Glacier2050

Ocean Acidification Changing Polar Waters Fastest

Photo via US Geological Survey

The impact of ocean acidification on sea life is becoming better understood in areas like coral reefs, where impacts like bleaching, altered shells of crustaceans, and even a Read the full story on TreeHugger

Grass Sofas are Big and Green

Image from trendhunter.com: Osterley Park

What could be nicer: a big green grass sofa, out in the sun, in front of a gorgeous country house. Leave it to the National Trust to arrange it. They have grown and installed ten couches in different countryside locales and towns to get people lazing around outside instead of in.

It's a good thing too because according to a study that they carried out, Brit's spend an average of 43 hours a week sitting around on their sofa, even in summer. It gets worse: in some places it's 50 t...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Rare Zebra/Donkey Hybrid Born at Wildlife Preserve

Photo via the Gainesville Times

They may be an unlikely pair, but just five days ago a zebra and donkey in Georgia welcomed into the world one very unique-looking baby girl -- a zedonk! Officials at the Chestatee Wildlife Preserve, where the cute little crossbred was born, are as surprised as anyone by the very rare coupling. It turns out, the zebra/donkey romance has been many years in the making, but somehow the duo managed to keep it a secret. "The ani...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Experts Dish on the Death of the Climate Bill

Photo via Foreign Policy

I've already done my fair share of helping to direct the blame at those who helped kill the climate bill (these 7 were responsible, by my reckoning). But I'm certainly not the only one weighing in on the sad squandering of America's best opportunity to reform our archaic, fossil fuel-reliant energy policy. Plenty of other folks are up in arms -- and some are don't care much at all. Here's what the 'experts' are saying...Read the full story on TreeHugger

"BP Spill Bill" Unveiled

Photo via Boston

Since comprehensive climate and energy reform has gone the way of the buffalo, it's time to look at the bills being rolled out in the Senate and House to tackle the BP spill. The Senate's measures are included in the limp 'energy package' they rolled out last week, and the House just unveiled its spill bill today. To be sure, this bill does a number of important things -- certainly noth...Read the full story on TreeHugger

We must protect England's green belts | Oliver Hilliam

The green belts that surround our cities prevent urban sprawl, offer value as farmland and store carbonAt last, we are finally hearing noises from the government which suggest an understanding that the natural environment should be valued for its intrinsic – and irreplaceable – benefits.The environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, is right to show concern for the "piecemeal degradation" of the countryside, which shows no sign of abating despite best efforts of the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) to create, and then defend, a democratic planning system which does not pit nature against development but seeks to represent the interests of both.One of her predecessors, David Miliband, in a speech to the CPRE in 2007, cited the need to avoid "a salami-slicing approach to land-use" where such piecemeal development is used to justify future development, where "we would soon discover that a magnificent national and international asset had been eroded to a sad remnant of land – and the argument for complete development would be unstoppable".This approach is unfortunate but depressingly familiar. This is why the jewels of land-use planning such as green belts and national parks are so important, and why they must remain sacrosanct, as pillars of any new approach to natural environmental protection.Many people are familiar with the sprawl experienced by Los Angeles in the last century. Had London grown at the same pace and density – and without the check of the metropolitan green belt from 1938 - it would have engulfed Oxford, with probably only a wedge of South Downs keeping it from merging with Brighton. Since CPRE's inauguration 84 years ago, we have seen a slowing of overt destruction of the countryside, replaced by a steady "nibbling away", as industry and commerce use their lobbying might and prey on the constant need for governments to be seen to deliver economic growth.Green belts don't just prevent sprawl – most UK towns and cities with a green belt have retained their unique character, and in the case of Bath, York and Oxford, a magnificent landscape setting – but have also saved acres of precious countryside for farming and leisure. The joint CPRE/Natural England surveys on the state of our green belts in 2010 revealed that they serve 88% of the population (45 million people) living in urban areas within green belt boundaries, and 95% of people value the beauty of the green belt.Their value as farmland is huge, containing as they do an equivalent amount of prime agricultural land to the rest of England, and being ideally placed to provide local produce to cities, reduce food miles and develop more food security and healthier diets. And of course, green belt land naturally tackles climate change through carbon storage, cooling the "heat island" effect of cities and providing flood protection.England is a densely populated country, one of the most built-up in the world. Its countryside, our most vital and valuable asset, is fragmenting and diminishing each year as roads, extensions to towns and major infrastructure alter its character irretrievably.It's often stated that only 10% of the countryside is built up, but CPRE's work to map the "intrusion" of development in rural areas shows that over half of the country is disturbed by the sights and sounds of development. That figure was just 25% in the early 1960s. Even in some of the most beautiful and remote places, it can be impossible to enjoy natural green space without seeing roads, buildings and pylons, hearing the roar of traffic and aeroplanes, or breathing in the pollution of industry and transport.Really, the only way for the government to deliver the kind of environmental protection it wants at the same time as building a truly green economy is through a democratic planning system, one which gives equal weight to environmental and economic considerations, and involves people in decisions about development. To this end, the government must ensure that different departments are talking to each other as they begin the twin processes of reforming the planning system and environmental protection. For either to work, they will have to be developed as part of a holistic strategy, with the needs of landscape and people at its heart.• Oliver Hilliam is communications officer for the Campaign to Protect Rural England

• Rural affairs
• Conservation
• Wildlife

Is BP now over the worst?

With a new chief executive appointed, has BP turned the corner on the Gulf of Mexico disaster?

China's Three Gorges dam close to limit as heavy rains persist

Flooding across the country has left 1,200 dead or missingRecord high water levels are putting the capacity of China's massive Three Gorges dam to the test after heavy rains across the country, compounding flooding problems that have left more than 1,200 people dead or missing.The dam's water flow reached 56,000 cubic metres per second (1.96 million cubic feet), the biggest peak flow this year, with the water height reaching 158 metres (518 feet), the official Xinhua news agency reported. This is about 10% less than the dam's maximum capacity.Chinese officials for years have boasted the dam could withstand floods so severe they come only once every 10,000 years. The dam is the world's largest hydroelectric project.Floods this year have killed at least 823 people, with 437 missing, and have caused damage worth tens of billions of dollars, according to the state flood control agency. More heavy rains are expected for the south-east, south-west and north-east parts of the country.Thousands of workers sandbagged riverbanks and checked reservoirs in Wuhan city in central Hubei province in preparation for potential floods expected to flow from the swollen Yangtze and Han rivers, an official with the Yangtze water resources commission said. "Right now the Han river in Hubei province is on the verge of breaching warning levels," said the official, who gave his name as Zhang.The Han is expected to rise this week to its highest level in two decades, Xinhua has reported.Though China experiences heavy rain every summer, flooding this year is the worst in more than a decade, as the flood-prone Yangtze basin has seen 15% more rain than in an average year, Duan Yihong, director of the National Meteorological Centre, said in a transcript of an interview posted on the Xinhua website."Rains should begin to slow down in August but it is hard to predict now what exactly will happen," said Duan. "We have to be vigilant and closely monitor the weather – do a better job of forecasting."Thousands of rescuers in central China's Henan province searched for survivors after a bridge collapsed from heaving flooding in the Yi river over the weekend, killing 37 people with 29 missing, Xinhua reported.In the southern province of Sichuan rescuers searched for 21 missing after rain triggered a landslide that buried 58 homes.

• Flooding
• China
• Water

Dunwich Dynamo: a course worth the effort

Last week I asked bike blog readers for their endurance riding tips. Here's what I learned on the groundTo cut to the chase: I did cross the Dunwich Dynamo finish line.Last week I asked bike blog readers to post their endurance riding tips. The 120 mile ride sounded daunting from a beginner's point of view but a lot of you were extremely encouraging, which helped me tremendously. We left London at 8.30 pm and arrived at 10 am, with an hour-long stop for breakfast in lovely Framlingham and 45 minutes spent being utterly lost in the countryside surrounding Framsden thrown in for good measure.The ride was both beautiful and exhilarating, but also downright agonising at times. I would however do it again in a heartbeat. Here's a summary on what helped (and what didn't) for other newbies who are thinking of undertaking similar journeys:• Commenters who reminded me that regular food intake was de rigueur were, of course, right. But I remain flabbergasted by the sheer amount of food I consumed in the span of 14 hours: by my count, probably close to 3000 calories (and that's without the fish and chips on the beach). Lesson learned: if you're a beginner, you will want to eat an awful lot to sustain your energy levels.• Crydda and others emphasised the importance of pacing myself. Spot on - but with one caveat. While riding with my partner and a friend certainly helped to motivate me and keep my spirits up, it also had a drawback: both of my co-riders were faster and stronger riders with better bikes. This left me feeling I had to push myself to keep up with them when riding uphill and to some extent, I also held them back. We did ride separately after dawn, which is when I got lost and ended up crying hysterically (I can post more about this in the comments, should you wish to laugh at - erm, with - me).• bleedingmouths recommended a shee-pee. I did not follow the advice, but sighed with envy at the sight of male cyclists being able to stop with ease on the side of any country road for urinary purposes.• File this under "things nobody talks about, but that I would have liked to know beforehand": Biondino and RedBarchetta recommended I ride commando. I decided not to tempt to chaffing gods and went for it. This (coupled with copious amount of chamois cream) worked extremely well, but after 9 hours of riding, my padded cycling shorts irritated the most sensitive of areas. Keep this in mind.• Good cycling gloves, a powerful light and a pannier might be luxury, but I would recommend them without reservation.• As cuffs correctly hinted at, having to write this follow-up piece also helped: I did not want to be seen as a loser. Never underestimate the power of public defeat.Finally, I would like to write a few words of admiration for the chap who biked with his large dog sitting on a front carrier. I didn't see him in Dunwich, but have no doubt he made it all the way. The dog seemed to enjoy the ride tremendously, and they both made my day.If you have any comments about the ride, including your highlights and lowlights, please post in the thread below.

• Cycling
• Cycling

Sparks fly over study suggesting wildfires cut CO2

A controversial NOAA study estimating CO2 released by US wildlifes says they could actually cut emissionsCall it a hot topic. A study suggesting that intentional forest blazes could significantly cut carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from wildfires in the Western United States has prompted a piquant scholarly quarrel. The exchange highlights the challenge forest managers may face in balancing plans to use fire to restore forest ecosystems with efforts to curb carbon emissions.Forests have emerged as a key player in climate change because trees can suck huge amounts of CO2 out of the atmosphere and "sequester" the carbon for decades. A raging wildfire, however, can reverse those gains in just a few days by vaporizing vast swathes of timber. In the Western United States, concerns about the climate impacts of wildfires have grown, as centuries of fire suppression has left forests packed with tinder ripe for combustion. And researchers fear fire risks could rise in the future, as the western climate become hotter and drier.To reduce the threat of runaway infernos – and help restore fire-starved forest ecosystems — some researchers advocate "prescribed burns." These intentional fires tend to burn cooler and vaporize less wood, leading some researchers to wonder just how much they might also help reduce CO2 emissions from wildfires.To find out, Christine Wiedinmyer of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado and Matthew Hurteau Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, estimated how much CO2 had been released by wildfires in the western U.S. from 2001 to 2008. Then, they estimated what the total might have been if the wildfires had been replaced by cooler, more controlled prescribed burns. The result, they reported in the 11 February online issue of Environmental Science & Technology (ES&T), is that the planned fires might have cut CO2 emissions by 18% to 25% in the western U.S., and by as much as 60% in specific forest types.Those numbers, however, are the product of "a fundamentally unrealistic scenario," argue Garrett W. Meigs and John L. Campbell of Oregon State University in Corvallis. In a comment published online in ES&T on July 23, the pair says the original study makes some "completely unrealistic" assumptions, such as that prescribed fires would be 100% effective in eliminating wildfires and that no prescribed fire would escape control. Still, the critics say Wiedinmyer and Hurteau did make some "importantimprovements" in clarifying the climate implications of forest fires. For instance, they concluded that wildfires release about twice as much carbon per-unit-area as prescribed fires, far less than the 10-fold increase assumed by earlier studies. Overall, however, Miegs and Campbell say prescribed burns to improve ecosystem health may well reduce the carbon-storing capacity of forests over the short run. And they worry that "the authors present misleading conclusions that could result in flawed forest carbon policies."Wideinmyer and Hurteau fire back in a response in the same issue, writing that the criticism stems from a "misunderstanding" of a key term, and a "faulty assessment" of their methods. Their goal, they note, was to set an "upper bound" on the potential benefits of prescribed burns, and not to advocate for particular policies. Not surprisingly, both sides suggest that the fire and climate issue would benefit from more research – perhaps after a cooling off period. – David MalakoffSources: Wiedinmyer, C., & Hurteau, M. (2010). Prescribed Fire As a Means of Reducing Forest Carbon Emissions in the Western United States. Environmental Science & Technology, DOI: 10.1021/es902455eMeigs, G., & Campbell, J. (2010). Comment on "Prescribed Fire As a Means of Reducing Forest Carbon Emissions in the Western United States." Environmental Science & Technology DOI: 10.1021/es101595tHurteau, M., & Wiedinmyer, C. (2010). Response to Comment on "Prescribed Fire As a Means of Reducing Forest Carbon Emissions in the Western United States." Environmental Science & Technology DOI: 10.1021/es102186b

• Forests
• Climate change

Mike Bonifer: How to Win in Afghanistan

This is an analysis of the Afghanistan War through the lens of improvisation. (The analysis is further informed by conversations with Afghan and American journalists, social entrepreneurs working in Afghanistan, members of the American military who have fought on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan, or both, and, in some cases, conversations with their relatives. And I've done my share of anecdotal reading/viewing on the subject.)

Improvisation isn't inherently comedic. As conceived by the godmother of modern improvisation, Viola Spolin, in the 1930s in Chicago, it is the practice of spontaneous communication and fast learning, leading to the collaborative solving of problems. It is about generating positive outcomes from unforeseen circumstances. It is the science of serendipity.

Spolin saw improvisation as a bridge-building process between cultures, a way of transcending ideologies by creating the shared focus on a problem that leads to transformation (e.g. from problem to solution, from cause to effect, from blocked to open).

Because 'transformation' (from 'terrorist-friendly' to 'not so much') is literally the stated U.S. objective in Afghanistan, there can be no better process than improvisation to ensure success.

Here's how to win in Afghanistan:

Close the Improvisation Gap!

The ability to improvise is the area where we are at the single biggest disadvantage against our enemies. Because of this, closing the improvisation gap presents a lot of room for movement in the narrative, and the biggest opportunity to go from an unwinnable scenario to a winning one. It will not be easy. Our enemies are nimble and leave no footprints; we are lumbering and make big tracks. They operate from themes, and we follow scripts. They are viral, we are mechanized. It's a big gap.

To help assess the dimensions of the gap, here's one familiar 'Al Qaeda' narrative and one equally familiar 'U.S. military' narrative:

The Al Qaeda narrative: In nine years, we have not killed or captured Bin Laden, the one person on Earth who has it coming. We sure have killed a lot of other people, though. Offering any kind of 'kill' as 'proof that we're winning' is the equivalent of scoring a hockey game by counting how many spectators get hit by pucks. In improvisation we call this, 'not achieving the objective.' Improvisers are far from the only ones who'd call it that. Most people would. The U.S. military, on the other hand, has a hundred names for it, like 'collateral damage,' 'casualties of war,' 'dying for one's country,' and none of them can compensate for the symbolism that as long as Bin Laden is on the loose, so is Al Qaeda.

The U.S. military narrative: Pat Tillman (ironically, an excellent improviser, a non-stop learner who played multiple roles while never straying from his essential character or his theme of 'love for Country') did not get away. Him, we killed. Plenty awful already, right? But not awful enough for the Pentagon, which, to make matters worse, denied the reality of the scene and tried scripting it instead, re-writing Tillman's death into something it was not. In improvisation, denial is death, and scripting is worse. Improvisers describe scenes with a lot of denial and scripting as 'Going to Crazy Town.' Our military in Afghanistan went to Crazy Town in 2004 with the Tillman cover-up and, judging from the June 22, 2010, Rolling Stone article that shattered Stanley McChrystal's charade, we're still camping there in tents spun from the ephemera of unreality.

Closing the improvisation gap is a single key, but it's not a simple one. It is encrypted with 75 years of learning and tactics coded by some of the world's most imaginative minds.

For the U.S. military to close the improvisation gap in Afghanistan, its most basic notions of how we communicate, learn and perform there will have to evolve. Here are three of the many adjustments we must make to win.

Honor the Environment

Improvisers do not go into a scene and start acting like they're someplace else, yet this is exactly how the U.S. military plays the War game. Look at the juxtaposition of an Afghan warrior to an American infantryman, and tell me who's the fish out of water. This is not improvisation, this is refusal to honor the environment. We are fighting in a country that, if the past is any indication, cannot be conquered, it can only be inhabited, and we are doing a poor job of inhabiting it. We are not assimilating. Not speaking the language, wearing the garb, dancing the local dances or singing the native songs. No, our troops armor up, get pumped on porn and hardcore rap, and feed on MREs like astronauts on the moon. They might as well be, as disconnected as they are to their surroundings.

Let Go of Expectations

Closing the improvisation gap will have many implications. The real question, as with any key, is what does it unlock? We've had keys to winning before, and all they've gotten us is a trillion-plus dollars deeper in debt as a nation, more opportunity for competitor nations to do oil deals in the Middle East, more fuel for Ahmadinejad's agenda, and more violence and stray dogs in the streets of Baghdad and Kabul.

This being improvisation, we cannot, by definition, know what the outcomes will be. What we can count on is that our probabilities of solving the problems we face get better when we let go of the kind of command-and-control processes that characterize our military, and adopt the more nimble, faster-to-field, edge-to-core flow of an improvisational model.

Change the Damn Game

Notice that when I say winning in Afghanistan, I do not mean winning the War. Winning the War is a fool's objective. The Afghan warlords have been playing this game for a thousand years, and as long as we keep playing it, so will they. They have infinite patience. They have grandchildren they are already counseling on how to cripple a U.S. military vehicle -- and within days those grandchildren are doing it. There is no winning. There is only more war, with no end in sight.

We win by changing the game from the win/lose scenario that all war narratives demand, to a game that is win/win. What this win/win scenario might be, I do not know, but I see threads of it in the actions of Connie Duckworth, a former investment banker from Chicago who has created Arzu, which invests in Afghan-produced rugs and funds education for women; I see the promise in the Skateistan project, a skateboard park tied to a school for young people in Kabul; I sense the possibilities when I read about Gary Mortensen's mission in his book, Three Cups of Tea; I feel that Gary Brooks Faulkner, the Colorado man arrested in Pakistan on his way to take down Bin Laden, was at least honoring the environment, and was more focused than the U.S. military; I see the clear vision in the eyes of a young Afghan journalist, Anand Gopal, featured in Robert Greenwald's Rethink Afghanistan film series, when he says to me, "The first step must be to stop the War. Now."

Because all military campaigns need a catchy name, let's call the campaign to close the improvisation gap Operation Mighty Harold. Improvisers will know what I'm talking about, and it is already past the time when our military leaders and their civilian overseers should be learning for themselves.

Mike Bonifer is the author of GameChangers -- Improvisation for Business in the Networked World.

Read more: Objective, Connie Duckworth, Strategy, Improvisation, Osama Bin Laden, Afghanistan War, Environment, National Security, Ahmadinejad, U.S. Military, Arzu, Gary Brooks Faulkner, Stanley McChrystal, Operation Invicible Harold, Taliban, Viola Spolin, World News

Steven Chu Pushes White Roofs In Fight Against Climate Change

Since being appointed as the Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu has been talking all about the benefits of white roofs. Now he's going to put his own department where his mouth is by mandating that all new roofs on Energy Department buildings be either white or reflective.
Read more: Green, Environment, Energy, Energy Efficiency, White Roof, Global Warming, Steven Chu, Green News

Randall Amster: Hello, America? This is Your Wakeup Call

There are cracks in the earth and holes in our hearts. The gusher in the Gulf has dramatized in gut-wrenching fashion a set of values and outcomes that comprise the underlying foundation of our lives. This is no "reality TV" episode, even though the already-diluted news coverage increasingly makes everything appear that way. No, this is "real reality" -- an edgy, in-your-face, unexpurgated reminder of what we have relentlessly wrought on the planet and ourselves. The question now is whether it will be enough of a wakeup call to prompt us to shake out the cobwebs, roll up our collective sleeves, and steer the entire enterprise away from the precipice.

Early returns are not favorable, both for stopping the oil gusher (it is not a spill, dammit!) and for Americans snapping out of their doldrums and getting off the petro-sauce. Drilling into Mother Earth at all is sinful in some cultural frameworks, but doing so a mile beneath the ocean with no mitigation plan on hand is simply stupid. Trying to then improvise various "kills" (aptly named though they might be) after the inevitable disaster occurs has the now-realized potential to further exacerbate the problem -- all based on the innately flawed logic of "more meddling will solve our misguided meddling."

Yet this logic effectively summarizes a baseline tenet of American society, namely that more of the same will somehow remedy the problems created in the first place. When a dictatorial president takes us to ill-begotten wars, the solution becomes simply to find a better president -- as if the problem were one of leadership rather than an underlying structural impetus to make war. When those wars go badly, both in fact and perception, we announce a "surge" that will escalate an already-lost conflict in an attempt to somehow "win" it. Better technology is the answer to too much technology. A new pill can cure the ailments produced by the pills we've been taking. Weeds and pests become resistant to our biocides, so let's make them even stronger -- and the same logic goes for our antibiotics. The economy crashes and consumes vast resources, so we'll prop it up with an infusion of even more resources. And on and on.

Indeed, this is the story of civilization itself, a process that continually requires deeper interventions in order to sustain lifestyles dependent upon initial interventions. It is fundamentally unsustainable, since we cannot keep up with the consequences of our incessant machinations. This is the gambler's paradox, attempting to "double down" over and over again on a bad bet, hoping to someday get level but merely digging a deeper hole each time out. Now, one of those deep holes threatens to prove itself incapable of being made level, exposing the harsh realities of our cavalier logic and raising the prospect of an apocalyptic scenario in which, ironically, we could drown in oil while thirsting for water.

This is a bona fide moment of truth for Americans, and perhaps further for humankind as a whole. We either wake up and smell the methane, or continue sleepwalking down a path to seemingly inevitable self-destruction. Shall we live as servile cogs in obeisance to Moloch as we stoke the perverse machines that maintain the apartheid apparatuses of Petropolis? Or will we choose a new path and refuse to serve our soulless masters, instead demanding that they account for their misdeeds and dismantle the hardware of devastation and despair? It is a clear choice ahead, a societal fork in the road: continue on toward the madness of mutually-assured destruction, or take a real chance on an unknown journey toward self-discovery and collective innovation.

We cannot afford to hit the snooze button and go back to sleep, no matter what the final outcome of the Gulf oil disaster turns out to be. Maybe an ingenious solution will emerge that snatches business-as-usual from the jaws of imminent annihilation. More likely, it will be an inexorable and ambiguous seepage that has innumerable ruinous effects on the habitat, only some of which will legally be traceable back to the oiligarchy, swirling together with various other incipient atrocities to hasten our societal demise like some oblivious frogs in a planet-sized vat of slowly boiling water. Humankind, marinated in oil, literally stewing itself to death in an ultimate act of self-fulfilling consumption....

Will we double down again, or cut our losses and walk away? Sometimes, not playing the game at all is a winning streak unto itself. Either way, the first step is to wake up and answer the opening bell. Destiny is calling, and one way or another we will have to account for our recent whereabouts. That time is now.
Read more: Warwire, Apocalypse, Economic Crisis, War, Environment, Oil, Gulf Oil Spill, Consumption, Methane, Civilization, Green News

Clay Burns: Raising Tomorrow's Environmental Guardians

Our country has seen more than its fair share of environmental disasters in the last decade. From the recent oil spill in the Gulf to significant biodiversity loss, from overfishing to coal spills, the public's outrage at private companies' recklessness and the government's inefficient policies is often confounded with a sense of helplessness. As images of animals covered with oil tug at our heartstrings, we are once again reminded that we are each stakeholders in an interconnected ecosystem and need to turn our consternation into action.

We are further reminded that we must always be empowering tomorrow's business and environmental leaders, who are located in today's high schools, with the very best environmental tools and education possible. Yet environmental science is not a standard class offering in a majority of high schools around the country today. An essential component to transforming business attitudes and preventing environmental disasters in the future is to educate and prepare our children to become better stewards of planet earth, and as the age-old saying goes, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

For over a decade, the annual Canon Envirothon competition has been the largest environmental education competition for high school students in North America. In partnership with the National Association of Conservation Districts, U.S. Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, and the National Conservation Foundation, this annual scholarship competition involves more than 500,000 students across North America each year. From Aug. 1 to 6, California State University, Fresno will play host to champion teams representing 45 states and eight Canadian provinces. Participants will be tested on four universal categories, including soils/land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife and a current environmental issue. The 2010 theme is "Protection of Groundwater Through Urban, Agricultural and Environmental Planning." National Ground Water Association is a sponsor this year to draw attention to water resource conservation, pollution prevention and groundwater protection as critical issues.

The shift from a bystander mentality to stakeholder mentality needs to happen early in education through ongoing learning and effective mentoring. The Envirothon Program is a year-long process that starts locally in late autumn, gains momentum through statewide competitions and culminates in a North American competition in late summer. With little down time throughout the four seasons, team coaches combine in-classroom teaching and field trips to parks, zoos and other natural resources sites to train participants. Students absorb a tremendous amount of material, brush up on their public speaking skills, learn to work collaboratively and have a great deal of outdoor fun in the meantime.

In November 2009, President Obama launched the "Educate to Innovate" campaign to increase STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) literacy and create educational opportunities for females and minorities. The success of this national priority depends on collaboration among federal, public and private institutions. At a difficult time when teachers are losing jobs and core curriculums are stripped to the bare minimum, non-profit education organizations like the Canon Envirothon are more important than ever. We actively expand education opportunities, get young people thinking critically about urgent issues and help them develop a stakeholder mentality to take into their subsequent studies or professions.

Many past Envirothon winners have found their passion through the competition and gone on to work for important environmental organizations, including the National Association of Conservation Districts, U.S. Forest Service, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. Even more alumni have chosen to select a broad spectrum of college majors and career paths. Our end goal is to empower a diverse community of environmentally conscious young ambassadors who may one day become policymakers, business decision makers and environmental leaders. Promoting environmental education in our schools is closely connected to students' attitudes, values and behaviors in their daily interaction with the environment and their level of concern as they mature. As a society, we simply cannot afford to neglect this key component in molding the next generation's mindset. Thankfully, the enthusiasm I have seen in my nine years as executive director makes me optimistic that we will be able to prevent future environmental devastations and ingrain a sense of respect for the planet by inspiring tomorrow's leaders.
Read more: Educate to Innovate, Students Environment, Environment, Environmental Science, Environmental Education, Envirothon, Envirothon Program, Green News

Tim Terhaar: We All Eat Our Shark's Fin Soup

The New York Times reported today on public backlash against Citibank's promotional offer of 15% off a dinner which included shark's fin soup. As glad as I am that there was enough of an outcry to compel Citibank to withdraw the promotion, this incident signals much deeper, still-ingrained sociopolitical attitudes and institutions which need to be exposed and dismantled before any real improvement can be made in the lives of nonhuman animals.

Every year, 100 million sharks are tossed back into the ocean to die after their fins have been cut off. It's an astonishing number of animals and an astonishingly cruel method, but it's utterly common. In the US we consume 8.6 billion chickens under the age of 13 weeks every year. And that's just chickens. Factory farm conditions are well-known by now. Chickens are bred to have extra-large breasts, which are difficult for the animals to carry; they have their beaks clipped; they live in battery cages that allow almost no range of movement; they are electrocuted.

Is US treatment of chickens substantively different than Chinese treatment of sharks? Both practices are conducted in order to produce food. Neither food product is essential to a healthful human diet. In fact, consuming chicken or shark is not necessary in any way. In the case of chicken, it is relatively cheap and convenient. In the case of shark, it is a luxury good -- a status symbol. In both cases, people buy a product which they know is the flesh of an animal which was, for all intents and purposes, tortured.

There are good alternatives to eating meat. And if eating meat is unnecessary, then the animals industries which manipulate animals as though they were machinery or inanimate industrial inputs are predicated on the infliction of massive amounts of unnecessary suffering.

Who would admit that s/he thought it okay to inflict unnecessary suffering on a living creature? We need to realize that the exploitation of animals -- the treatment of animals as our property -- is inextricably linked to our perceived and legalized ownership of the environment. When the NYT thinks it relevant to report that "Citibank's Web site in Singapore still advertises an offer for a 15 percent discount at the Imperial Court Shark's Fin Restaurant that has also been criticized by participants in the Facebook discussion group. (Despite its name, the restaurant offers plenty of nonshark dishes.)", there is a serious problem with how we conceive of activism.

To financially support a restaurant that serves shark's fin soup, regardless of whether it "offers plenty of nonshark dishes" is to support economic systems which commodify living things. To give Citibank money is to give tacit consent that "Citibank's fast response shows that companies can't fall behind an informed public on important environmental problems like shark fin soup.'' It's too late for companies to demonstrate that they can "keep up to speed." Their existence is part and parcel of the capitalist systems of domination which incentivize the devaluation of the material world through the imposition of a hierarchy of moral significance and the equalization of all categories of property as worth only what they cost.

It's time to work towards ending unnecessary animal suffering. Stop eating meat. Stop purchasing animal-derived products. And please, do your best to divest from all corporations and organizations that contribute to the debasement of life on Earth.

Respect.
Read more: Environment, Citibank, Commodities, Vegetarian, Capitalism, Suffering, Vegan, Green News