Archive for June 12th, 2011

United States: Lake Champlain: Learning to adapt to the new normal

Burlington Free Press: Will the nightmare of this year's record Lake Champlain flood repeat itself? A report prepared for The Nature Conservancy last year concluded that global climate change is both increasing temperatures and precipitation in the Lake Champlain basin. The report said the changes make the lake more unpredictable, and could increase the likelihood of spring flooding. As if to underscore the Nature Conservancy report, a winter of heavy snow and a record wet spring combined to bring on an epic Lake...

Obama should confront GOP on water

Sacramento Bee: Unusual, to be sure. But ever so necessary. Former Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt took off the gloves and aimed a one-two combo at House Republicans and President Barack Obama on environmental issues. Babbitt's well-rounded attack last week was richly deserved. Others should follow his example. It is time for a parade of people to stand up publicly in defense of the nation's public lands and water resources. House Republicans, Babbitt noted, have "declared war on our land, water and natural...

China lead pollution outbreak poisons 103 children

Reuters: Lead pollution from workshops in eastern China seriously poisoned 103 children and has affected hundreds of other residents in the country's latest case of unfettered industrial toxins, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday. The pollution from tinfoil-making workshops in Yangxunqiao town in Zhejiang province left the children, aged 14 or younger, with 250 microgrammes or more of lead for every liter of blood. Another 26 adults were found to have "severe lead poisoning, or with...

ALERT! Ken to Barbie Doll and Greenpeace USA: Not Coming Back Just Because You Say Your Wood Is FSC Certified

By Ecological Internet's Rainforest Portal TAKE ACTION HERE NOW! Greenpeace's quirky new rainforest campaign [search] says Ken is leaving Barbie (Mattel's dolls) because of rainforest destruction, yet they leave the door open for "certified" primary rainforest paper pulp for toy packaging. Ecological Internet will not accept an outcome from Greenpeace USA's Barbie campaign that includes FSC certified papers from Indonesia's primary rainforests [search]. Let Greenpeace and Mattel - manufacturers of the Barbie and Ken dolls, which Greenpeace USA alleges contains rainforest pulp in its packaging - know that paper derived from primary rainforests and certified by Forest Stewardship Council is not ecologically sustainable. Greenpeace must be encouraged to resign from FSC greenwash; and work to end primary forest logging, protect and restore standing old forests, for local and global advancement and ecology.