeted - it is counterproductive and nasty.

Have you heard of the organization Raptors are the Solution? It is a very active educational charity spreading the message about the frightening ramifications of rodenticides. Their material can be freely downloaded and shared with schools, governmental agencies, service clubs, businesses, Chambers of Commerce, and so on. 

Rats, like all elements in ecosystems, provide vital functions in the environment. Besides cleaning up natural matter, they are food for owls, hawks, eagles, raccoons and other critters. Turkey vultures provide cleanups of deceased rats and other carrion. There is a family of Turkey vultures in the natural "rain garden" next door.

When a rat consumes rat bait he or she will die a slow and painful death. As the rodenticide in a bait box gets depleted the contract with an exterminator covers refills. We have all been duped by slick salesmen but in these cases property managers are becoming accomplices in animal cruelty. And the rat population size will stay about the same until humans deal with the messes they make. Health hazards to human populations are created by humans' foul messes. 

Meanwhile raptors, owls and others who ingested a dead or dying rat will decline in health and may gradually succumb to the poison they ingested from one or more affected rats. I was told there are bobcats in the critical areas too; they are also vulnerable to the lethal effects of dead or dying poisoned rodents. Any organism in the food web is affected. Dying of rodenticide is a far-reaching, human-made, unnecessary tragedy.  It is simply mean, self-defeating and unfair to poison wildlife.

Not only are bait boxes a scam and ineffective in solving what the buyer wants to solve, they are likely to be incorrectly placed and not monitored at all. 

Depending on the locale, citizens' attitudes, and enforcement of garbage regulations, it can be glaringly obvious when humans are providing attractants to rats in the form of illegal dumping and litter. When humans fail to keep their premises tidy, they are likely to be providing places for rats to take shelter, i.e., harborage. 

Sealing leaks or installing wire mesh screens and grates are a few ways to block access by rats who are interested foraging and/or sheltering in human hangouts. It is entirely effective to allow the natural landscape to serve the purpose of rat shelter as it is meant to. Keeping food scraps and other debris picked up and properly disposed of is important in discouraging rodents from entering  office buildings, shops, warehouses, factories and human housing.

Birders, kids, and other naturally caring individuals do not want wildlife treated viciously. It is important to cause no harm, raise awareness, expose the scam, and spread the word about preserving nature's abundance and self-cleaning processes.

The hateful approach to rats in the environment that has been going on for years is ubiquitous. Quite like the nonsense that crime can be prevented by pulling out landscaping. Since nature renders vital life support for all of us we should be accommodating to all facets of nature as nature is to us. It would be fantastic if people spoke up and caused rodenticide hazards to be  eliminated ASAP.

Indiana/Kentucky border USA & beyond: Tens of thousands of confined birds euthanized and composted due to incidents of avian flu

image source: pixnio.com

How many media outlets will even inform their readers about the latest avian flu outbreaks in the USA? The links below from Reuters and APHIS touch on the current news. Thousands #turkeys have been recently killed (I believe the jargon is "depopulated") and composted in Indiana, as well as thousands of chickens in the vicinity.  It is highly contagious among fowl - not people - so the routine is to euthanize to prevent spread.  There were huge euthanization actions taken in previous years, e.g., 2020, 2016, and 2015 (search TheGuardian.com and other sources for details). The financial loss as a result of outbreaks, protocols, and loss of "product" is significant. It would be much easier on the heart, environment and economy to raise vegetables.

Photos which press may include in such cases sometimes portray single "farmed" birds in the great outdoors or some other unrealistic scene. Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) are horror shows. And that is just the USA. It is likely unimaginably worse in some other countries. This is a hellish existence for turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, pigs, cows, minks and many other species. For more information on CAFOs see AnimalEquality ( https://animalequality.org/news/why-factory-farming-is-the-largest-cause-of-animal-abuse-in-history/ ),  the Center for Disease Control, and the Rachel Carson Institute for starters. 

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/us-confirms-highly-pathogenic-bird-flu-indiana-turkey-farm-2022-02-09/

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/ourfocus/animalhealth/animal-disease-information/avian/avian-influenza/2022-hpai

#Europe & beyond: Fatal Blow to #Bees 🐝 ?

----- Forwarded message ----
From: Yasmin Aslam, SumOfUs <us@sumofus.org>
Date: Tue, Dec 21, 2021, 2:46 AM
Subject: Fatal blow to bees?
To: 

The EU just reapproved this bee-killer for another 7 years! ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ 

Billions of bees are dying -- and the EU just reapproved a bee-killing pesticide for another 7 years...even though it pledged to phase it out! Over 20% of bee species threatened with extinction are native to Europe -- and it's frightening to imagine the devastation another 7 years of this pesticide would cause. But thanks to a new law, people like you and me and NGOs can now challenge pesticide approvals in the EU's supreme court. If we win, we could force the EU to ban this pesticide for good. Our partners at PAN Europe are ready to go to court -- but they need money to fund the case. If we all chip in just a small amount, we can power their case and keep campaigning to save the bees, before it's too late. Can you chip in to save the bees? If you've saved your payment information with SumOfUs, your donation will go through immediately. Donate $4 nowDonate another amount Endocrine disrupting pesticides like the newly reapproved #Cypermethrin are no joke. They're not only toxic to bees, but they can disrupt human hormones too, creating significant health risks. And by getting into the food we eat, the water we drink, and even the air we breathe, they can also impact unborn fetuses! The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) couldn't have been clearer about the danger of Cypermethrin. They went so far as to say that NO mitigation measures could make it safe to bees. But instead of taking that advice, EU Member States listened to the mighty pesticide lobby and voted to reapprove this poison. Our case is simple. The EFSA made a clear recommendation that the EU Commission wanted to follow, but Member States -- and the pesticide lobby! -- forced the hand of the Commission to do something illegal. And now thanks to a new law, we can file a suit with the EU's highest courts and do something about it. PAN Europe knows how to win cases like this, and have time and time again. But they need cash to file the lawsuit and cover legal fees for the long battle ahead. Can we count on you to chip in to help save the bees? If you've saved your payment information with SumOfUs, your donation will go through immediately. Donate $4 nowDonate another amount[ Together we've gone toe-to-toe against pesticide giants in court before -- and won. Let's do it again. Thanks for all that you do, Yasmin, Allison and the team at SumOfUs More information: Disregarding the European Green Deal, Two Endocrine Disrupting Pesticides Reapproved: Will the Court of Justice Fix This? PAN. 10 November 2021.   European Red List. EU Commission.   Bees may take generations to recover from one exposure to insecticides. The Guardian. 22 November 2021.   Toxic impact of pesticides on bees has doubled, study shows. The Guardian. 01 April 2021.

SumOfUs is a worldwide movement of people like you, working together to hold corporations accountable for their actions and forge a new, sustainable path for our global economy.

 

Planet: Emergency in the Heavens 🛰📡🛰

The following link goes to a message from Arthur Firstenberg, scientist and author of The Invisible Rainbow, regarding actual and potential serious environmental and public health harm from cell phone electromagnetic frequency radiation and plastic. Mr. Firstenberg is one of the first people to have sounded the alarm. Read more at the website for The Cellular Phone Task Force (www.cellphonetaskforce.org). 

Those in power should worry about how many life forms will be killed and species wiped out when it is all over. The people who govern the city where I live have been advised; regardless, the big tech companies and federal/state government agencies still seem to have we the people in a dark grip. We can stop using cell phones and also sue, but systemic change is vital to life on the planet. Please follow the experts, share info with legislators, sign appeals, donate if you wish to promote in that way, and choose life. 

https://tinyurl.com/y5og6sfa

🐳🐦🐛🍁

USA & beyond: Fracking. Why Are Cows' Tails Dropping Off?

This important article originally appeared in The Nation, and is linked here from Truthout. We are poisoning ourselves, the planet, and the other animals by allowing the proliferation of pollutants, contaminants, and poisons by people in the gas business doing fracking.
Why Are Cows Tails Dropping Off?

Ranch cow that has lost tail, one of many ailments found in cattle following hydrofracturing of the Bakken Shale in North Dakota  (photo source: Jacki Schilke, Ranch owner who also suffers ailments)

Please Subscribe to this blog by Email, View in your Reader or NetworkedBlogs, Like my Page www.Facebook.com/lizardmarsh, or Follow twitter.com/lizardmarsh

USA & beyond: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

In one year, three times as much rubbish is dumped into the world's oceans as the weight of fish caught.

A single quart of motor oil can contaminate up to 2 million gallons of drinking water.

Balloons, warfare, people overpopulating themselves, sewage, noise, sonar, airplane contrails are all examples of pollution and contamination.

One of the many, many species that is suffering greatly is the Manatee. Join the PEER campaign to help protect the Manatees! PEER stands for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility http://www.peer.org/campaigns/wildlife/manatees/index.php

Whether you're a public employee, an activist or a person interested in these issues, please sound the horn! Notifying your friends of the PEER's work is greatly appreciated. If you have any questions, please contact them.

Trees

I am a tree planting partner of the Billion Tree Campaign. Everybody can do something :-)

From: Lantern Books Blog <laura@lanternmedia.net>

Date: Thu, May 31, 2012 at 5:19 AM
Subject: Lantern Books Blog

Lantern Books Blog

---

Planting a Tree for Life Posted: 31 May 2012 04:00 AM PDT David Kidd: He's never met a seedling he didn't want to plant On the face of it, Wangari Maathai and David Kidd might not seem to have much in common. One is a former Vietnam veteran and Transcendental Meditator; the other was a social justice and women's rights campaigner from Kenya who was the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Yet both had an abiding passion and concern. They both feared the collapse of the world's ecosystems and the advent of global warming, and both found an answer to it: They planted trees. Millions of them. David Kidd planted twelve million trees throughout the United States as part of his American Free Tree program. Wangari Maathai planted forty million trees throughout Kenya with the Green Belt Movement, her grassroots environmental and civil rights movement that not only reforested whole swathes of her country but was instrumental in overturning the corrupt regime that ruled Kenya for twenty-five years. Kidd and Maathai were both Arbor Day Foundation award winners and both understood that planting trees didn't have to be left to the experts. Anyone could do it. They also knew that something happens when you plant a tree: it stimulates a reverence for, and love of, the planet that can drive not only you, but everyone involved with your ideals, to work harder for their community, their county, their state, their country, and beyond that for the planet as a whole. You can visit each of their websites, linked with their names at the beginning of this entry, to support their work. In Growing America, David Kidd reveals the secrets behind effective community organizing and how to transform the desolate and polluted corners, medians, and sidings of the US into green and productive land. In The Green Belt Movement, Wangari Maathai reveals the struggles and triumphs of her campaign to reforest Kenya and how you can start your own Green Belt Movement campaign. Both books save trees as well. They are published, like many Lantern Books, on at least fifty percent post-consumer waste, chlorine-free, recycled paper! For more on World Environment Day, click here. Related Titles The Practical Peacemaker How Simple Living Makes Peace Possible Kate Lawrence

Green Monasticism A Buddhist-Catholic Response to an Environmental Calamity Prof. Donald W. Mitchell, William Skudlarek, O.S.B.

Change of Heart What Psychology Can Teach Us About Spreading Social Change Nick Cooney

Growing America The Story of a Grassroots Activist, A Call for Renewed Civic Action David A. Kidd

The Green Belt Movement Sharing the Approach and the Experience Wangari Maathai

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4/28

Join or start a polar bear uprising in your area

From: Center for Biological Diversity <bioactivist@biologicaldiversity.org>

Date: Fri, Apr 13, 2012 at 11:58 AM

Subject: April 28: Join a Polar Bear Uprising, Save the Arctic

You're Invited to Join a Polar Bear Uprising – Saturday, April 28 Dear Liz, Shell's drill ships are on their way to the Arctic Ocean right now to begin the most aggressive offshore Arctic-drilling program in history, endangering polar bears and their habitat -- unless President Barack Obama decides to stop them in the next few weeks. The clock's ticking, and if we want to get the president's attention -- before it's too late -- we have to get creative. Together with the Sierra Club and other allies, we're holding polar bear uprisings where crowds dressed in white with polar bear masks will dance, in unison, to bring massive public attention to the Arctic's plight. Across the country on Saturday, April 28 we'll set a world record for the most dancing polar bears and, united, we'll save the Arctic. Think of them as flash mobs with a purpose. Join or start a polar bear uprising in your area. It's fun and easy: We'll give you instructions, polar bear masks and all the help you need.  Please join the nationwide movement April 28 and sign up for a polar bear uprising -- and bring all your friends. Also, whether or not you can come to an event, sign our petition to protect the Arctic, then share it on Facebook and join a million voices against Arctic drilling. Donate now to support our work. For more information, please visit our Web page for Arctic oil development. Center for Biological Diversity P.O. Box 710 Tucson, AZ 85702 1-866-357-3349

Rhinoceros

Katie Falkenberg, For The Times / February 18, 2012

Federal wildlife investigators crack rhinoceros horn smuggling ring in Calif, other states

By Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — Federal wildlife investigators have broken up an international smuggling ring that trafficked in sawed-off rhinoceros horns for buyers in Vietnam and China who believe they cure cancer, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
Read more...

Enbridge

Sadly, the Harper government is in favor of Enbridge and the Northern Gateway project. Environmentalists, First Nations, and Spirit Bears are not. 

Save the Spirit Bear Coast: Take Action!: Save BioGems

Click for 1/12/12 Globe&Mail news story re current Enbridge leak in the Gulf of Mexico:

Enbridge reports leak from U.S. pipeline as Northern Gateway hearings begin

Map of the Northern Gateway pipeline (http://www.theglobeandmail.com)

 

Save the Spirit Bear Coast: Take Action!: Save BioGems

Save the Spirit Bear Coast!

Tell Enbridge to Abandon its Proposed Pipeline

The Northern Gateway tar sands pipeline, proposed by energy giant Enbridge, would transport the world’s dirtiest oil from the Alberta tar sands to British Columbia’s Spirit Bear Coast. Tell Enbridge to respect the wishes of the First Nations who oppose the pipeline and to withdraw its application for this destructive project.

 

For earlier background see also:

http://www.all-creatures.org/alert/alert-20111101.html

 

 

Please Subscribe by Email, View in your Reader or NetworkedBlogs, Like my Page www.Facebook.com/lizardmarsh, or Follow twitter.com/lizardmarsh

Keystone

From: Will Bates - 350.org <organizers@350.org>
Date: Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 1:44 PM
Subject: BREAKING: Bill McKibben sent to jail -- and how you can help.
To: Liz Marshall <lizardmarsh@gmail.com>

Dear friends,

We thought you should know that as of today over 150 people, including 350.org co-founder Bill McKibben, have been arrested at the White House.
Bill is just getting out of prison after spending 48 hours in a tiny cell -- and here in DC spirits are high and resolve is strengthening with each passing hour. For the past three days, large groups of Americans have joined a non-violent civil disobedience action at the White House. The goal is to send President Obama a simple message: "Stop the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline." These protests will continue over the next two weeks -- and what the activists in DC need more than anything is the knowledge that there is a massive global movement backing them up.

There are three ways that you can stand in solidarity from wherever you are:

1. Sign the petition to President Obama to reject the Keystone XL Pipeline -- we've already rocketed past our initial goal of 35,000 signatures and are hoping to add as many names as possible before we deliver it to White House officials on September 3rd.

2. Send in a solidarity message or photo to the people taking action at the White House.

3. Take part in Moving Planet -- a worldwide climate rally on September 24 -- and move beyond all fossil fuels in the loudest, most beautiful way possible. 

You probably know that building the Keystone XL pipeline is a terrible idea. The oil it will carry from Canada's tar sands will travel all the way from northern Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico. Think: oil spilling all over America's heartland. Think: way more CO2 all over the atmosphere, since the tar sands are among the most carbon-intensive of all the fossil fuels. With so many strikes against the Keystone pipeline, it's understandable that folks are so fired up and willing to put their bodies on the line to stop it. 350.org isn't organizing the action in DC, but there's a separate website to find out more about the two weeks of daily sit-ins at the White House (today was just day #3).
When nominated for President in 2008, Barack Obama promised that his administration would ensure "the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal." It's not a protest I feel like I've been watching unfold here in DC -- but a big and beautiful reminder of that vision.
With rising hope from DC,
Will Bates for the 350.org Team
P.S. Our friends in DC just made an beautiful video about Day 1 of the action in DC -- click here to watch it and be sure to share it with your friends on Twitter and Facebook.
P.P.S. For an extra dose of inspiration, check out a few of my favorite photos from the protest:

Standing Strong on Day 3! (Photo Credit: Josh Lopez) 

Youth Keep Spirits High as Arrests Begin (Photo Credit: Shadia Fayne Wood)

 

Bill Mckibben Speaks to Tar Sands Action Participants (Photo Credit: Shadia Fayne Wood)

  

Media Take Opportunity To Capture A Piece of The Action at the White House Protest of Keystone XL (Photo Credit: Josh Lopez)

---

350.org is building a global grassroots movement to solve the climate crisis. Our online campaigns, grassroots organizing, and mass public actions are led from the bottom up by thousands of volunteer organizers in over 188 countries. You can join 350.org on Facebook by becoming a fan of our page at facebook.com/350org and follow us on twitter by visiting twitter.com/350. To join our list (maybe a friend forwarded you this e-mail) visit www.350.org/signup. To support our work, donate securely online at 350.org/donate.

What is 350? 350 is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide in our atmosphere. Scientists measure carbon dioxide in "parts per million" (ppm), so 350ppm is the number humanity needs to get below as soon as possible to avoid runaway climate change. To get there, we need a different kind of PPM–a "people powered movement" that is made of people like you in every corner of the planet.

--

Eaglet

David Hancock, Wildlife Biologist

Please share the website for the Hancock Wildlife Foundation which is:  http://hancockwildlife.org/.

http://animals.m-y-d-s.com/

Thank goodness for David Hancock, the Hancock Wildlife Center, and all people interested and active in saving five-week-old Flyer the Eaglet who was entangled in fishing line. All litterbugs should be prosecuted and penalized! There is no excuse to leave fishing line or any other debris on the land, in streams, or in oceans. Go vegan!  

Click for stories re the good news for Flyer:

eaglet - Google News

Gobies

There needs to be more international education about vegan lifestyles!
Please vote for the Wildlife Conservation Society project at the Disney site!
The following link is to a newsletter published by the Wildlife Conservation Society

reporting on PEOPLE EATING WILDLIFE in violation of prohibitions against it. Also featured is an exciting Goby Guarantee WCS project in Fiji which is entered into the competition for $100K from the Disney Friends for Change, facts surrounding the tragic dilemma that half of all turtle and tortoise species are at risk of extinction, and a report of a Cheetah rescued from increasing illegal wildlife trading in Tanzania. Please note the link to the Disney site that is given in the newsletter's story of the Goby Guarantee project and VOTE. Thank you!

Fiji's Freshwater Gobies

Duwamish

Pacific NW | Reclaiming the Duwamish River | Seattle Times Newspaper

planet

http://www.earthhour.org/Homepage.aspx

10-10-10

10/11/10: Pictures are at: visit 350.org
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Join LCV as we celebrate climate solutions this Sunday, October 10^th (10/10/10)

Visit our partners at 350.org to find an event near you.>>

Alumina

10/9/10: Calamity upon calamity: article from Associated Press


The following paragraph is from the October 7th UN Wire (click here for entire SmartBrief)

• Poisonous sludge reaches Danube Hungarians were working to stem a flow of toxic sludge that has begun to spill into the Danube in what Greenpeace is characterizing as "one of the top three environmental disasters in Europe in the last 20 or 30 years." The leak from a reservoir at an aluminum plant already has resulted in the deaths of four and injuries to hundreds, and notably has killed all the fish in the Marcal river. The New York Times (free registration) (10/7) , BBC (10/7)

10/7/10: The toxic sludge has reached the southern fork of the Danube River.  Hungary has opened a criminal investigation of the disaster.
The Wiki for this current event is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ajka_alumina_plant_accident

 

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLDE6941MT20101005

"Oct 5 (Reuters) - Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Tuesday a sludge spill in western Hungary that killed four people may have been caused by human error and there was no sign of it being due to natural causes. Orban also told a news conference there was no threat of radiation in the area affected by the flood of red mud from the reservoir of an alumina factory, owned by MAL Zrt.
Hungary declared a state of emergency in three counties earlier on Tuesday, the day after a torrent of toxic red sludge tore through local villages, killing four people and injuring about 120."