November 11th, 2011

Confession: I’m a mom, and I like rap, and I tolerate a suburban overlay.

So maybe I was primed to like this video. But I think teens getting together to spread a message about ocean conservation is well, it should make some adults think a little more about this subject.

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October 20th, 2011

The Center for Biological Diversity has stepped up its condom giveaway campaign in anticipation of the world passing the 7 billion benchmark.
The campaign, which wraps free condoms inside a package featuring an endangered animal is both edgy and cute at the same time. You could even say it’s over the top, but we’re trying to keep the puns to a minimum.

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August 9th, 2010

The Rocky Mountain gray wolves are back on the Endangered Species List after a federal judge ruled last week that the government did not follow the law in removing the wolves from federal protections last year. The new ruling means that the wolf hunts in Montana and Idaho that claimed 260 wolves during the 2009-2010 hunting season will not resume this fall.

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April 1st, 2010

President Obama's decision to open up off-shore drilling drew mixed reaction.

From Green Right Now Reports

Environmental groups were taken aback by President Obama’s announcement this week that the U.S. would open vast areas along the Eastern Seaboard, in the Gulf of Mexico and selected areas of the Alaskan Arctic to off-shore oil and gas leasing. Reaction ranged from pure outrage to a more measured response from big groups that clearly want to maintain good relations with a White House that has pitched some wins their way.

The World Wildlife Fund and the Natural Resources Defense Council, for instance, issued straightforward statements saying they were not happy with the new drilling, but pleased with restrictions in some areas and glad that the administration is pursuing oil conservation measures like new higher mileage and stricter emissions standards for cars.

The best line:

“Short of sending Sarah Palin back to Alaska to personally club polar bear cubs to death, the Obama administration could not have come up with a more efficient extinction plan for the polar bear,” said Brendan Cummings, senior counsel at the Center for Biological Diversity.

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March 19th, 2010

From Green Right Now Reports

As a new climate and energy bill winds its way through the U.S. Senate, opponents and watchdog groups are voicing concerns that the proposed legislation could strip power away from the Environmental Protection Agency and individual states.

According to reports, a draft in progress from Senators John Kerry (D-Mass.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) would call for greenhouse gas curbs across multiple economic sectors, with a target of reducing emissions 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020 and 80 percent by 2050. Power plant emissions would be regulated in 2012, with other major industrial sources phased in starting in 2016.

The three met with industry leaders on March 17 to discuss features of the bill. Among the potentially controversial items: Restricting the EPA’s powers to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act and curbing states’ climate laws and regulations.

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March 19th, 2010

By Kate Nolan
Green Right Now

The recovery of North American bald eagles is a triumph for the Endangered Species Act.

One of the first species proposed for listing under the Act in 1973, bald eagles in the lower 48 states grew from a failing population of just 400 breeding pairs to 8,000-9,000 before they left the ESA list in August 2007.

A ban on the insecticide DDT initially halted the deadly assault on the species, but it was the Act’s sustained defense of eagle breeding zones that allowed the birds to multiply exponentially over the 34 years of protection.

DDT (which reduces the bird’s ability to reproduce) is still banned, and breeding areas will remain protected during a monitoring period that may last 20 years.

Now, almost three years since delisting, information is emerging on the condition of the birds. Much looks promising, but concerns linger, such as the risk of lead poisoning, illegal shootings and a controversy over whether eagles in the Southwest still need ESA protection.

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January 25th, 2010

Arizona wildlife authorities should have notified federal officers before setting a trap last year that ensnared a jaguar, leading to the death of the cat, according to an investigative report by the U.S. Inspector General’s office released last week.

Because the jaguar is an endangered species, the local authorities were supposed to notify the federal wildlife overseers and obtain a permit for the capture, investigators found. Their failure to apply for a permit was a violation of the Endangered Species Act.

Arizona Game and Fish Department authorities have maintained that the capture was inadvertant. But the IG’s office found that even that circumstance did not exempt local wardens from needing a permit while conducting operations in known jaguar territory.

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January 13th, 2010

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

Endangered jaguars have won a concession from the federal government that could lead to their recovery from the brink of extinction in the United States.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday that it will designate critical habitat for the wild cat, whose population has dwindled in the U.S. to the point where it is unknown how many, if any, remain in the country.

The FWS will propose specific areas for jaguar habitat by January 2011, according to a Federal Register announcement on Tuesday.

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December 9th, 2009

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

One of the most disheartening aspects of the Copenhagen climate talks, beyond the sheer weight of the topic, has been how politicians and handicappers have lowered expectations for the U.S..

Take, for example, the notion that President Obama cannot even sign a binding agreement in the absence of a Congressional mandate or climate bill to back him up, and that he must have a supportive Senate because they’ll be needed to ratify any climate treaty. (And clearly they’re not supportive, having failed so far to pass a strong climate bill, let alone a weak one.)

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December 3rd, 2009

By Harriet Blake

Two prominent environmental groups have proposed a direct approach to controlling carbon emissions that doesn’t require a new climate law, or even a cap-and-trade agreement.

The strategy is simple: Use the U.S. Clean Air Act.

On Wednesday, the Center for Biological Diversity and 350.org petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to set national limits for carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas pollution under the Clean Air Act.

The petition asks that greenhouse gases that are classified as “criteria” air pollutants, as well as atmospheric CO2, be capped at 350 parts per million (ppm) which is the level that many scientists now believe is required to avert the worst impacts of global warming.

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March 4th, 2009

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

This week the Obama Administration shored up the Endangered Species Act, restoring a rule rescinded by the Bush Administration that requires federal agencies to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service or the National Marine Fisheries Service when their activities could harm threatened or endangered species.

Obama announced the decision on Tuesday at the Interior Department, noting that “the work of scientist and experts in my administration, including right here in the Interior Department, will be respected.”

It was a statement that many conservationists could embrace as they work to maintain habitats, preserve federal park lands and stabilize animal populations under threat such as the Rocky Mountain gray wolves, the American Pika, polar bears, Atlantic lobsters, salmon and seals, among others.

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January 27th, 2009

By Laura Elizabeth May
Green Right Now

You now have at least one good excuse to stay at home and play games online. GoCrossCampus.org allows you to play a game of world domination in order to support a charity of your choice, including some charities that are eco-friendly. The game is described as a variety sport with a team based social gaming platform.

Five friends who went to Yale and Columbia created the game that was originally popular among Ivy League campuses. It gave members the chance fight for total domination in the name of their school pride. Now you can fight for total domination, in the name of saving the earth or fighting children’s cancer. How cool – and paradoxical – is that?

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