A great article addressing some common myths about recycling.

Recycling Myths

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Just in time for that special date next month, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) has released an in depth report on our representatives and their voting record on environmental concerns. Read all about it at their website:

The League of Conservation Voters

Below is a quick summary of John McCain’s record. It can be summed up quickly enough as a 0% rating for 2008, while Obama gets an 18% rating, both low ratings  mostly due to not being present to vote on the major environmental issues.  Lifetime ratings are, 24% for McCain and 72% for Obama.

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I include below an excellent article from The Guardian , by Alison Benjamin, on the state of honey bees in the US, Europe and Asia. The problem is still very serious and scientists still have no consensus regarding the cause of this bee die-off. The article is very comprehensive, and this is because she has written a book with, Brian McCallum, called ‘A World Without Bees‘. This is a must-read piece for those who care about the fate of honey bees and would like to learn more about their over-worked, and vital presence in our lives and our dependence on them.

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Butterflies are amazing, scientifically fascinating, beautiful creatures. Yes, of course I’m going to mention that their numbers are diminishing over the decades due to habitat loss and insecticide/herbicide use. This very good article, from The National Wildlife Federation covers the perils that these mighty lilliputians have experienced over the years as we humans have developed the land that used to contain their food plants. It also contains some heroic stories of individuals that have been responsible for saving some of these beauties from becoming extinct from the planet forever. These people are the thin line that is staving off humanity’s plunge into an Earth-wide extinction meltdown. If you want to help, the article also has links for some simple native plants you can grow in your yard to replenish their habitat. If we all did this in our yards, grow native plants and trees to feed the wildlife, provide water and shelter in the form of undisturbed areas and brambles, we could be a mighty force against habitat destruction. So, plant some milkweed for the monarchs!

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What? A politician talking about something of which he is not quite learned? Well, no big surprise there, eh? Shame, though. All it takes is a little time and patience and a commitment to the truth, not pandering to a crowd that may be as uninformed about the subject as McCain himself. And the subject in question? The conservation of wildlife, bears to be more specific. Yah, it’s important, not something to belittle. Who sponsored part of the original funding to study the bears? Conrad Burns, a republican.

• McCain Unbearable

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Yes, more sad news regarding seafood. Hey, what can I say? It’s the times we live in, not my fault. I know it gets to be a drag to hear about the neglectful state of our oceans and ocean-going creatures, but, what needs to be said needs to be said. We’ve put lots of stuff off for a long time, averting our gaze, hoping that we weren’t causing too much harm, but how long can that phase last? Fishing is an industry that simply must be modernized and made sustainable. We can’t continue to harvest the oceans like it’s 1899. Some in the fishing industry even recognize this, but many don’t. Scientists, those who’ve studied the oceans for a lifetime, have seen species crash right before their very eyes. It’s not theory, it’s fact. The problem is, how do we get humanity to change its wasteful binge here on Earth, because that requires a lifestyle change, a little sacrifice, as if somehow the whole pageant of life isn’t all about us…

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Our last best hope? At least part of humanity is very concerned about preserving one of Earth’s greatest treasures, the biodiversity that has evolved on this planet over the millenia. A repository, or vault, has been created near the Arctic Ocean, in Norway, to preserve seeds from all across the world, in hopes that we can keep safe these priceless results of evolution from destructive forces such as drought, disease, catastrophic disasters, and of course, humanity itself.

• Seed Vault

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It seems that the number of wolves has increased from around none to 1,500, in an area encompassing Idaho, Montana and Wyoming. Wooptie. Those are some very big, low population western states, and there are three of them. And now, they’re planning on opening up hunting for them. Wow. What kind of pathetic beings nearly wipe out a species, and then barely hold off until there are less than 2,000 of them to start killing them again? I’ve heard the crying stories before, about how inconvenient these creatures are. I just think we humans are weak and pathetic if we feel the need kill down everything that makes our lives a touch less easy or safe. After all, there are only over 6 BILLION of us.

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Below is a link to a nice summary, by Brian Walsh of Time magazine, of the current situation regarding the current emergency die-off of bees around the world, called ‘Colony Collapse Disorder’ (CCD). It’s still not confirmed exactly what is causing this problem, and it may well be that a combination of factors are leading to the vanishing of the bees. So far, the various possibilities include a virus, such as the Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV), parasites such as the vampiric Varroa destructor, or tracheal mites, or pesticides such as the insecticide Imidacloprid. So far, there is enough evidence to doubt that any one of these causes is fully responsible for the devastation that has burned through bee hives in the United States and Europe. One thing is for certain, though, and that is we absolutely must make understanding the cause of CCD a very top priority, to save the bees, and everything the bees make possible for humans and the Earth.

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Russ Feingold (D-WI) is at it again, thank goodness. Actually, it’s Feingold, along with Oberstar (D-MN), Dingell (D-MI) and Ehlers (R-MI), that have introduced the ‘Clean Water Restoration Act of 2007′. This act is in response to all of the damage that the Bush Administration has done to the ‘Clean Water Act’ in reducing or eliminating protection measures for streams, watersheds, and wetlands in the American southwest such as playas and desert springs. These are all vital sources of water for wildlife, and and people, and are, like many other natural resources, under attack by the Bush Administration by allowing industry to pollute and overuse them.

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