GlobalWarmingisReal contributor Anders Hellum-Alexander wraps-up the climate and environmental news headlines for the past week:
- Ladies and Gentleman I give you your newest anti-environmental celebrity: Texas governor Ricky Parry, the latest addition to the GOP pack of presidential candidates. Then there’s Jon Huntsman who is screaming for sanity in the Republican party, but he will surely lose the primaries.
- Obama, on the other hand, is pushing for making a part of the controversial ANWR federally designated and protected as wilderness. This would close off the area to oil drilling and protect a pristine environment from destruction.
- The citizens of Japan are responding to their nuclear energy crisis by starting a movement of using as little energy as possible. If American’s responded to the American energy issue as Japan has theirs we would be on our way to a sustainable energy system that does not degrade human health.
- A new study in the UK quantifies some of the economic benefits of the bicycling industry. Bikers are healthier than the average system which benefits society greatly
- In the ashes of our economy a phoenix of pragmatism could arise, every low point is a chance at a great rise. This article by George in the Guardian makes a really good point: “No matter the road to recovery for the American and the global economy a lot of government intervention will be involved.”
- Nigeria the 5th largest exporter of oil to the US, this article in AllAfrica.com shows the backdrop to those exports.
- The US Department of the Interior just announced that it will offer leases for drilling in the Gulf of Mexico for the fist time since the Gulf Oil Spill.
- Solar thermal is now being used to harvest oil in the desert. While I support advances in energy efficiency, it is difficult to see an environmentally destructive practice get more efficient and less expensive.
- The Oil/Tar Sands of Canada (Canada is the largest exporter of oil to the US) require a new pipeline to get their product to the American market quickly. An editorial in the New York Times vehemently opposes the pipeline. (See our report on the ongoing protests in Washington DC urging president Obama to block construction of the pipeline)
- Toyota and Ford are joining forces to create hybrid trucks. Is this good or bad?
- Monsanto’s product RoundUp damages soil and creates resistance in weeds. Americans should consider the kinds of nasty chemicals they use to eliminate unwanted weeds – it doesn’t take long before all you have is more weeds and damaged soil.
