Four years ago, California passed the state’s landmark greenhouse gas reduction law –AB 32– mandating a 25 percent reduction in industrial greenhouse gases by 2020. This law made California a leader in clean air and energy policy, and a leader in clean tech businesses in the nation. The law, which has earned support from businesses, labor, environmental and health organizations, demands polluter accountability by requiring polluting industries to reduce toxic emissions that will threaten our health and contribute to global climate change.
While working with communities is core to Pacific Environment, we also need to build from those efforts and strengthen our support of critical environmental laws such as the Clean Air Act and Endangered Species Act — both of which are currently under threat.
Our friends at the Pure Salmon Campaign have launched a new video highlighting the Norwegian Government’s exploitation of salmon in British Columbia. The launch coincides with campaign events around the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC, Canada – where we are be on the ground to highlight the environmental problems of Norwegian salmon farming operations in British Columbia. Watch a clip below or click here to watch the full video.
posted by Wen Bo, China Program Co-Director, Pacific Environment
The third and final day of the conference was titled “Pondering Gaps and Needs of Stakeholders in Taihu Basin. How to Build New Clean Water Networks?”
Jun Bi, the local organizer from Nanjing University was the first to speak. In his presentation, he noted that NGOs in China are very weak and that they need to work with researchers and governments more. He also stated that NGOs often lack funding and the necessary knowledge to be effective. He acknowledged that he also belongs to an NGO called PACE, whose members are mostly Ph.Ds, and have access to governmental officials. He indicated that no matter how hard an environmental NGO tries, there is no single comment that could be made in front of governor of Jiangsu province that would actually influence a government’s decision making.
Jun Bi made the point that most people in the Lake Tai region seem to care more about their own interests than collective interests such as environmental improvements. And, that like it or not, the economy of Lake Tai region would have to first double to keep up with the demand of the people’s wishes to develop their economy; and, that similarly, China, would have to develop first even if to some extent at the price of the environment.
I worry that while governments are trying to move forward new language for a treaty – a text from the Danish government was just released that has been roundly criticized by delegates from developing countries – we are losing time to move forward real initiatives that will actually reduce warming.
For example, governments can agree now to take serious action to reduce “short-lived climate forcers.” These pollutants include black carbon (soot), methane, and tropospheric ozone. These pollutants are having a large impact on the warming of the Arctic and could be causing the Arctic to warm faster than originally predicted.
Last week, a California Marine Life Protection Act Blue Ribbon panel approved several Southern California marine protected areas after 14 months of negotiation between scientists, environmentalists and fishermen. Conservationists were disappointed a few requested areas were omitted from the plan, but generally considered the decision a victory for many exhausted fish populations. The local catch of rockfish and cod has rapidly dropped up to 95%, along with severe drops in the population of many other species. (more…)
Today, the U.S. Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank announced its official carbon policy.
Ex-Im Bank’s policy does nothing to curb the agency’s growing overall portfolio of greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, applications to Ex-Im Bank for greenhouse gas-emitting projects are skyrocketing after the financial crisis, as project sponsors seek public subsidies to prop up economically and ecologically damaging projects. Ex-Im Bank continues to subsidize fossil fuel-related transactions despite the recent G-20 pledge to phase out fossil fuel subsidies.
Ex-Im Bank touts is support for renewable energy and energy efficiency, yet in recent years its support for these transactions represent less than 2% of its overall energy portfolio.
Ex-Im Bank’s carbon policy perpetuates the approach taken under the Bush Administration and undercuts the Obama Administration’s claim to international leadership on climate change.
Read the story as reported by Environmental Financehere.
I was born and grew up along a tributary of the Pearl River, the Fenjiang in Foshan. In the early 90s, one of our favorite pastimes during the warm summer nights, was to get “yeshao” or “midnight snacks” at the dozens of outdoor eateries that sprang up along “Fenjiang”, the Fen River. These eateries would cook up greasy but tasty fried noodles, fried rice and various seafood stir fries. Vegetables and dishes were washed with water directly pulled up in buckets from the river. No one thought much of it.
By the time I returned from my first trip home after immigrating to the US, in 1998, things had turned badly. The Fenjiang smelled like the Soy Sauce factory nearby and had many different colors similar to the textiles coming out of another factory. In my most recent trip last year, the river didn’t smell as bad, but still look dead, if not poisonous. People had different ideas as to which factories caused the pollution, but everyone accepted the situation as inevitable and never bothered with finding out the truth. Then this week came a timely and well investigated Greenpeace report on the companies that are poisoning the Pearl River and the larger political context which are allowing the situation to deteriorate. It answered so many questions and highlighted the urgency to speak up.
New reports of corruption at the highest levels of government never fail to surprise, especially when cases of profiteering are coming from within a democratic, constitution-based administration. Still, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has pointed to official corruption as one of the biggest challenges his country faces since being elected in March. President Medvedev makes big talk about eliminating corruption from his government, but the most recent report out of Siberia illustrates exactly how pervasive systemic bribery is in Russia and how very much is yet to be done:
On December 9, director of the Siberian Federal District Office of the Russian Federal Service for Ecological, Technical and Atomic Supervision, Leonid Baklitsky, was arrested on extortion charges by the Novosibirsk FSB office as the result of an undercover investigation. The investigation revealed that Baklitsky had organized a racketeering system with directors of factories in Siberia that emit a lot of pollution. Baklitsky allegedly received a bribe in the amount of 465,000 rubles ($16,666) while sitting at his office desk (fittingly, December 9is International Anti-Corruption Day). The sum was handed over by the head of a government agency seeking to illegally acquire the right to conduct inspections and expert examinations that the institution is not licensed to do. Searches of the indicted official’s office uncovered undisclosed sums of cash and bank cards. The list of charges is long: an FSB investigator disclosed that during 2008 alone, Baklitsky received similar bribes from other organizations to for the illegal right to conduct technical examinations of buildings and equipment, inspections of dangerous industrial facilities, and to train and certify industrial safety specialists.
Among other things, Baklitsky was responsible for environmental regulation enforcement on the Boguchanskaya Hydroelectric Dam project that has been under construction in the Krasnoyarsk Krai for more than 20 years. In 2006, Ust-Ilismk city Duma deputies appealed to the President with the request to lower the dam’s height from 208 to 185 meters, citing that environmental expert reviews indicated a high likelihood that that the resultant reservoir would be contaminated by industrial runoff from facilities in the Irkutsk Region.
Baklitsky, however, protested this change. It is unknown whether his opposition to the measure was backed by actual scientific data or, perhaps, a different type of currency.
Posted by Andrea Barnetche
Posted by Carole Holley
Posted by David Gordon
Posted by Alex Felsinger
Posted by Xiu Min Li
