2010-01-29

The Super Green List: Connecting Human and Ocean Health | Seafood Watch | Monterey Bay Aquarium

Good for You, Good for the Oceans

Combining the work of conservation and public health organizations, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has identified seafood that is "Super Green," meaning that it is good for human health and does not harm the oceans. The Super Green list highlights products that are currently on the Seafood Watch "Best Choices" (green) list, are low in environmental contaminants and are good sources of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids.

This effort draws from experts in human health, notably scientists from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). The Monterey Bay Aquarium will continue to work with these organizations to balance the health and environmental attributes of seafood.

The Super Green list includes seafood that meets the following three criteria:

  • Low levels of contaminants (below 216 parts per billion [ppb] mercury and 11 ppb PCBs)
  • The daily minimum of omega-3s (at least 250 milligrams per day [mg/d])*
  • Classified as a Seafood Watch "Best Choice" (green)

Take a look at this web page to get the full scoop! The lists include "Best Choices" that are healthy and sustainable. You can also find a searchable database, and downloadable applications for your iPhone at http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/sfw_recommendations.aspxwhich is an associated page from the same site.

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2010-01-25

Green Jobs - Green Jobs Info & Resources #eco #jobs #green

Posted on 03. Feb, 2009 by jeff in Green Jobs

Use Your Skills for the Greater Green

There is at least one major sector of the American job market that is growing fast right now – despite the recession – and that’s green jobs. According the American Solar Energy Society’s 2007 green jobs report, [download here ] “green industries already generate 8.5 million jobs in the U.S., and with appropriate public policy, could grow to as many as 40 million jobs by 2030.” A recent New York Times article noted that “56,000 newly trained workers and 14,000 project managers would be needed to realize [President] Obama’s one-year goals for energy efficiency alone.”
Green jobs and careers are those that fall under industries that are in the process of “greening” America, or in other words, making this country more environmentally friendly and sustainable. They include everything from energy conservation and alternative energy to natural resource management to green construction. The following diagram presents many of the career pathways that you might pursue through Veterans Green Jobs.
veteran-green-jobs-academy-ed-pathways-narrowed

Veterans Green Jobs believe that green careers lead not only to job security and prosperity for our nations veterans, but that work which strengthens and heals our planet, economy and communities is inherently meaningful, especially for those citizens who have already expressed a willingness and leadership capacity in serving this country.
Please visit our site frequently, as we will be adding lots of information on green jobs and careers on an ongoing basis. In the meantime, here are some additional resources on green jobs (sometimes referred to as green-collar jobs).

Green Jobs Resources

Green for All
An overview of green-collar jobs
Green Mechanical Council
A consortium of green-minded professionals, businesses and unions
Green-Collar Vets
Linking veterans with green skills development, education and employment
Greenjobs.com Green Jobs Board
Please pass this along, especially to any veterans you know... they may not need this resource, but they may know someone who does.
Pass it on!

Is Genetically Modified Corn Toxic? : Discovery News #Food

Corn ears

In the United States, we grow and eat corn whose genes have been tweaked to make the plants more resistant to pests and pesticides. Most European countries don't, largely because the citizenry fears it isn't safe. But try as scientists might, they haven't been able to find any good reason why we shouldn't eat genetically modified (GM) food.

Until now. Maybe. A new analysis of data released by Monsanto pried from Monsanto's lawyers' cold dead hands by a tag-team of legal experts at Greenpeace and other groups suggests there may be something to the idea that we shouldn't be eating maize that's had its DNA messed with.

The study found that three strains of modded crops -- MON 810 and MON 863, which are resistant to pests, and NK 603, which is foritified to withstand weed killer -- significantly disrupted the blood chemistry of rats who ate them. According to an article in ...

See the original article for details!

But as is often the case in these type of reports, the conclusions aren't terribly convincing. For one, the effects are barely statistically significant, and the article goes on to say that independent toxicologists who saw the paper said Seralini was reading too much into the results.

So we're left with ambiguity. Terrific.

There's just one thing I want to know: why do activist groups have to team up to force Monsanto to release tests showing whether or not GM food is toxic? Shouldn't food have to be demonstrably NON-poisonous before anyone is allow to start feeding it to people??

Source: New Scientist

Image: Texas A&M University

Yep, gotta wonder what Monsanto doesn't want us to know...

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2010-01-21

If you ever had any doubt about who owns your butt, well, this should destroy any illusions: The Fix - Supreme Court overturns corporate campaign spending ban

Supreme Court overturns corporate campaign spending ban

It's hard to overestimate the impact that the Supreme Court's reversal of a two-decade-old ban on corporate independent expenditures in campaigns will have on the political landscape in 2010 and beyond.

The ruling, long anticipated and issued this morning, will allow corporations as well as labor unions to spend freely on television ads -- and other forms of direct advocacy -- for or against a candidate's election. The Court also overturned a prohibition on corporations and labor unions running so-called "issue" ads -- commercials that do not expressly advocate for the election or defeat of a candidate -- in the final weeks of a campaign.

"This is a sweeping decision, period," said Marc Elias, a Democratic election lawyer. "In one opinion the Court struck down all limits on independent expenditures directly from corporations."

The appointing of so many conservatives to the bench is definitely having it's impact. Thanks Amerika, for the Reagan, Bush, Bush years... what a disappointment.

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2010-01-18

Cruise ship docks at private beach in Haiti for barbeque and water sports via Boing Boing

Cruise ship docks at private beach in Haiti for barbeque and water sports

The Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines' ship Independence of the Seas went ahead with its scheduled stop at a fenced-in private Haitian beach surrounded by armed guards, leaving its passengers to "cut loose" on the beach, just a few kilometers from one of the worst humanitarian disasters in the region's history. The ship's owners justified it as a humanitarian call, because the ship also delivered 40 palettes of relief supplies while its passengers frolicked on zip-lines and ate barbeque within the 12-foot-high fence's perimeter:

The Florida cruise company leases a picturesque wooded peninsula and its five pristine beaches from the government for passengers to "cut loose" with watersports, barbecues, and shopping for trinkets at a craft market before returning on board before dusk. Safety is guaranteed by armed guards at the gate.

The decision to go ahead with the visit has divided passengers. The ships carry some food aid, and the cruise line has pledged to donate all proceeds from the visit to help stricken Haitians. But many passengers will stay aboard when they dock; one said he was "sickened".

"I just can't see myself sunning on the beach, playing in the water, eating a barbecue, and enjoying a cocktail while [in Port-au-Prince] there are tens of thousands of dead people being piled up on the streets, with the survivors stunned and looking for food and water," one passenger wrote on the Cruise Critic internet forum.

"It was hard enough to sit and eat a picnic lunch at Labadee before the quake, knowing how many Haitians were starving," said another. "I can't imagine having to choke down a burger there now.''

No words... no words...

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2010-01-15

Errors and lies thrive in cold weather - opinion - 14 January 2010 - New Scientist

Take a look at Michael Le Page's opinion piece on the "It's cold, so there must not be global warming" crock. Good links and reasonable thoughts... although the "reasonable" label doesn't necessarily apply to the Comments section below the piece.

 
 

Errors and lies thrive in cold weather

Global warming is still happening (Image: Ruaridh Connellan/Barcroft Media/Getty Images)

Global warming is still happening (Image: Ruaridh Connellan/Barcroft Media/Getty Images)

HERE'S the question to put to all those who confidently declare that the recent severe winter conditions prove that global warming is nonsense: "Next time there's a heatwave in summer or an unusually mild spell in winter, will you publicly accept that the 'warmists' were right all along? If not, why not? If a cold snap means the climate is getting colder, surely a spell of hot weather proves it is getting warmer?"

The point, of course, is that a bout of extreme weather does not prove anything about climate change. Climate is the average weather over decades.

That said, it is perfectly reasonable to ask why, if the world is warming, have so many places in the northern hemisphere been experiencing record lows? The answer is that for the past few decades cold Arctic air has mostly stayed in the Arctic over winter, trapped by strong winds spinning around the pole. This winter the vortex has weakened and in many places cold air is spilling further south than usual.

The result has been freezing weather for places as far afield as Florida, China and the UK. However, the Arctic, Greenland, much of the Mediterranean and southern Asia have been warmer than usual. So overall the northern hemisphere winter may be no colder than in previous years, it's just that the heat is distributed differently. Indeed, the average surface temperature of the entire planet during January may yet turn out to be one of the warmest on record.  

See the rest on the NewScientist Opinion page linked below.

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2010-01-02

Flow - For the Love of Water: Full Documentary @twilightearth

Flow – For the Love of Water: Full Documentary

by Adam Shake

flow_documentary

The full documentary film “Flow – For the Love of Water.” This award winning documentary is a must see film about what is becoming one of the most important issues of our time.

Irena Salina’s award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century – The World Water Crisis.

Adam's site is hosting links to several key videos. Each is tackling a different area of the spectrum of climate change, and ecological impact of our lifestyles and population. Another item that's definitely worth your time and
attention.

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Why Playing The Climate Blame Game Is So 2009 @ecosphericblog

Why Playing The Climate Blame Game Is "So 2009"

posted by: Beth Buczynski 1 day ago
Why Playing The Climate Blame Game Is
22 comments
It's New Year's Eve, the day before we embark on a fresh new decade of human existence. For those that are passionate about the world of environmental activism and progressive regulation, looking back on 2009 is likely to fill one with mixed emotions.

A great summary from Beth! Please take a look at the whole article!

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