EU votes to criminalise pollution at sea

EurActiv, May 6, 2009

The European Parliament yesterday (5 May) adopted a new directive that forces EU countries to introduce criminal penalties for maritime pollution, whether caused deliberately or by negligence. At their plenary session in Strasbourg, MEPs adopted the new directive by 588 votes in favour and 42 against, amid three abstentions.
The directive introduces compulsory criminal sanctions for serious cases of maritime pollution, and also forces member states to impose stringent penalties for minor cases if they are repeated, deliberately caused or the result of serious negligence. Read more...

Wind Power Increase in 2008 Exceeds 10-year Average Growth Rate

WorldWatch Institute, May 7, 2009

Global wind capacity increased an estimated 27,051 megawatts in 2008, ending the year at 120,798 megawatts. With cumulative installations up almost 29 percent, the growth rate exceeded the annual average of the past decade. Wind power accounted for 42 percent of new capacity additions in the United States (second only to natural gas for the fourth year running) and for 36 percent of new installations in Europe. The wind now generates more than 1.5 percent of the world's electricity, up from 0.1 percent in 1997. Around the world, 80 countries are now using wind power on a commercial basis. Read more...

Australia delays emissions scheme

BBC News, May 4, 2009

The Australian government says it will push back a planned carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) by a year. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the delay was necessary because of the poor economic climate.
Australia has the highest per capita emissions in the developed world and coal is its biggest export. Read more...

Grey Wolf Taken Off Endangered List

ENN, May 5, 2009

The grey wolf was Monday taken off the U.S. list of endangered species, making a comeback 35 years after it virtually disappeared and can now be hunted in most states, officials said.
"We have recovered a wolf population," said Ed Bangs, wolf recovery coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service, based in Montana.
"The populations are viable, they are in great shape, they have extreme genetic diversity and so the endangered species act did its job to bring wolves back." Read more...

EU seal ban raises trade tensions with Canada

EurActiv, May 6, 2009

The European Union and Canada clashed on Tuesday after EU lawmakers voted to ban imports of seal products into the 27-nation bloc, prompting Ottawa to threaten action in the world's top trade court.
"If the ban adopted by the European Parliament fails to exempt humane and sustainable sealing, Canada pledged to launch a challenge at the World Trade Organisation, the global trade watchdog. If the EU imposes a trade ban on seal products it must contain an exemption for any country, like Canada, that has strict guidelines in place for humane and sustainable sealing practices," Canada's Trade Minister Stockwell Day said. Read more...

Have a look at Canada's 'humane...sealing practices'...

Καθαρότερα καύσιμα στην Καλιφόρνια

ΕΡΤ, 24 Απριλίου 2009

Ένα ιστορικό νόμο για την περικοπή των εκπομπών διοξειδίου του άνθρακα από τα καύσιμα των αυτοκινήτων με παράλληλη ώθηση της αγοράς προς τα καθαρότερά εναλλακτικά καύσιμα, υιοθέτησε η Καλιφόρνια. Στον πυρήνα της ρύθμισης είναι οι νέες προδιαγραφές που απαιτούν από τα διυλιστήρια, τους παραγωγούς και τους εισαγωγείς των καυσίμων κίνησης να μειώσουν την περιεκτικότητα του άνθρακα κατά 10% έως το 2020 και περισσότερο αργότερα. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Pet Trade Introduces Diseases, Costs

Discovery Channel, April 30, 2009

by Emily Sohn

April 30, 2009 -- Invasive species are putting major strains on our environment, our pocketbooks and our health, new studies suggest, and our nation's demand for exotic pets may be to blame.
Between 2000 and 2006, the United States imported nearly 1.5 billion live animals from 190 countries, mostly for sale as pets, according to a paper published today in the journal Science. Eighty percent of those animals came from wild populations. And nearly 70 percent of them came from Southeast Asia, a known hotspot for emerging diseases that, like the swine flu, can jump from animals to people. Read more...

U.S. Wind Power Industry Installs More Than 2,800 MW in Q1 2009

ENN, April 30, 2009

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The wind energy industry in the United States installed 2,836 megawatts of new generating capacity through the end of March, bringing total installed generating capacity in the country to 28,206 MW, the American Wind Energy Association announced. Read more...