Green-News: Friday 12.5.08
- The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has pulled more land parcels from the expanded oil and gas leasing program in Utah. The bureau didn’t say why they did it, but conservation groups were enraged over the prospect of drilling near Utah’s scenic wonders; the Associated Press reports.
- Florida stands to lose 70,000 jobs and $5.5 billion if global warming kills coral reefs. Florida has the only shallow-water reefs in the U.S. Many fish, like snapper and angelfish, call these reefs home. And if they die off. So will commercial and recreational fishing; via SustainableBusiness.
- Toronto has gone hardcore against plastic. No more water bottles at city hall and an eventual city-wide ban in 2 years. Then starting in June they’ll be a 5 cent fee on plastic shopping bags. And by 2011, hard plastic takeout food containers will be banned too; GreenSpace investigates.
- Canada’s tar sands are being looked at for oil extraction. The problem is, they’re under Canada’s Boreal forest and getting to them would involve destroying the nesting area for half of America’s migratory birds, killing up to 166 million birds in the next 30 to 50 years; via Green Living Tips.
- Acid rain was big in the 80s. But you don’t hear a lot about it anymore. Well, its back! Researchers have determined the recent wet winters, due to global warming, have hampered the recovery of streams from the damage caused by acid rain decades ago; NewScientist explains.
- Barack Obama plans on making the Whitehouse green. After he takes office he will sit down with the chief usher of the presidential mansion and discuss its energy efficiency. He’s doing it because it wants to show the country that going green is not hard; from the Associated Press.
Umm, Canada isn't just "looking at" the tar sands for oil extraction. They are already producing billions of barrels of oil a day from the tar sands. And where do you think half of the oil produced in Canada is exported to?