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Obama for Offshore Drilling?

Campaign season is hot. Very hot. Obama now even seems to have given in to big oil, and followed the biggest opinion of his potential electorate – offshore drilling in US waters to lower gas prices.

Unfortunately, there is no more efficient short-term solution to sooth the seemingly immense pain American Citizens feel in theire purses. Yes, we are being cynical here.

We hope, Obama can bring about the change he promises. But one thing we learned today: that such change not only has to come from the people, but has to come very, very slowly, because it has to overcome many hurdles of immense financial pain. The American people have to go through hell, they have to suffer agonies yet unheard of… i.e. , they have to leave their car in the garage and take a walk every once in a while…

article on abc news.

Newspapers responsible for clearcutting virgin forests

Terneuzen – Greenpeace Netherlands has blocked a shipping in the port of Terneuzen, The Netherlands. The ship was loaded with paper from Abitibi-Consolidated, a company that is responsible for the destruction of major parts of the last remaing Canadian primeval forests. Custumors for this paper are the largest Dutch newspaper publishers PCM, Wegener en the Telegraaf Media Groep. Newspapers like NRC, Telegraaf and Volkskrant are largely printed on paper from Canadian primeval forests. Yearly more than 700.000 hectares of forest is logged and an important share of the timber is processed into newspapers, tissues and toiletpaper. The Canadian forests are essential for the survival of endangered animals such as the lynx, wolf and Caribou. Wabitibi sais that it uses recycled paper, but according to a recent Greenpeace report the Abitibi paper exists for more than 90% of new wood fibres. The dutch publishers have stated that they will not stop buying from Abitibi.
See also the website of Greenpeace Netherlands (NL)

Walrus Habitat Endangered

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,300519,00.html

Biofuels harming our climate

Beijing – “Biofuel production actually speeds up global warming because of the use of conventional industrial methods of crop farming”, says Paul J. Crutzen in a new publication on the effects of biofuel crop production. Biofuels are meant as a climate-friendly alternative to fossil fuels because they store atmospheric carbon dioxide as they grow. But according to Crutzen, most biofuel cropping emits more greenhouse gasses than it saves because of the fertiliser used in modern farming practices. The use of rapeseed may even produce up to 70 percent more planet-warming greenhouse gasses than conventional diesel. Biofuel production is further doubted because of unintended side effects such as rainforest clearance and raised food prices, from competition with forests and food for land. Most of the world?s bioethanol is produced in the US and Brazil while the EU is the main supplier of biodiesel. The study revealed that biofuels derived from sugar cane produce between 0.5 and 0.9 times as much greenhouse gasses as conventional gasoline and for biofuels derived from maize this was between 0.9 and 1.5 times. Thus, the report – not being very pessimistic about biofuel production – suggests that low nitrogen demanding crops and low impact agriculture may potentially bring future benefits for the climate.

Check Reuters News Service for more information

Sand threatens world food production

As an effect of the exploding human population sand is rapidly encroaching. To ask attention for this threat the year 2006 was declared the ?International Year of Deserts and Desertification?. The figure alongside represents a risc map that was published by the US departement of agriculture. One can clearly see that large parts of Europ, Africa and Asia are in danger of being desertified. According to the United Nations desertification is one of the largest threats to the world food production. ?11% of the land surface that can be used for serious food production is used today to feed 6.3 billion people. The question is: Will we be able to feed the 8.2 billion that we expect to populate the globe in 2020 if even less land is available for farming?” said UN meteorologist Suvakumar recently on a congress in Geneva. It seems that the ongoing desertification will simply raise the demand for fertile soils on the short term and I am afraid that this will boost global deforestation. While deforestation is exactly one of the principal processes that cause desertification?
Detailed information on desertification is available at the website of the Sustainable Development Networking Programme (SDNP)

Reclamation of tropical peatlands is driving climate change

Yogyakarta ? Massive clearing of tropical peatlands has drastically increased the atmospherice carbon dioxide concentrations. Tropical peatlands are among the major carbon stores in the world. They play a significant role in the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions and climate change. The dead organic material that forms the peat can hold 30 times as much carbon as the living above ground forests. In total the world peatlands contain about 2 trillion tons of carbon. Reclamation of peatlands often starts by land drainage. When drained, peat starts to decompose on contact with air and massive amounts of CO2 are released. Drained peat bogs are in fact enormous CO2 volcanos. But as CO2 is an invisible gas the volcanic eruption isn?t instantaneously recorded. In Indonesia alone 5% of the 20 billion hectares of peatlands are reclaimed. The south east Asian peat bogs emit about 2 billion tons of CO2 making them responsible for 8% of the total annual CO2 emissions globally. In the mid-90s Indonesia has exploited 1 billion hectares of peatland for the ?Mega Rice Project?. The soil appeared however far too acid and unsuitable for rice farming. Now resting is a giant wasteland of dry black peat which is extremely flammable and emits enormous amounts of CO2, methane and a mix of toxic gasses.

Exotic algae threatens coral reef

San Jose ? Again an example of an highly invasive species that we can not control: Caulerpa sertularioides, a tropical algae, is rapidly colonizing one of the most important coral reefs of Costa Rica. The algae completely overgrows the reef, blokking the sunlight and suffocating the corals. The algae thrives on fertilizers from hotel golf courses and badly treated sewage. Marine biologist Cindy Fernandez describes the situation as an ecological disaster. About 80% of the reef has already been destroyed. The plague is very hard to control. This algae is the last challenge facing the Costa Rican authorities, that already have had many difficulties maintaining the coutries unique biodiversity.

Living statue

Glaciers around the globe are increasingly threatened. Photographer Spencer Tunick made a remarkable photograph of 600 naked people on the Aletsch Glacier in Switzerland. It was a project of Greenpeace Switzerland that wanted to demonstrate the vulnerability of the glaciers to climate change.

Mediterranean tuna population faces extinction

Just before the beginning of the catch season the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) asked the European Union to half the fishing quota for mediterranian bluefin tuna. The quota is more than double the amount that is advised by marine biologists. Moreover each year these quota are exceeded and besides there is a lot of illegal fishery. The WWF sais that if the advised quota are not acted upon now, there is a big chance the bluefin tuna may definitely disappear from the mediteranean sea.

The Netherlands keep importing Congolese wood

The Netherlands are still importing timber from Democratic Republic of Congo while it is known that timber companies in the DRC use destructive, illegal and corrupt practices in obtaining their wood. Big timber companies such as OLAM, Sicobois, NST and Danzer still make high profits by the irreversable destruction of tropical rain forests. Congo itself does not profit at all from these practices because these companies don?t pay any attention at the environment and the Congolese economy. This issue is profoundly described by Greenpeace Netherlands in the research report Carving up the Congo.