British biotechnology company Oxitec has plans to release genetically engineered mosquitoes in Key West, Florida. These mutant insects are bred in the lab to transmit a gene during the reproductive process that kills their offspring. Controversial experimental releases of 3 million […]
Continue readingNative American Health Traumas Addressed
cross-posted from Indian Country By Devon G. Peña, Ph.D. One of the consequences of the conquest and settlement of North and South America by Europeans was the displacement and destruction of native biological and cultural diversity. The environmental historian Alfred Crosby has […]
Continue readingAutonomous indigenous community shuts down illegal logging in Mexico
from New York Times CHERÁN, Mexico — The woman’s exhausted eyes reflected the flames dancing in front of her. A 38-year-old grandmother, she is also a leader of the civilian insurgency that has taken over this mountain town in the state of […]
Continue readingW. Virginia Fish Threatened by MTR, Fracking, Proposed for Endangered Species Protection
by the Center for Biological Diversity CHARLESTON, W.V.— The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today proposed Endangered Species Act protections for a small fish called the diamond darter and 122 river miles of its critical habitat in West Virginia and Kentucky. The […]
Continue readingBrazil Opens Indigenous Lands to Dams, Mining, and Military Bases in “National Interest”
By Rhett Butler / Mongabay A directive signed Monday by Brazil’s Solicitor-General could hamper the efforts of indigenous tribes to win government recognition of their traditional lands, reports Survival International, a human rights group focused on native peoples. The directive “opens up […]
Continue readingCoal Mining in India Poses Dire Threat to Bengal Tiger
By Jeremy Hance / Mongabay Burning coal fuels climate change, causes acid rain, and spreads toxic pollutants into the environment, but now a new Greenpeace report warns that coal may also imperil the world’s biggest feline: the tiger. Home to world’s largest […]
Continue readingMountaintop Removal Mining Poisons One in Four Streams in Southern West Virginia
By Duke University Water pollution from surface coal mining has degraded more than 22 percent of streams and rivers in southern West Virginia to the point they may now qualify as impaired under state criteria, according to a new study by scientists […]
Continue readingChina’s environmental protests: simple NIMBYism or cutting edge people power?
By Graham Land The internet is taking a lot of credit for fermenting social unrest and facilitating effective protest. The Arab Spring, the Occupy movement and the Green Revolution in Iran are three well-known examples of how social media has played a […]
Continue readingPetition Seeks Delisting of Pacific Northwest Orcas
by Laura Petersen, E&E reporter The population of killer whales that resides primarily in Puget Sound doesn’t deserve Endangered Species Act protection, the conservative Pacific Legal Foundation says in a delisting petition filed today with the Obama administration.The petition sent to the […]
Continue readingTermite Retirement Plan Features Suicide Bombing
from the Center for Biological Diversity While in the human world it’s generally the youth that marches off to war, in the insect world it’s more often the old folks. A new discovery published this month in the journal Science explains that […]
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