Noah Friedman-Rudovsky for The New York Times

CLIMATE CHANGE

Eight organizations called Wednesday for Congress and the next president to spend more on climate science.

A bill calling for financial incentives to target greenhouse gases would be the first in the nation. It is also the first legislation to link transportation funding with climate policy.

CONSERVATION

Russia's Lake Baikal, the world's oldest and deepest freshwater lake, and the biggest by volume, is growing warmer, dirtier and more crowded. Environmentalists who are working to save it call it a test case for freshwater lakes worldwide.

The plan to remove automatic review by fish and wildlife experts is truly alarming. It's one of several regulations the lame-duck Bush administration is trying to push through to reward its backers and tie the hands of its successors.

Kempthorne is secretary of the Interior.

It was the one part of the six-lane intercounty connector that even highway haters embraced as a small but eco-friendly offset to a road that will pave over streams, woods and wildlife. Now, the possibility of building a continuous, off-road bicycle and walking trail along the Maryland highway's 18.8-mile route is in jeopardy -- in the name of protecting the environment.

There Ought to Be a Roadless Law (NY Times)
Legally, there is no guaranteed protection for roadless forests. Congress must intervene.

The great-grandson of the man who gave the park to the city wants Los Angeles to call it a historic-cultural monument.

Letter: Few people realize that worldwide we are experiencing the greatest species extinctions in human history, roughly one species every 20 minutes, according to mid-range estimates. We could lose more than one-third the species on Earth in less than 50 years because of climate change -- sources of foods, medicines, raw materials and natural filters for our water and air, among other wonders of nature. -- PETER A. SELIGMANN, Chairman and Chief Executive, Conservation International.

According to a national survey by an environmental advocacy group, there's a strong economic incentive to keep that endangered underwater world as healthy as possible: The USA's 1.2 million active scuba divers contribute more than $4.1 million dollars to local coastal economies each year, spending an average of $2,424 per trip. What's more, they'll cough up extra cash for a better chance of communing with sea turtles and sharks in a sound coral reef environment.

ANIMAL RIGHTS

The Dallas Zoo has decided to keep a troubled elephant named Jenny and build a larger exhibit for her after a public outcry over plans to send the animal to a wildlife park in Mexico.

An abandoned baby whale that has been attempting to suckle boats in the waters off north Sydney will be euthanized because it is in such poor condition, an environmental official said Thursday. Some Australians have accused wildlife officials of not doing enough to help the calf or trying to feed it.

POLLUTION

Army divers are removing tires used in the 1970s to make an artificial reef at Saltwater State Park. Toxins in the rubber leached into the water over time, with potential hazards for fish in Puget Sound and the people who eat them.

NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION

A Bush administration proposal to exempt India from restriction on nuclear trade has aroused skepticism from several members of the 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group, diplomats said yesterday, making it increasingly unlikely that a deal will be reached in two-day meetings that begin today in Vienna.

OIL DRILLING

Energy companies bid hundreds of millions of dollars yesterday to explore for oil and natural gas beneath 1.8 million acres in the western Gulf of Mexico, while they look forward to the possibility of future drilling in federal waters now off limits.

SUSTAINABILITY

Gholz is an associate professor at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Press is an associate professor of government at Dartmouth College.

There were no fewer than four windmills in place in 1638, when New York was still New Amsterdam and owned by the Dutch.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg is backing off his suggestion to put windmills on city bridges and rooftops after newspapers mocked the idea with photo illustrations of turbines on the Brooklyn Bridge and the Empire State Building. ''Windmills are no panacea for our problems,'' he said.. ''They can help, just like biofuels can help, just like tides can help. In the end it is conservation that is the main thing you and I can do and that we can do in this city.''

Letter: The inescapable dilemma is whether we can in good conscience saddle future generations with the burden of storing these toxic materials for centuries to come. -- Jim Ryan, Cincinnati.

A number of designers are promoting an eco-conscious approach to landscape design.

WATER SUPPLY

Bottling Plan Pushes Groundwater to Center Stage in Vermont (NY Times)
A businessman’s plan to bottle water in East Montpelier, Vt., has his neighbors nervous about how it will affect their ability to shower and flush.

Antonio Villaraigosa wants the city to abide by the same 'drought buster' restrictions as residents and business. His order came in response to a Times video showing waste.

Chrysler and three lead wheel weight makers agree to the phaseout in a settlement of a suit brought by an environmental group, which contended the car parts threatened drinking water.

FOOD SAFETY

SOCIAL JUSTICE

China’s Rise Goes Beyond Gold Medals (NY Times)
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
The most important bilateral relationship in the world in the coming years will be the one between China and the United States. Mr. Bush should have spoken out more forcefully on behalf of human rights, including urging Beijing to stop shipping the weapons used for genocide in Darfur.

Too Old and Frail to Re-educate? Not in China (NY Times)
Two elderly women were sentenced to a year of labor after seeking to demonstrate in an official Olympic protest area.

Increasing numbers of Pakistani women are becoming aware of gender inequities, a trend emerging in many other parts of the developing world as the communications revolution brings cellphones, satellite television and the Internet to the poorest villages. In this South Asian country of 167 million, a key issue is laws and customs governing sexual conduct that sometimes date back centuries.

Recent deadly attacks in Afghanistan and elsewhere are signs of trouble. Kleinman, a Truman National Security Fellow, has worked for humanitarian agencies in Afghanistan, Africa and Iraq.

AND FURTHERMORE...

A Month to Conjure Luck With Sacrifices in Fire (NY Times)

With farmers hoping for healthy crops and urban dwellers searching for blessings in one of South America’s poorest countries, no month beats August for the yatiris (pronounced yah-TEE-rees), specialists in divining good luck who sell their services along Avenida Panoramica in El Alto. Feeding the Pachamama, whom the Aymara also call Mother Earth or Mother Virgin, involves an intricate web of symbolic gestures incorporating coca leaves, bootleg spirits and dead animals, preferably in the form of fetuses when it comes to llamas, pigs, cats and dogs.

Noah Friedman-Rudovsky for The New York Times
 

 

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This news summary has been prepared for you by:

 Carole Ashkinaze
Editor / Writer / Communications Consultant

Washington, D.C.

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