Thursday, September 21, 2006

California Green Solutions for business

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Backyard Nature - Wildlife and Habitat Appreciation & Tips

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Invasive marine species and shipping...a water tale


Invasive species in our California coastal waters cause considerable ecological marine wildlife and plant damage. The transportation of invasive species has provided growing collateral damage as our international shipping industry has grown.


SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge has ordered the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to begin regulating the discharge of ballast water from ships to prevent invasive species from harming local ecosystems.

"The EPA regulation is plainly contrary to the congressional intent embodied in the (Clean Water Act)," Illston wrote in the ruling issued Monday in San Francisco.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston's order follows her ruling last year that the EPA could not exempt shipping companies from having to obtain permits to dump ballast water, which is held at the bottom of ships to keep them stable.

Invasive species are known to cause significant economic and environmental damage. Marine species such as mollusks often are inadvertently transported in the ballast water of ships and discharged at ports far from their origins.

On Monday, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation that requires the California State Lands Commission to adopt regulations for ballast water discharges from cargo ships, cruise liners and other vessels by January 2008.


How does this affect us individually? It points out the need for all of us to "buy locally".

Rampant international trade is an unsustainable way of life. Not only does it use tremendous amounts of energy, but it transports invasive materials and species around the world, causing ecological imbalances and loss of biodiversity.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

California Green Solutions for business

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Backyard Nature - Wildlife and Habitat Appreciation & Tips

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Creative taxation for emissions reduction


Al Gore

recently made brave and substantive proposals for an immediate freeze on carbon dioxide emissions and elimination of payroll taxes in favor of pollution taxes - both are not politically easy, but are imaginative and at the scale required to solve the problem.

In an hour-long speech at New York University Law School, Gore, called for bipartisan action and framed the pursuit of renewable energy as an economic and national security issue as well as an environmental imperative.

"When we make big mistakes in America, it is usually because the people have not been given an honest accounting of the choices before us," Gore said. "It also is often because too many members of both parties who knew better did not have the courage to do better."

While the Bush administration has acknowledged the effects of global warming on the environment, President Bush has rejected mandatory controls on carbon dioxide, the gas blamed for the phenomenon. Bush also refused to accept the Kyoto treaty, which called for mandatory reductions of greenhouse gases among the signing nations.

Gore's documentary film, "An Inconvenient Truth," was released in 2006 and has become one of the highest-grossing documentaries, while the companion book has become a national best-seller.

"We can change this by inventing and manufacturing new solutions to stop global warming right here in America," he said. He also reported that venture capitalists are eager to fund effective technologies to cut greenhouse gases.

Policy proposals Gore suggests for reducing global warming include:

  • An immediate freeze on carbon dioxide emissions. Debates on the matter represented "a delusional and reckless approach."

  • A retooling of U.S. auto companies to manufacture hybrid vehicles instead of trucks and SUVs that could save thousands of jobs at the US car manufacturers.

  • Greater reliance on ethanol, wind and solar energy.

  • Elimination of payroll taxes in favor of pollution taxes. "Instead of discouraging businesses from hiring more employees, it would discourage business from producing more pollution," Gore said.

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