Green Tomorrow

There Goes the Forest: Bush Administration Opens 3 Million Acres to Logging

Image courtesy of markcbrennan via flickr

Any (admittedly dim) hopes that President Bush might choose to salvage his tattered – some might say non-existent – environmental credentials were dashed when his administration announced plans to open more than 3 million acres of Alaskan forests to logging, mining and road building. The Guardian’s David Adam reports that the plan will open 3.4 million acres of the Tongass National Forest, a haven for a variety of …

Two Crazy White Chicks on a Pile of Trash!

Sets the picturesque Bimini Islands. Located just forty two miles east of Miami on the Florida coast, the closest of the Bahamian islands of the United States and only a twenty minute hop by air or a few hours by boat. Bimini so close to us geographically, but yet so far away in the field of waste management compared with the United States.

I recently visited the island paradise of Bimini. Opgewonden by everything from the warm crystal clear water of the white sugar sand beaches, the Bahamas has much to offer, not only for the tourism sector, but for the world in general as a pure fishing. Ernest Hemingway spent years fishing and writing in Bimini and, until a recent fire, there was a museum dedicated to the famous author cites the Compleat Angler.

I wanted to do conch shells to friends at home. You know, they are about ten to twelve inches long, the large fluted lip and the opening is usually a shiny pink color. The type of shell you see natives in bladders. All very chic coast!

My friend Pat and I went in search of conch shells. We had heard that there are mountains of the shells outside some of the restaurants to the delicious conch meat. The local collect live conch and bring them back to sell. They are then cleaned and the shells are tossed right where they clean it. In other words, right between the restaurant and the water we found huge piles of shells. Other restaurant trash collected. I do not know if the refusal just drove up from the sea or it is just easier to throw the waste out the window. YIKES!

I could spend a lot of time describing the beauty of North and South Bimini. They are really beautiful and then on the other side of the coin, the extreme garbage and trash that is left to accumulate on the side of the road and along a portion of the port ways is not only an eye, but a Health Hazard.

Well, you can just think Pat and me scaling this mountain of waste and grenades to the perfect treasures to bring back home and share with our friends. At one point, one of the locals wandered over and asked us what “two crazy white chicks were in the pipeline that trash”. We have tried to explain, but I do not think he really understood. In fact, he said that when he came back from the important business he had planned, as we still need shells, he would help us for a small fee! I mean, you have to love that entrepreneurial attitude!

He left us with the warning to be careful that you could get diseases from playing in the waste, such as that. Well, I think so!

After that I checked on the waste management situation in Bimini. There is a landfill on South Bimini being burned every now and then, but for the most part, the carcasses of dead cars and trucks just rust away, the used oil and batteries get toted back to Florida occasionally and the rest of the waste simply Depends and gets picked over by the birds and other animals. This is not a very healthy situation for the population or the environment.

What is the answer to save their fragile island environment? Maybe these islands have to be a high heat thermal process to ensure their waste management needs.

Bush Pushes For Climate Conference

Seal

When you can recognize climate change and global warming as they really are – signs of the end times approaching. You prepare yourself mentally to God.

On Monday, January 28, 2008, President Bush has his 7th and final State of the Union address. In it he emphasized the importance of building a “future of the energy supply” with clean energy.

He called for a reduction in the dependence of America on oil and encouraged the development of “emission-free” nuclear power stations. Bush also wants to create a “new international clean technology fund” to countries like India and China switch to clean energy. These sound like words of hope for the warming world. But they have not yet been matched by action. The Bush administration is in serious disagreement with the rest of the world about the recent climate conference in Bali.

One thing Bush wants is an agreement that no pardon emerging economies. The current agreements have not kept India and China meet the same requirements as it puts on the developed countries such as Western Europe and the USA. This was Bush the introduction of its own climate change meeting he performs begin Wednesday, January 30, 2008. He has previously suggested that in consultation with him will volunteer emission reductions.

course volunteering is not to change anything. The reason oil (and will use coal) has persisted is not because new and better energy is not available or continuously be developed. It is economic. Coal and oil are cheap. They are cheap to buy and cheap to replace. Their environment is not seriously considered until recently.

That comes at a significant effect. According to the United Nations, 11 of the last 12 years were the warmest since 1850 worldwide. Many scientists say in the last 10 to 20 years have been warmer than any of temperatures for 1000 years. So global warming. This is not the science that will be contested. There are several theories about what caused the warming of the earth and how many will get worse. But what matters for you to see has started.

And given Bush asks countries to join him and “volunteer” their own emission reductions instead of collateral in the event of cuts, global warming is not to delay Establishment of a short term. Of course, this is another presidential election year. But none of the candidates have made climate change a priority. That means that there are billions more tonnes of greenhouse gases polluting the air, before there is any chance of change.

Jesus Christ told a simple parable when His disciples asked him about the end-times, the parable of the Figure tree. When the fig tree bloom, you know that summer is near. What is that “the summer?” That “summer” is the end-times.

Jesus equated the end times a summer. And today the fig tree is flourishing. The summer is approaching. The end times Jesus spoke of his arrival. And instead of saving the earth, you save yourself. When you see the sealed end times approaching in climate change. And you mentally prepare yourself to God. Your eternal home will Heaven when you receive the Seal.

Going Green Could Be Kinder On Drivers’ Pockets

Drivers can reduce the pressure on their finances by going green, new findings show.

In the survey conducted by uSwitch was revealed that more drivers are looking for their effect on the environment. In the course of 2007, the number of environmentally friendly cars purchased increased by 70 percent from 10000 to stand at 65000. If this trend continues, it was claimed that by the end of this year there will be 55900 green vehicles on British roads.

pointing to the six most environmentally friendly cars on the market, the price comparison website indicated that these cars emit about 17 percent less CO2 in comparison with their “gas-guzzling counterparts” . It was also suggested that switching to a greener vehicle can generate savings of up to 125 pounds on the road, with consumers set to be 165 pounds better off as a result of spending less money on fuel. With reference to the increasing financial pressure fuel costs on consumers in recent months, uSwitch stated that on January 16 gasoline prices reached a peak of 104.3 pence per litre – by 19 percent of the 88.25 recorded last year.

These looking for a competitive way to finance the purchase of a car may wish to consider applying for a low-cost loan.

Ashton Berkhauer, insurance expert at uSwitch, said: “A vehicle green credentials are fast to a major Selling point when it comes to buying a new car. It is not just a matter for the motorists blindly jumping on the green bandwagon. With rising to a record high fuel prices, motorists are increasingly attracted to this fuel-efficient, lower – Taxation green vehicles, finding them to be kind to their wallet and the environment . ”

He went on to say that despite the perception that green cars are more expensive to buy than the average Vehicle, the former are on average 130 pounds cheaper. It was also pointed out that the drivers of environmentally friendly cars will save an average of 1092 pounds of operational costs over a period of five years. Moreover, the uSwitch representative points out that motorists who opt for an environmentally friendly insurance may also find that the pressure on their finances has been eased, as insurers increasingly offer low-cost premiums.

Mr Berkhauer Added: “Consumers are increasingly tuning to green when the investigation shows that two-thirds of drivers would consider switching to a greener vehicle and the sale of” alternative-fuelled ' Cars are on the increase. Met 'go green' recently voted the third most popular New Year's resolution, it seems highly likely that the green tree is set to gain even greater momentum in 2008. ”

Drivers looking for a cheap way to finance the purchase of a car can be advised that a cheap Personal loan. In applying this type of loan borrowers in May found that they left with affordable, low-fare refunds compared to the potentially costly deals may face if they choose a garage showroom deal. Last month, research conducted by AA Personal Loans showed that the proportion of motorists looking for a compact car that will not place too much pressure on their money management has increased by 43 percent.

The Future Of Green Retailing: LOHAS Is So Yesterday

One of the ambivalent miseries of being a TreeHugger writer is getting email that ranges from the insight-provoking to absurd. This week’s winner offers a glimpse into the intersection of the US’ economic downturn and growing consumer interest in green products.

The Chain Store Age trade show wrap up publication just received included a short article, “A New Consumer Mind-Set, For most Americans, best practices are changing,” which documented an increased rate of the mainstreaming of some fairly common TreeHugger ideals. And, of some mall and big-box store transforming developments just around the corner….

Jargon Watch: Slow Design

Leigh Wells for the New York Times

A movement that started in the kitchen with Slow Food International is beginning to take over the entire house. Slow Design, much like its gastronomic predecessor, is all about pulling back on the reigns and taking time to do things well, do them responsibly, and do them in a way that allows the designer, the artisan and the end user to derive pleasure from it.

Just like Slow Food, it’s all about using local ingredients, harvested and put together in a socially and environmentally responsible way. Above all, it emphasizes thoughtful, methodical, slow creation and…

Amazon Strengthens Its Digital Hand With $300 Million Purchase of Audible

Amazon is betting big on digital media. This morning it announced the $300 million acquisition of Audible (a 7 percent premium to Audible’s $280 million market cap at the time of this writing). Audible is the leading provider of audio books in digital form, with a library of 80,000 titles. As Amazon [...]

Got Organic?

Fast way to get an unpleasant reaction from Mom? Come to dinner with mud on your face and hands. You’re full of germs…eeeww. March right into the bath young man!

The farm market bothers some at this visceral level: visible “earth” on fresh produce especially reinforces it. See what you did Ma? We’re scared of organic.

The news that grade school aged children shed measurable pesticide residues in their urine is going to have parents “getting” more organic produce. A little mud on the hands, maybe not so bad in comparison….

Widgetbox Secures $8M More in Series B Funding

Widgetbox, a platform for the creation and distribution of web widgets, has raised $8M in a Series B round of financing led by Northgate Capital and joined by Sequoia Capital and Hummer Winblad.
The company provides tools for both novice and advanced developers to create a variety of widgets, from simple embeddable RSS feed readers (called [...]