Bush after the wolves....if only

If only the wolves could go after Bush!

In what the National Resources Defense Council calls a cruel parting shot, Bush has removed Endangered Species Protection from gray wolves in Montana and Idaho.

Bush removed their protection last year, also, and 110 wolves were slaughtered in the aftermath. Remember Hoppy? NRDC and other groups went to federal court and stopped Bush, but now, with only a few days left...

NRDC will be headed back to court next week.

Photo from Harlequeen's photostream at Flickr.

Colony Collapse Disorder: bees continue to die

Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) hit the public consciousness last year with news that nearly one-third of all commercial beehives had died-- collapsed. This year has been quieter but the news is no better-- an increase of 13% over last year brings losses to more than one-third through the winter of 2007-08, according to the USDA.

The USDA isn't telling all it knows, however. On August 18, The Natural Resources Defense Council filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency to force it to reveal any connections between pesticide use and CCD. According to the Organic Consumers Association,

"Recently approved pesticides have been implicated in massive bee die-offs and are the focus of increasing scientific scrutiny," said NRDC Senior Attorney Aaron Colangelo. "EPA should be evaluating the risks to bees before approving new pesticides, but now refuses to tell the public what it knows. Pesticide restrictions might be at the heart of the solution to this growing crisis, so why hide the information they should be using to make those decisions?"

In 2003, EPA granted a registration to a new pesticide manufactured by Bayer CropScience under the condition that Bayer submit studies about its product's impact on bees. EPA has refused to disclose the results of these studies, or if the studies have even been submitted. The pesticide in question, clothianidin, recently was banned in Germany due to concerns about its impact on bees. A similar insecticide was banned in France for the same reason a couple of years before. In the United States, these chemicals still are in use despite a growing consensus among bee specialists that pesticides, including clothianidin and its chemical cousins, may contribute to CCD.

Although no full-scale study has yet taken place, organic beehives have been largely immune to CCD. CCD also does not affect solitary bees. Go Prairie has a post about the amazing number of bees in the U.S. Unfortunately, given that one third of every mouthful of food we eat is pollinated by domesticated bees, we are scarcely out of the woods.

Want to help do your part to protect bees in your own back yard? NRDC has the following suggestions:

Bee Friendly, Bee Safe: Here's How

You can also help keep bees healthy by making your yard and garden colorful, diverse and pesticide free. Here are some tips on how you can Bee Safe:

• Bee Native: Use local and native plants in your yard and garden. These plants thrive easily and are well suited for local bee populations, providing pollen and nectar for bees to eat.


• Bee Diverse: Plant lots of different kinds of plants in your yard. Plant diversity ensures that your garden attracts many different varieties of bees and gives them a range of flowering plants to choose from throughout the year. Make sure your yard plants vary in:
• Color: Bees have good vision and are attracted to several different colors of flowers.
• Shape: Different species of bees are better suited for different shapes of flowers. Give your bees some variety!
• Flowering times: Having a sequence of plant species that flower throughout the year helps sustain the food supply and attract different species of bees.


• Bee Open to Pollen: Pollen is bee food. Genetically engineered pollen-free plants trick bees into thinking they'll find food, and then leave them hungry. (Don't worry, flower pollen isn't a big contributor to most people's allergies.)


• Bee Pesticide Wary: There are many natural methods to control pests in your garden. Researchers believe pesticides are a contributing factor to Colony Collapse Disorder. Moreover, some insecticides are harmful to bees and wipe out flowers that provide bees with food. If you must, use targeted pesticides and spray at night -- when bees aren't active -- on dry days.


• Bee a Hive Builder: Building your own bee hive is easy and fun. Creating a wood nest is a good place to start -- wood-nesting bees don�t sting! Simply take a non-pressure treated block of wood and drill holes that are 3/32 inch to 5/16 inch in diameter and about 5 inches deep and wait for the bees to arrive.

Photo of a bee house from *Susie's* photostream at Flickr.

75,000 young salmon die in highway accident

75,000 young salmon being trucked from the Colman National Fish Hatchery in California to acclimation pens in San Pablo Bay died on May 19 on route when the oxygen pumps in their tanks failed to deliver enough oxygen. The salmon transport is part of an effort to get fish past the killer water export pumps and predators and into pens operated by the Fishery Foundation of California rather than directly into the bay, where their initial disorientation makes them prey to predators. Some 100,000 other young salmon were delivered safely. Counterpunch.

California salmon levels are so low that the salmon season has been closed, bring economic disaster to the commercial fishing industry and fishing communities. The Farm Bill will pump $170 million into the communities in the form of economic disaster funding.

Just as bees are struggling with Colony Collapse Disorder, so salmon are facing a collapse. The difference with salmon is that many of the causes are known. Besides the difficulties of salmon negotiating the dams and water pumps that dominate every route salmon take to the sea, salmon and trout depend on cold water to breed and travel. The National Resources Defense Council says trout and salmon could lose up to 17% of their habitat by 2030.

Don't think that farmed salmon can in any way make up for the loss of habitat. Fish farms in Chile are being plagued with a virus called Infectious Salmon Anemia, killing millions of salmon. Farmed and Dangerous, a U.S.-based environmental organization, provides a list of why anyone should think twice about eating farmed salmon: fish lice, high levels of dangerous chemicals, and real risks to the wild salmon population, as well as other animals.

The Bush Administration, apparently, is encouraging preserving wild salmon by attacking their natural predators. Ted Williams at High Country Times writes about the ridiculousness of this approach. Farmed and Dangerous reports:

Salmon farmers are granted licenses to kill predators such as sea lions and seals to stop them eating their fish. In the spring of 2001 a mass grave containing at least 15 sea lions killed by a farm operator was discovered in Clayoquot Sound. Since then, more pits of dead sea lions have been found in the same area. BC salmon farmers reported having killed at least 5000 seals and sea lions in the last decade. The real figure could be much higher as some kills according to fish farm employees go unreported.

If you enjoy salmon, I'd suggest eating wild salmon only.

Graphic from The Why Files: Farmed Atlantic salmon (red), especially from Europe, showed the highest contamination of flame retardant. Five species of Pacific salmon (green) had much lower levels. Data Courtesy Ronald Hites, University of Indiana.

Mercury contamination may save whales-- and 3 things you can do

Japan already knows about mercury poisoning: from 1932 to 1968, the organic compound methyl mercury was discharged into Minamata Bay by the Chisso Minamata factory. The first 40 victims were identified by 1956, but through indifference, corruption and outright deception, the discharge continued for another twelve years.

Forty years later, the pilot whales and dolphins slaughtered for food in the whaling town of Taiji are turning up with high levels of mercury-- and once again, public officials say the danger is overblown. Activists have resorted to passing out flyers to townspeople to let them know of the danger. Still, schools have stopped serving pilot whale meat for lunch. The NYTimes has an article about it here.

Most Japanese don't eat whale meat, but most residents of Taiji do-- and they cling proudly to the tradition of whaling. But the Times article points out a growing generational gap. Young people just aren't into whale and dolphin meat, and are more health-conscious. Whaling may eventually die out on its own.

Meanwhile, there's work to be done. You can take the following three actions to help protect whales.

1. For two weeks the Greenpeace ship Esperanza chased a Japanese factory whaling ship across the Southern Ocean, preventing whaling and saving more than 100 whales. But when Greenpeace ran out of funds for fuel, whaling resumed. Now Greenpeace is asking people to contact the CEO of Canon Japan, who has shown concern over environmental issues, and ask him to speak out publicly against whaling. You can do that here:
2. The NRDC has won another injunction against the U.S. Navy, prohibiting them from training with a low frequency sonar system that creates so much underwater noise that whales and other marine mammals are disoriented and damaged. The Navy has appealed every decision against them and plans to appeal this one. Meanwhile, every injunction wins another day for whales. You can become a member to help them keep up the fight.
3. Twenty-seven North Atlantic Right Whales were hit and killed by ships along the Atlantic seaboard from 2001 - 2005; fewer than 350 remain. A year ago, the National Marine Fisheries Service approved a policy reuquiring ships passing through whale territory to slow down to 10 knots, a speed that allows whales and ships to avoid each othyer. But the shipping industry's influence over White House environmental policies has prevented the rule from being implemented. You can email Congress to support the Ship Strike Reduction Act, which would force the Commerce Department to set firm rule at the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
   

Photo by Michael Dawes

Air freshener makes us sick

Did you know that many air fresheners work by deadening the olfactory nerves in our nose? In other words, the odors were trying to eliminate are still there, but we can't smell them.

Did you know that households that regularly use air freshener have a higher asthma rate among kids in the household?

Two new studies, one by the National Resources Defense Council and the other by the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, should make us all think twice about using air freshener products.
Seventh Generation's Non-Toxic Times Newsletter has some good hints for alternatives. My favorite:
• To scent indoor air, place a drop of a natural essential oil like lavender or mint on a cold light bulb, or add a dozen drops to a bowl of water placed on a radiator or wood stove. You can also boil fragrant dried herbs in a pot of water to release a fresh smell.