TresSugar

Front Page: EU Reaches Climate Change Agreement

CitizenSugar — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 08:02:20 -0800

EU leaders have agreed on a new climate change deal, which pledges to cut carbon emissions by 20 percent by 2020, compared to 1990 levels. - BBC News
The White House is considering using money allocated for the $700 billion Wall Street bailout to help the ailing Big Three auto companies. The attempt at offering relief comes after the Senate failed to pass the $14 billion package.- Wall Street Journal

Although she's not the target of the federal investigation, Illinois first lady Patricia Blagojevich is coming under fire for statements she made in recorded phone conversations, allegedly urging her husband to withhold state funds. She comes from a political family, and her father accused her husband's administration of selling state appointments a few years ago. - CNN
The remains of a small child were found yesterday in Florida, and investigators believe them to be Caylee Anthony, the three-year-old girl whose mother has been charged with her murder. - New York Times

Not the Greenest President: Bush's Environmental Sins

LibertySugar — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:30:00 -0800

Even some conservatives believe that the US President-elect should put the environmental crisis at the top of his presidential to-do list, because addressing that crisis has bipartisan approval. Yet despite an apparent citizen yearning for leadership on green issues, President Bush has neglected the topic during his eight years in the White House.

Salon put together a list of Bush's seven environmental deadly sins. The authors argue that Bush made a mockery of the US's environmental laws and values. Here are the seven pieces of supporting evidence for their indictment:

Blew hot air on global warming: Bush refused to agree to mandatory greenhouse gas emission reductions, thus erasing any credibility the US had to persuade China and India to cut their emissions and also leading to a rise in CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere.
Failed to regulate greenhouse gases at home: Bush vowed to veto any bill that would limit greenhouse gases. He also refused to regulate CO2 as a pollutant, even though the Supreme Court ruled it was a pollutant and said he could regulate it.
Failed to develop clean energy sources: While doing nothing to further renewable energy, Bush gave regulatory support to polluting industries like coal, oil, and gas.
Abandoned endangered species: The only additions to the endangered species list, such as the polar bear, came from private parties who sued the government. The administration also tried to build roads without considering harm to these species.

To see the rest, read more.

Carved up the American West for oil and gas excavation: Bush leased combined public lands bigger than the state of Kentucky for oil and gas onshore drilling, even though already leased lands have not been developed.
Not seeing the forest or the trees: The Bush administration tried to subject forests to "thinning" aka cutting down tress for logging or in order to build roads.
Choked clean-air standards: The Bush administration weakened clean-air standards and is currently working to permit more pollution near national parks and allow power plants to increase emissions without adding pollution controls.

If you check out the entire piece, it offers a mission for Obama for each specific sin. Which problem would you like to see the new president atone first?

Source

Eco Debt: Humans Use 30% More Resources Than Sustainable

CitizenSugar — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:15:13 -0700

Looks like we've been putting our purchases of "fresh air" and "clean water" on our credit cards lately, and a nasty bill just arrived. The WWF just released a Living Planet report showing that humans are using 30 percent more resources than the planet can sustain and replenish every year.

The interest rate on living beyond our ecological means is huge. Huge. At the current rate of consumption, we're going to need a second planet by 2030. A second planet. Any ideas on where to get a nice used planet that will sustain human life real cheap? Yeah, me either.

The dividends on gobbling up our natural resources are deforestation, unhealthy soils, crappy air and water, and steep declines in the number of fish and other species. Our boundless population growth is outstripping technology's advances to expand natural production. To see what kind of response the report is advocating, read more.

While we've been worrying understandably about our pocket books, the current cost of our environmental shortfalls not only overshadow the cost of the financial crisis, it's going to require as big and immediate a response. According to the study's authors politicians"now need to turn their collective action to a far more pressing concern and that's the survival of all life on planet Earth."

Does this convince you an environmental bailout is needed?

Source

Front Page: Two Held in Obama Plot, Syria Raid Kills "Major Target," Arctic Ice Thickness Drops

CitizenSugar — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 06:59:46 -0700

Two Held in Obama Plot:
Two men, being described as Neo-Nazis and aged 18 and 20, are being held for plotting to kill Barack Obama. Obama said he's not worried about the news and that it's "not who America is." The plan was to shoot 88 African-Americans and decapitate 14, symbolic numbers to white supremacists. The plot appears to have been amateurish and unsophisticated.

Syria Raid Kills "Major Target": A controversial raid into Syria has killed a key individual, Abu Ghadiyah, who was involved in smuggling foreign fighters into Iraq. Officials called the raid a "success." Baghdad has condemned the move saying that it doesn't want to be used as a launch point for attacks on others.

Arctic Ice Thickness Drops:
The thickness of the Arctic Ice dropped last year as much as 1.5 feet in some areas. The ice had been consistent for five years before hitting the 2007 minimum. The losses in ice could suggest the region has hit a tipping point - five years ago they projected the sea ice would disappear by 2080. The new data shows the ice will be gone by 2030 or 2040.

Source

Caribbean Beaches Disappearing As Tons of Sand Is Stolen

CitizenSugar — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 12:15:05 -0700

I can almost feel the warm sand in this picture - though one criminal phenomenon is making the sand in the Caribbean "hot" as in stolen. On islands like Puerto Rico, Grenada, and St. Kitts among many others, thieves are actually stealing sand off the beaches for money.

Why the sand swiping? The building surge requires sand and enterprising criminals are reselling it to constructions companies. The sand is in high demand because it is used in cement, which many homeowners are turning to instead of the traditional wood. Despite not having a patch to put your beach towel on, the ecological problems of the theft are beginning to cause concern.

How much sand are we talking? It's no drop in the bucket. To see how much and the effect, read more.

In Jamaica, nearly 100 truckloads of sand disappeared from a private residence leaving plants and limestone exposed to the elements. In Grenada, officials are now having to build a 1.2 million dollar seawall to shield the 131-square-mile island after large scale thefts have left the coast vulnerable to rough seas. Nearly two-thirds of the sand dunes on the small island of Tortola have disappeared.

Currently, it appears that many of the local law enforcement officials may not be so keen to crack down. After 10 Olympic-sized pools of sand disappeared one official began to suspect the involvement of government officials: “I was surprised at the amount. This one could not have been stolen without persons knowing about it.” Fines at this point are exceedingly light and in some cases the thieves still make a profit even after being caught.

Source

Dubai: Pumping Sewage, Jailing Lovebirds, and Growing

CitizenSugar — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 03:00:00 -0700

Dubai is everywhere. Well, not everywhere, it's specifically on the southern coast of the Persian Gulf and one of the seven emirates in the United Arab Emirates and the most populous city of the UAE. On the plane to the RNC I read Ben Mezrich's new book, Rigged: The True Story of an Ivy League Kid Who Changed the World of Oil From Wall Street to Dubai. It's excellent and piqued my interest for this rapidly expanding city blending western ideas deep in the heart of the Middle East. Then my dad forwarded a photo taken from the top of the construction of the world's tallest skyscraper being built there. Seems like Dubai is a glittering paradise?

Sort of. To see what I mean, read more.

The mix of a Vegas-y feel of Western excess within a Middle Eastern climate of expectation has led one British couple to be imprisoned for three months for allegedly having sex on the beach. Literally. They're appealing their sentence. In the meantime, discussion has been sparked as to what is, or is not, acceptable behavior in the Muslim state of Dubai. Oh, and that huge skyscraper? It turns out giant buildings like that require giant infrastructure. That hasn't quite kept pace with Dubai's growth - they're having a little bit of a raw sewage problem on the beaches. As soon as they get that straightened out, I could be down for a visit.

Source

Front Page: Joe the Plumber Speaks, Social Security Benefits to Rise, EU Firm on Climate Goals

CitizenSugar — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 07:00:42 -0700

Joe the Plumber Speaks:
After being the star of last night's debate, mentioned conservatively a dozen times, "Joe the Plumber" has come forward. His name is Joe Wurzelbacher, an Ohio man who wants to buy a plumbing business. He had spoken with Obama in Toledo this week, and told him his tax plan would prevent him from buying the business. He said of being the example of the night, "It's pretty surreal, man, my name being mentioned in a presidential campaign." He won't say who he's voting for - if he's registered - "That's for me and a button to know."

Social Security Benefits to Rise:
Social Security benefits will go up 5.8 percent for 50 million people next year. It's the largest pay rise in more than a quarter of a century. The increase will begin in January and will mean $63 extra per month for the average retiree. The raise is double increase from January this year.

EU Firm on Climate Goals:
European Union leaders are resolved to meet their targets and timetable for addressing climate change, despite objections from some countries. Worries that given the global economic situation cutting greenhouse gas emissions will be too costly has caused some countries to threaten to block the plan. French President Sarkozy says, "The climate package is so important that we cannot simply drop it, under the pretext of a financial crisis."

Beijing Brings Back Olympics Car Rules to Cut Smog

CitizenSugar — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 03:00:00 -0700

While the medals and finish lines from the Olympics are becoming a distant memory - so was the hard-fought clean air that Beijing enjoyed during the Games. Residents have been discussing just how to keep the measures in effect, and now they might have won. A partial victory at least.

Traffic restrictions have been re-introduced to Beijing, hoping to bring back the easy-breathing peace and quieter of the Games. The new plan doesn't go as far as the original measures however - each car only has to spend one day a week off of the roads, as opposed to the every other day plan during the Olympics. The benefit is, "expected to reduce Beijing's average road traffic flow by 6.5 percent," according to one city official. During periods of heavy pollution, the restrictions can be returned to the more stringent every-other-day plan.

How many cars are we talking that will be affected by the plan? To find out, read more.

Beijing has 3.4 million cars on the road, with 1,000 more added every day. So the return of the measures seems great - but residents are complaining that it's too complicated - for instance on Mondays, license plates ending in one or six can't come in to the city. Since the skies in August were the cleanest Beijing has seen in 10 years, should the stricter measures stay? Is this just the tip of the iceberg of sacrifices we'll have to make for the planet in the years to come?

Source

Deforestation Costs Economy More Than the Financial Crisis

CitizenSugar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:35:02 -0700

While the stock market's belly-dancer-gyrations (more of a limbo, "how low can you go?", really) seem significant - according to a study commissioned by the EU, the global economy actually loses more money through the disappearance of forests than through the financial ho-down. The study pegs the cost of the loss of forests between $2 and $5 trillion per year, while calculations put the financial mess at $1.5 trillion.

How did they arrive at that figure? By factoring in the value of the services forest perform, like providing clean water and absorbing carbon dioxide. According to their conclusions the cost sky rockets as nature stops providing the services it used to do for free. Mad, I suppose, at being hacked to pieces. That might do it. Without them the human economy has to replace them by building reservoirs, carbon capture facilities, and growing food that used to come . . . naturally. It's a cost that's also borne disproportionately by the poor.

The good news is that someone is doing this calculation at all - just a few years ago there was no connection between green trees and green backs. So while watching the Dow number flopping around is entertaining, while the markets are closed this weekend, I may just go plant a tree.

Source

ABC Refuses to Air Gore's Ad: In the Tank For Oil Companies?

CitizenSugar — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 09:00:12 -0700

With all the talk lately about who's "in the tank" for whom, this is one story where the imagery just might fit. The CEO of Al Gore's big We Campaign is accusing ABC of putting the concerns of big oil over their message of planetary goodwill by refusing to run the latest Al Gore ad, called, "Repower America."

In a scathing email the CEO said:

“Did you notice the ads after last night’s presidential debate? ABC had Chevron. CBS had Exxon. CNN had the coal lobby. But you know what happened last week? ABC refused to run our Repower America ad – the ad that takes on this same oil and coal lobby.”

The We Campaign is striking back with an online petition aimed at getting the ad on the air during Friday's airing of 20/20. The petition has over 80,000 signatures.

To see whether ABC has an agenda, read more.

The ad blasts oil companies as a hurdle to clean energy saying, "Big oil spends hundreds of millions of dollars to block clean energy." The non-airing of the ad seems odd given the network hasn't ignored the climate situation. They have a big budget special called Earth: 2100 planned warning that our civilization is set to go the way of the Mayans if we continue on this path.

On the other hand, in a study by the Business & Media Institute, ABC included more climate change skepticism (36 percent) in its broadcasts than the other networks. Does this combined with the ad's absence dictate a tacit environmental agenda?