5 Reasons to Protect Arizona’s Greater Grand Canyon...

Sep 30, 2016 Posted by

[Translate] Environment A national monument designation for this critical watershed would ensure its protection for future generations. By Mike Matz / Pew Charitable Trusts   VIA ALTERNET View of Colorado River, Page, Arizona, US Photo Credit: Nfoto/Shutterstock The proposed Greater Grand Canyon Heritage National Monument, composed of public lands that surround its famous namesake, is filled with rugged cliffs, pine forests, deep canyons, and grasslands. While this area protects clean drinking water for this parched region, and provides it to millions of people living downstream, the land also supports countless opportunities for outdoor recreation. The Colorado River and its underground springs supply clean water that millions of people downstream rely on—but pollution from some mining and clear-cutting activities threatens this source. (image © Kristen M. Caldon) 1. Protect clean water. World-renowned for its whitewater, the Colorado...

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INHABITAT INTERVIEW: Green Architect & Cradle to Cradle Founder William McDonough...

Sep 29, 2016 Posted by

INHABITAT INTERVIEW: Green Architect & Cradle to Cradle Founder William McDonough

[Translate] /wiki/Sustainable_design”>green design movement and one of the preeminent thought-leaders of our time. His approach to sustainable design spans the entire industry – from large-scale projects (like designing the largest and most ambitious green roof in the world) to developing the most rigorous green product standard available. We recently had the opportunity to speak with Bill at the GreenBuild Conference about his work and the future of green design. We were joined by Howard Williams, VP of Construction Specialties, a leading proponent of safe materials in products, who introduced the company’s latest Cradle to Cradle-certified products. The thought-provoking and energetic conversation gave us a taste of how intimately intertwined design is with a product’s real-world impact – read on for our exclusive interview! INHABITAT: What inspired you to write ‘Cradle to Cradle‘ (the book)...

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STANDING FIRM AT STANDING ROCK: WHY THE STRUGGLE IS BIGGER THAN ONE PIPELINE...

Sep 29, 2016 Posted by

STANDING FIRM AT STANDING ROCK: WHY THE STRUGGLE IS BIGGER THAN ONE PIPELINE

[Translate]   By Sarah Jaffe / Moyers & Company   A “speak-out” on the road to the Dakota Access pipeline construction site earlier in September. (Sarah Jaffe for BillMoyers.com) The first sign that not everything is normal as you drive down Highway 1806 toward the Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota is a checkpoint manned by camouflage-clad National Guard troops. The inspection on Sept. 13 was perfunctory; they simply asked if we knew “what was going on down the road” and then waved us through, even though the car we rode in had “#NoDAPL” chalked on its rear windshield. “What is going on down the road” is a massive camp-in led by the Standing Rock nation, aimed at blocking the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (the DAPL in question), which would carry oil...

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ASLA LAUNCHES GUIDE TO RESILIENT DESIGN...

Sep 28, 2016 Posted by

ASLA LAUNCHES GUIDE TO RESILIENT DESIGN

[Translate] ASLA Launches Guide to Resilient Design THE DIRT  Jared Green Resilient design / ASLA A new online guide launched today by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA) explains how communities can better protect themselves from natural disasters through resilient landscape planning and design. According to the guide, the goal of resilient landscape planning and design is to retrofit communities to recover more quickly from extreme events, now and in the future. In an era when disasters can cause traditional, built systems to fail, adaptive, multilayered systems can maintain their vital functions and are often the more cost-effective and practical solutions. The guide is organized around disruptive events that communities now experience: drought, extreme heat, fire, flooding, and landslides. Biodiversity loss is an underlying threat also explored. The guide includes hundreds of case studies...

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IT’S TIME FOR EVERY ALLY TO SHOW UP IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE...

Sep 28, 2016 Posted by

IT’S TIME FOR EVERY ALLY TO SHOW UP IN THE FIGHT AGAINST THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE

[Translate]   The temporary halt to the pipeline’s construction must be made permanent. By Tom Goldtooth and Annie Leonard   THE NATION.COM People against the Dakota Access Pipeline chant in opposition on Thursday, August 11, 2016, at a site where a roadway was being constructed to begin the process of building the pipeline. (AP Photo / Tom Stromme) Over the last month, thousands of Native Americans from across the country have converged to camp in and around the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota to oppose the construction of the multibillion-dollar Dakota Access oil pipeline. The pipeline, which would transfer crude oil to existing pipelines in Illinois, would come within a half-mile of the reservation and cross culturally significant ancestral sites. It would also run under the Missouri River, an important water source for...

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SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COULD FEED THE WORLD’S GROWING POPULATION AND PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT...

Sep 28, 2016 Posted by

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT COULD FEED THE WORLD’S GROWING POPULATION AND PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT

[Translate]   By Tim Radford / Climate News Network  VIA TRUTHDIG     African farmers using cattle to thresh wheat in Eritrea, a region vulnerable to climate change. (David Stanley via Flickr) LONDON—More than half of all the world’s maize crops and around a third of all wheat and rice will be grown in regions vulnerable to climate change in the next 50 to 100 years, according to new research. At the same time, the world’s population will grow to 9 billion, and global food production will need to rise by from 60% to 110% by 2050 to keep up with demand. Such changes will inevitably hit the poorest nations hardest, and will put at hazard the planet’s remaining wilderness areas and the surviving wild plants and animals that keep ecosystems stable. But a...

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What’s the True Cost of Fracking? This Eye-Opening Infographic May Surprise You...

Sep 28, 2016 Posted by

[Translate] Environment There are significant pros and cons, making fracking a highly controversial issue. By Reynard Loki / AlterNet KERN COUNTY, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 26, 2013: Pumpjacks extract oil from an oilfield in Kern County, CA. About 15 billion barrels of oil could be extracted using hydraulic fracturing in California. Photo Credit: Christopher Halloran / Shutterstock.com Arsenic. Cadmium. Chromium. Radon. Lead. These are just a few of the toxins used in hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking, a controversial drilling process to retrieve oil and natural gas from shale deposits under the surface of the Earth. Concerns about the process have been mounting, as studies have linked it to a host of environmental and public health problems, from increased infant mortality and low birth weight babies to the release of cancer-causing radioactive gas, contamination of drinking...

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HERMIONE VS. VOLDEMORT: WHAT DENIERS CAN TEACH US HOW TO DEBATE TRUMP...

Sep 26, 2016 Posted by

HERMIONE VS. VOLDEMORT: WHAT DENIERS CAN TEACH US HOW TO DEBATE TRUMP

[Translate] Clinton needs to hammer away on climate change. THINK PROGRESS CREDIT: Warner Brothers Pictures/Wikia The bad guys may always lose in the end of movies like Harry Potter, but not in real life. ‘’You can say anything you want during a debate and 80 million people hear it,’’ observed Peter Teeley, press secretary to Vice President Bush. If reporters then document that a candidate spoke untruthfully, “so what?’’ — New York Times, November 1, 1984 The most important rule in modern public debating is that there are no rules. That means it’s very hard to beat outright someone like Donald Trump — a professional B.S. artist skilled in the art of rhetoric (persuasive, emotional speech). In fact, Trump is such a serial liar that when Politico analyzed last week’s public statements by the two candidates, the centrist publication...

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10 Reasons You Should Start Foraging for Your Own Food...

Sep 25, 2016 Posted by

10 Reasons You Should Start Foraging for Your Own Food

[Translate] Environment Nature is teeming with edibles. You just need to look. By Pascal Baudar / AlterNet Man holding fresh Chestnuts picked from the forest floor Photo Credit: Sam Spicer/Shutterstock In the past few years, foraging—collecting edibles in the wild—has become more popular as people have rediscovered the joy of connecting with nature and enjoying its bounty. Done properly, foraging can be a fun activity, and benefit nature too. I’m not talking about commercial foraging (which can have drawbacks), but a more fun and personal approach to the concept of eating wild food. Personally I actually like to use the term wildcrafting, instead of foraging. The difference is subtle but important: Wildcrafting is not about taking from nature, but working with it and even helping the environment. Wikipedia has an excellent definition for wildcrafting:...

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WHO PUMPED MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER DURING CALIFORNIA’S DROUGHT?...

Sep 25, 2016 Posted by

WHO PUMPED MILLIONS OF GALLONS OF WATER DURING CALIFORNIA’S DROUGHT?

[Translate] Google, City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, U.S. Census Bureau Wet prince of bel air Who pumped millions of gallons of water during California’s drought? By Michael Corey and Lance Williams   GRIST This story was originally published by Reveal and is reproduced here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Los Angeles officials have steadfastly refused to identify the Wet Prince of Bel Air, the homeowner who pumped an astonishing 11.8 million gallons of water during a single year of California’s crippling drought. The city said naming water-wasting customers wasn’t in the public interest, even after Reveal found last fall from The Center for Investigative Reporting that 100 residents of wealthy neighborhoods on the Westside of L.A. were pumping millions of gallons of water apiece, drought or no. And one household in...

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THE LAST TIME SUMMER WAS THIS HOT, HUMAN BEINGS HADN’T YET LEFT AFRICA (VIDEO)...

Sep 25, 2016 Posted by

[Translate]   By Juan Cole / Informed Comment  @ TRUTHDIG Summer of 2016 was not only hotter than any summer on record, i.e. since 1880.  We have enough proxies for global average temperature to know that it was hotter than any summer since at least 1016, when Genoa launched a campaign against Muslim Sardinia and Norway not only got a new king but it mattered in global affairs.  But that “at least” is a trick.  Eminent climate scientist Michael Mann says there is “tentative but compelling evidence” that it was hotter this past summer than it has been at any point in 100,000 years.  In 100,000 before present, the great human migration out of Africa of 60,000 years B.P. had not yet occurred.  (A few small bands went to the Middle East in the...

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BRILLIANT GRAPHIC SHOWS SURFACE AREA REQUIRED TO POWER CALIFORNIA WITH 100% RENEWABLES...

Sep 24, 2016 Posted by

BRILLIANT GRAPHIC SHOWS SURFACE AREA REQUIRED TO POWER CALIFORNIA WITH 100% RENEWABLES

[Translate] by Tafline Laylin  INHABITAT View Slideshow Cold hard science in the clean energy space has a wonderful way of debunking misinformation fueled by politics and corporate greed, and nobody does that better than the husband and wife team behind the Land Art Generator Initiative (LAGI). Elizabeth and Monoian and Robert Ferry have dished up an illuminating new infographic which demonstrates how much surface area is required to transition California away from energy sources that jeopardize planetary health to 100 percent renewables; take a closer look after the jump. LAGI writes: “Starting in 2009 with the Surface Area Required to Power the World with Solar, we have been making the case that the renewable energy transition, while a huge undertaking, is not any more ambitious in scale than previous human endeavors, and that the...

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TINY NEW FLAT-PACKED OFF-GRID HOMES OFFER AFFORDABLE HOUSING BREAKTHROUGH...

Sep 24, 2016 Posted by

TINY NEW FLAT-PACKED OFF-GRID HOMES OFFER AFFORDABLE HOUSING BREAKTHROUGH

[Translate] by Lacy Cooke  INHABITAT View Slideshow For 11 years, Australia‘s five major cities have been listed as “severely unaffordable” – making home ownership just a dream for many. Architect Alex Symes realized home ownership is typically tied to land ownership, but land prices are now so high, most people can’t afford to buy. As a result, Alex started Big World Homes. The goal is to disrupt expensive city housing with tiny, flat-packed, off-grid homes that sell for between $60K and $80K in Australian dollars, or around $45K to $60K. A Big World Home is created with 39 flat-pack panels, which are comprised of “low environmental impact materials“, including plywood, thermal insulation, and lightweight cladding. Even people without building experience can erect a Build World Home using a drill and a hammer, with access...

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PROPOSED ‘BORDER CITY’ BETWEEN U.S. AND MEXICO SOLVES MANY PROBLEMS AT ONCE...

Sep 24, 2016 Posted by

PROPOSED ‘BORDER CITY’ BETWEEN U.S. AND MEXICO SOLVES MANY PROBLEMS AT ONCE

[Translate] by Lidija Grozdanic   INHABITAT View Slideshow In light of recent global events and the ongoing US presidential campaign, immigration and border control have once again become one of the most polarizing political and economic issues. As a way of offering a viable solution for areas where frontiers meet, architect Fernando Romero of fr*ee has conceived a masterplan for a binational city located on the cusp of New Mexico, Texas and Chihuahua. Fernando Romero, fr*ee architects, Border City, London Design Biennale, binational city, Mexico, Mexico border, city masterplan, urban design, urban planning The “Border City”, currently being exhibited at the London Design Biennale, is meant to function as a special zone where cultures “both clash and blend to create something altogether unique”. It draws from various international examples of “border situations” and aims to...

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LESSONS FROM A CITY BUILT WITHOUT LIGHT SWITCHES AND WATER TAPS...

Sep 24, 2016 Posted by

LESSONS FROM A CITY BUILT WITHOUT LIGHT SWITCHES AND WATER TAPS

[Translate] The best way to future-proof cities is to let them innovate—and sometimes fail. Wind tower at Masdar Institute of Science and Technology in Masdar City, United Arab Emirates (left); Birmingham, England. (Photos: Iain Masterton/Getty Images; Loop Images/UIG via Getty Images) Sep 19, 2016 Katharine Gammon has written for Nature, Wired, Discover, and Popular Science. A new mom, she lives in Santa Monica.   For 2,000 residents living just outside Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, experiencing the city of the future is a kind of waking dream. Masdar City is designed to take advantage of renewable energy, with a goal of being the most sustainable city in the world. It doesn’t even have light switches or water taps. The 87,000 solar panels that power the city and the mostly recycled water running through its...

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THE PATENT THAT COULD DESTROY MONSANTO AND CHANGE THE WORLD …...

Sep 23, 2016 Posted by

THE PATENT THAT COULD DESTROY MONSANTO AND CHANGE THE WORLD …

[Translate] ECOSNIPPETS.COM   If there’s anything you read – or share – let this be it. The content of this article has potential to radically shift the world in a variety of positive ways. And as Monsanto would love for this article to not go viral, all we can ask is that you share, share, share the information being presented so that it can reach as many people as possible. In 2006, a patent was granted to a man named Paul Stamets. Though Paul is the world’s leading mycologist, his patent has received very little attention and exposure. Why is that? Stated by executives in the pesticide industry, this patent represents “the most disruptive technology we have ever witnessed.” And when the executives say disruptive, they are referring to it being disruptive to the chemical...

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‘A Five-Alarm Threat to Our Food Supply’: Experts Describe Bayer-Monsanto Merger...

Sep 23, 2016 Posted by

‘A Five-Alarm Threat to Our Food Supply’: Experts Describe Bayer-Monsanto Merger

[Translate] Food A scary future for farmers around the world. By Katherine Paul / AlterNet NEW YORK CITY – MAY 23 2015: environmental activists joined a global day out against Monsanto’s GMO programs & demanding that foods be labeled. Photo Credit: a katz / Shutterstock.com It’s been about a week since Monsanto and Bayer confirmed their intention to say “I do”—ample time for media, lawmakers, consumer and farmer advocacy groups, and of course the happy couple themselves, to weigh in on the pros and cons. Reactions poured in from all the usual suspects. Groups like the Farmers Union, Food & Water Watch, Friends of the Earth and others didn’t mince words when it came to condemning the deal. (Organic Consumers Association tagged it a “Marriage Made in Hell” back in May, pre-announcement, when the two mega-corporations were still...

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THE BIGGEST THING A PRESIDENT’S EVER DONE ON CLIMATE IS IN THE HANDS OF 10 JUDGES...

Sep 23, 2016 Posted by

THE BIGGEST THING A PRESIDENT’S EVER DONE ON CLIMATE IS IN THE HANDS OF 10 JUDGES

[Translate] Revisit the history before the Clean Power Plan goes to court. CLIMATE PROGRESS Mountains of coal; wind turbine. CREDIT: FLICKR USER WACKELIJMROOSTER The Obama administration’s biggest action to cut carbon emissions from the power sector will get its biggest test next Tuesday when the full en banc D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals hears West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency. The case will decide whether the EPA violated the law when it finalized its carbon rule — the Clean Power Plan — to regulate greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector under the Clean Air Act. This is a significant case, and the D.C. Circuit took the somewhat unprecedented step of having the full court (that’s what en banc means) hear the case instead of the court’s normal three-judge panel — previously scheduled for a hearing last June. This signifies both...

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BATTLING MOTHER NATURE: Why New York probably won’t abandon its waterfront in the face of climate change...

Sep 22, 2016 Posted by

BATTLING MOTHER NATURE: Why New York probably won’t abandon its waterfront in the face of climate change

[Translate] The city can’t surrender its waterfront. But it will have to do something to make it storm-proof. Ben Adler, Grist   FILE – This Dec. 4, 2012, file photo shows the ruins of Breezy Point in the Queens borough of New York where fire burned 130 houses during Superstorm Sandy. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)(Credit: AP) This post initially appeared on Grist Even under the best-case scenarios for climate change, much of New York City will be under water in 100 years. The city would be smart to retreat from its waterfront, according to experts quoted in a recent alarming feature article in New York magazine. But should the city really abandon its coastlines? And, given current political realities, how could it even do so? The article, written by Andrew Rice, suggests that waterfront...

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WAVE POWER HAS FINALLY COME TO THE UNITED STATES...

Sep 21, 2016 Posted by

WAVE POWER HAS FINALLY COME TO THE UNITED STATES

[Translate] GRIST Briefly Stuff that matters the motion of the ocean Shutterst Less than a mile off the shores of Hawaii, two buoys are hard at work, bobbing up and down as they turn energy from the ocean’s movement into electricity. That electricity travels ashore to Oahu’s power grid through an undersea cable. It’s a test project, producing only enough power for about a dozen households. But it’s the first successful wave-energy project in the United States so far (in the wake of an abandoned project off the Oregon coast), despite experiments that date all the way back to the 19th century. Though development lags decades behind wind and solar, wave power has huge potential. The U.S Department of Energy projects that waves off the U.S. coastline could power more than 200 million homes. But harvesting energy from...

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VIDEO: ALMOST EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS IS OUTDATED...

Sep 21, 2016 Posted by

VIDEO: ALMOST EVERYTHING YOU KNOW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE SOLUTIONS IS OUTDATED

[Translate]   The clean energy revolution is now unstoppable. THINK PROGRESS BY JOEL ROMM Europe’s biggest floating solar panel array at a UK reservoir. CREDIT: Matt Dunham, AP. Back in May, I began a series, “Almost everything you know about climate change solutions is outdated.” It’s now in its fifth month because the clean energy revolution keeps making big advances in real time that are ignored or misreported by major media outlets like the New York Times. Fortunately, some of the most sophisticated and credible energy and financial institutions have been analyzing the trend in detail. These include Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), the International Energy Agency, and Goldman Sachs to name but three. Coal And Gas To Begin ‘Terminal Decline’ In Less Than A Decade, Bloomberg Says A stunning new forecast on “peak fossil...

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GHOST FORESTS ARE EERIE EVIDENCE OF RISING SEAS...

Sep 19, 2016 Posted by

GHOST FORESTS ARE EERIE EVIDENCE OF RISING SEAS

[Translate] Shutterstock coastal ghosts By John Upton GRIST Cross-posted from Climate Central Jennifer Walker stepped off her kayak into a wall of riverside grass. She steadied herself and stooped to scoop soil into a jar, then disappeared into the thicket for more. Analysis of amoeba fossils in the researcher’s samples may help to explain why, jutting above the head-high marsh grass a couple hundred feet further back, a cedar forest was dead. Bare trunks of dead coastal forests are being discovered up and down the mid-Atlantic coastline, killed by the advance of rising seas. The “ghost forests,” as scientists call them, offer eerie evidence of some of the world’s fastest rates of sea-level rise. ghost-forest-2 Ted Blanco/Climate Central Forests provide habitat and protect against global warming, but they’re declining worldwide because of land clearing,...

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SHOULD NEW YORK CITY ABANDON ITS WATERFRONT?...

Sep 19, 2016 Posted by

SHOULD NEW YORK CITY ABANDON ITS WATERFRONT?

[Translate] Rockaway Park, NYC, a few weeks after Hurricane Sandy. cgc76 Wet behind the piers By Ben Adler GRIST Even under the best-case scenarios for climate change, much of New York City will be under water in 100 years. The city would be smart to retreat from its waterfront, according to experts quoted in a recent alarming feature article in New York magazine. But should the city really abandon its coastlines? And, given current political realities, how could it even do so? The article, written by Andrew Rice, suggests that waterfront areas where new high-rise offices, apartment buildings, and parks are being developed — such as the far west side of Midtown Manhattan, Brooklyn’s Williamsburg, and Queens’ Long Island City — will be inundated and uninhabitable circa 2100. The crucial point Rice makes is...

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NEW PATENT BOOSTS HOPE FOR CARBON CAPTURE...

Sep 19, 2016 Posted by

[Translate] By Tim Radford / Climate News Network Emissions from coal-fired power plants have massively increased carbon dioxide ratios in the atmosphere. (UniversityBlogSpot via Flickr) LONDON—A technology that could in theory catch 90% of carbon dioxide from coal-fired power stations has been patented by US government scientists. Employing an enzyme-based membrane fabric 10 times thinner than a soap bubble, it could separate carbon dioxide from nitrogen or oxygen and speed up its dissolution in water by a factor of 10 million. And its triumphant designers say that, in laboratory trials, it does the job—at a cost-effective $40 a ton. “If we applied it to a single coal-fired power plant, then over one year we could avoid CO2 emissions equivalent to planting 63 million trees and letting them grow for 10 years,” says Susan Rempe,...

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FRANCE BECOMES FIRST COUNTRY TO BAN PLASTIC SILVERWARE, PLATES AND CUPS...

Sep 19, 2016 Posted by

FRANCE BECOMES FIRST COUNTRY TO BAN PLASTIC SILVERWARE, PLATES AND CUPS

[Translate] Kristin Falzon   ECO WATCH France is taking another big step towards being more environmentally conscious by implementing a controversial new law that will ban plastic cutlery, plates and cups. The measure was part of the Energy Transition For Green Growth bill that was passed in 2015 and went into effect last month. But producers of disposal plates, cups and cutlery will have until 2020 to make sure their products are made with biologically sourced materials and can be composted. The ban was initially proposed by the Europe Ecologie-Greens Party to help cut the energy used in making plastic in addition to the waste it creates. While the move is sure to please environmentalists, opponents argue that product bans hurt consumers. Pack2Go Europe Secretary General Eamonn Bates told The Associated Press the company is...

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Why the Dakota Access pipeline fight may be a turning point in U.S. environmental politics...

Sep 18, 2016 Posted by

Why the Dakota Access pipeline fight may be a turning point in U.S. environmental politics

[Translate] Earth Journal By Ron Meador REUTERS/Andrew Cullen A sage tie, which has spiritual significance for Native American Plains tribes, hangs at the Seven Council camp, one of three encampments that have grown on the banks of the Cannon Ball River over the last month with the purpose of stopping construction of the Dakota Access oil pipeline near Cannon Ball, North Dakota. In about two weeks’ time, Indian-led opposition to the Dakota Access oil pipeline has grown in stature from a somewhat local, perhaps desperate struggle to what may well prove a watershed event in modern American history, marking significant shifts in environmental politics and  pipeline policy. Given the Obama administration’s newfound willingness to give it more federal review, announced last Friday, it seems at least possible that the 1,172-mile pipeline, said by its...

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WHAT DESIGNERS CAN LEARN FROM INDIGENOUS CULTURES IN THE COMING YEARS...

Sep 17, 2016 Posted by

WHAT DESIGNERS CAN LEARN FROM INDIGENOUS CULTURES IN THE COMING YEARS

[Translate] By Steven Bingler   COMMONEDGE.ORG Scientists have now confirmed that a significant rise in sea levels will occur over the next several decades, creating extreme, and in some cases catastrophic, changes in our coastal landscapes. Millions will be faced with moving to higher ground. This “climate retreat”—which will be the planning issue of our time—is already underway.   On Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula, more than 800 Quinault Indian Nation tribal members are being forced to abandon their traditional clamming, crabbing and salmon fishing businesses, and resettle on safer land. Fawn Sharp, the Nation’s president recently lamented:  “Our ancestors were good stewards of the land, yet we seem to be paying the price for others who don’t share the same values.”   For thousands of years, indigenous planners like those in the Quinault Nation relied on...

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USING BIOMIMICRY TO REDESIGN THE FOOD SYSTEM...

Sep 17, 2016 Posted by

USING BIOMIMICRY TO REDESIGN THE FOOD SYSTEM

[Translate] Using Biomimicry to Redesign the Food System By: Arty Mangan » Bioneers Blog » Eating is our most intimate relationship with nature. Every time we take a bite of food there is an ecological, economic and social consequence. Food and all its associated activities – growing, processing, distributing, retailing, etc. – impact the environment more than any other human endeavor. Bioneers, for 27 years, has been at the forefront of promoting innovative ideas and practices for developing a healthy, just, and sustainable food system. Bioneers can trace its origins to Seeds of Change and the Native Scholars Program, which worked with indigenous farmers to help conserve traditional cultural practices and seed stocks. Later on, we designed a blueprint for a statewide healthy food system with the Dreaming New Mexico project. Today, we are proud to be hosting the Biomimicry Institute’s Global Design Challenge for Food Systems Innovation at this year’s Bioneers conference. Transforming the dominant food system will require...

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WORLD’S FIRST BOAT POWERED BY 100 PERCENT RENEWABLES TO CIRCLE GLOBE...

Sep 16, 2016 Posted by

WORLD’S FIRST BOAT POWERED BY 100 PERCENT RENEWABLES TO CIRCLE GLOBE

[Translate]   LORRAINE CHOW OF ECOWATCH ON BUZZFLASH AT TRUTHOUT (Photo: EcoWatch)Article reprinted with permission from Ecowatch The Energy Observer, the world’s first boat powered by solar, wind and self-generated hydrogen, is gearing up for its scheduled maiden journey in February. The €4.2m ($4.72 million) vessel—nicknamed the “Solar Impulse of the Seas”—aims to circumnavigate the globe using only clean power, a feat similar to Solar Impulse 2‘s historic, solar-powered flight around the world that was completed this past July. The boat will sail for six years around the world as a floating exhibition and clean energy laboratory, with stops in 50 countries and 101 ports of call. “For the first time, Energy Observer will allow us to explore the oceans without leaving any trace behind us,” Jerome Delafosse, a director and co-captain of the...

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LOS ANGELES CITY COUNCIL BACKS PLANNING FOR 100 PERCENT RENEWABLE ENERGY...

Sep 16, 2016 Posted by

[Translate] Samantha Page Climate Reporter at @ThinkProgress. Solar electrical panels are installed on the roof of a home in Glendale, CA. CREDIT: AP PHOTO/REED SAXON The Los Angeles City Council took a major step Friday toward making the city run on clean energy alone. The Council directed the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) to develop a plan for going 100 percent renewable, including looking at where, when, and how the city should allocate resources to achieve that goal. In the motion, Councilmembers Paul Krekorian and Mike Bonin wrote that “the city has an opportunity to re-create its utility in a way that recognizes the potential for a fossil-free future, demonstrates global leadership in its commitment to clean energy, and protects ratepayers from the increasing costs of carbon-based fuels.” It passed unanimously, 12–0,...

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