Bee colonies are still struggling, but did you know that there are hundreds of native bee species in Florida? The European honey bee is an import, but native bees are also pollinators. Native bees are mostly solitary, living in a narrow nest either below ground or in wood cavities near the ground, and most of them don’t make any honey.… Read the rest
Do you talk to you dog like it is a person? How about your bird? A new legal case for animal rights has been filed by the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) on behalf of Hercules and Leo, two chimpanzees who are being used in locomotion research at Stony Brook University to explore how humans evolved to walk on two feet.… Read the rest
On Saturday, in often sweltering heat, more than 44,000 people in Ecuador reportedly sowed their way into the Guinness Book of World Records by planting 647,250 trees of over 200 species in one day. The effort was organized by the Ecuadoran government under an initiative called “Siembratón.”… Read the rest
We all love sea turtles, and if you want to help protect them, or if you see one, the place to turn is Seaturtle.org. They are having a fund-raiser right now, if turtles are you thing. 😉
What began as “Turtle Tidings” in 1996 and embodies a desire to support research and conservation efforts in the sea turtle community has morphed into a website and the Marine Turtle Newsletter.… Read the rest
Don’t look behind that curtain, because over the weekend Tesla Motors and space entrepreneur Elon Musk showed how he intends to save the planet, sort of. He explained that fossil fuels are icky, as we all know. He explained that sunlight is abundant and free.… Read the rest
God offered earth to us in trust. So how can we take responsibility for that trust? Self-driving cars, biofuels, and redesigned cities are just a few of the ways humans will have to adapt to future energy needs. This documentary “Future Earth 2050” looks at many of them, including Masdar city and solar towers. … Read the rest
Huge gobs of British Petroleum and a giant spill you probably never even heard about continue to make headlines this week. If you care about the ecology of the Gulf of Mexico be sure to read this article in Think Progress and this article from Common Dreams.… Read the rest
Maybe a biogas digester is the solution to Mount Everest’s poop problem. Nepal’s mountaineering association says climbers leave 26,500 pounds of feces every year. “It has a serious effect to our environment,” said Kami Diki Sherpa in a 2013 interview.… Read the rest
One of the most powerful women in Christianity told the Guardian people who reject climate science are turning their backs on one of God’s most generous gifts: knowledge. Episcopalians understand the life of the mind is a gift of God and to deny the best of current knowledge is not using the gifts God has given you,” said Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori.… Read the rest
Katherine Paul is associate director of the Organic Consumers Association notes:
On Friday, February 13, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) approved the first genetically engineered apple, despite hundreds of thousands of petitions asking the USDA to reject it.
According an article in Politico, the USDA said the GMO apple “doesn’t pose any harm to other plants or pests.”… Read the rest
The economic cost of climate change is vastly greatly than previously estimated, providing justification for even expensive mitigation measures, new research finds.
The economic damages, or “social cost,” from carbon dioxide emissions could include property damages from flooding or loss in agricultural yields, as the U.S.
Oh no! My favorite milk may not be so guilt-free after all. Common Dreams reports that “more than a dozen factory farms producing dairy and meat products for stores nationwide engaged in widespread organic fraud for years as the USDA stood idly by.… Read the rest
With more on the topic of animal souls is my hero Chris Hedges. He says:
The battle for the rights of animals is not only about animals. It is about us. Once we desanctify animals we desanctify all life. And once life is desanctified the industrial machines of death, and the drone-like bureaucrats, sadists and profiteers who operate them, carry out human carnage as easily as animal carnage.… Read the rest
With a fittingly forward-looking swan song, Bill Moyers’ final broadcast examines a new legal framework for the crusade against global warming called atmospheric trust litigation. It argues that air, water, land, plants and animals are the responsibility of government, held in its trust for all generations to come. … Read the rest
Rich with solar energy, Florida could be basking in the sun, but our policies do not embrace this vision. Instead, solar rebates and efficiency goals have been axed by the Public Service Commission.
Katie Valentine writes about this in ThinkProgress:
Florida’s Public Service Commission voted last week to cut energy efficiency targets for power companies and to do away with a solar rebate program in the state, decisions that served to scale back the state’s already paltry efforts in renewable energy.… Read the rest