From Environmental News Service: “Several hundred climate change activists today established a camp near the Royal Bank of Scotland’s global headquarters at Gogarburn west of Edinburgh. Campaigners with the grassroots group Camp for Climate Action say they are outraged that the bank – one of the world’s largest investors in coal, oil, and natural gas – was bailed out last year with £50 billion of public money. ”
From News24.com: “A group of Nigerian women in the country’s oil-rich south said on Friday they had blocked access to a Chevron natural gas pipeline to protest poor living conditions in their community. Women from the Ugborodo community in Delta State want Chevron to provide access to electricity and address damage to the environment, community leader Thomas Ereyitomi said. “They are not allowing access to the plant and to allow any form of operation to go on,” he said of the protesters. It is immoral for Chevron not to provide basic amenities in a community in which they operate and generate money.””
From WENY-TV News: “Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo came to Ithaca Thursday to outline his campaign platform. When he arrived, he found hundreds of citizens protesting against Marcellus Shale drilling. Their message was loud and clear: protesters are not convinced the proper regulations are in place yet to go forward with drilling. They want Andrew Cuomo to assure them he’ll hold off on supporting hydrofracking, if elected to office. ”
From their press release: “American Bird Conservancy (ABC), the nation’s leading bird conservation organization, and other environmental groups today welcomed the decision by the Environmental Protection Agency and Bayer CropScience to cease production of the pesticide aldicarb in 2014, begin phasing out its more dangerous uses immediately, and end all uses by 2018…Based upon current toxicological studies, aldicarb at levels higher than those typically found in food has the potential to cause various human health effects such as sweating, nausea, dizziness and blurred vision, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea.”
From Bloomberg: Peter de Haan has a tip. He’s investing in bees. Or more accurately, he’s investing in 500 young people to behave like bees. The project is called “S’warm,” and it’s the largest performance that the U.K.’s National Youth Theatre has put on. Massed youngsters will swarm across London to create site- specific happenings that highlight the recent alarming drop in the honeybee population. Over five days, the project travels from Battersea via the financial heart of the City to Canary Wharf, and is supported by the Peter de Haan Charitable Trust.
Saturday, September 11, Scott Kellog, co-founder of Albany’s Radix Ecological Sustainability Center (www.radixcenter.org) and co-author of the book Toolbox for Sustainable City Living: A Do-it-Ourselves Guide, will lead a Phytoremediation workshop. He will introduce basic concepts in phytoremediation and some of the techniques for applying these concepts to the remediation of polluted water (living machines, constructed wetlands, etc). After an introduction, you will be lead in the construction of a mini ‘floating trash island’. Made out of construction debris and old soda bottles, the island will be planted with wetland plants, and then given the ultimate challenge; an inaugural float on the infamous Lavender Lake (aka Gowanus Canal). RSVP to expeditiongowanus@gmail.com.
Women from across the Southeast will gather at the 6th annual Southeast Women’s Herbal Conference on October 1-3, at Lake Eden in scenic Black Mountain, NC. With over 60 classes by more than 30 teachers, the weekend focuses on herbal education, nourishing foods, wholistic sexuality, and ecology. The conference, which has grown to over 600 participants over the last five years, will host special guest author, and internationally renowned herbalist Rosemary Gladstar.