Archive for the ‘International’ Category

Tactical speech to pre- empt GOP

Last night President Obama gave his final State of the Union address before the elections. He used a good part of it to try to pre-empt attacks on his energy and environmental agenda from the Republicans.

But Obama in a tactical play chose to co-opt the Republicans’ pro-oil and natural gas position rather than defend his own green agenda, as environmental groups had hoped. Read the rest of this entry »

Just4theplanet has been a keen supporter of bio fuel initiatives as an alternative to fossil fuels. Biofuels are any kind of fuel made from living things, or from the waste they produce. Today, the use of biofuels has expanded throughout the globe. Some of the major producers and users of biogases are Asia, Europe and America

Now a New Zealand company supplying biofuels to Virgin has raised US$55.8m in a funding round intended to accelerate the development of next-generation integrated biorefineries.

LanzaTech uses a patented fermentation process to convert gases, including those derived from industrial and biomass sources, into fuels, avoiding the “food versus fuel” tensions faced by first-generation biofuels Read the rest of this entry »

Threatened surge in coal emissions

With countries abandoning nuclear power in the wake of the Fukushima disaster there is likely to be a massive increase in coal use that could have devastating consequences for the fight against climate change.

That was the stark message delivered today at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi by Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency (IEA), who warned that those countries now committed to phasing out nuclear power are likely to see greenhouse gas emissions rise in the short to medium term Read the rest of this entry »

A Malagasy-German research team has discovered a new primate species in the Sahafina Forest in eastern Madagascar, a forest that has not been studied before. The name of the new species is Gerp’s mouse lemur (Microcebus gerpi), chosen to honour the Malagasy research group GERP (Groupe d’Étude et de Recherche sur les Primates de Madagascar). Several researchers of GERP have visited the Sahafina Forest in 2008 and 2009 to create an inventory the local lemurs Read the rest of this entry »

Canada’s natural resources minister accuses a pipeline’s opponents of colluding with ‘radicals’ and ‘jet-setting celebrities’

Just4the planet reported on the Canadian natives peoples (First Nations) opposition to the extensive tar sands extraction on their tribal lands in Alberta

The tar sands have been described as the most destructive industrial project on the planet. An area larger than England is being excavated by the industry. The Athabasca river delta, once a pristine boreal forest with clean rivers and lakes, has become a devastated ecosystem of deforestation, open pit mines and toxic tailings ponds. Fish in nearby waters regularly exhibit tumours and birds landing on contaminated tailings ponds die. In neighbouring First Nations communities, where local people have hunted and fished for many years, abnormally high rates of cancer and immune system diseases are now being found

Yesterday however -the Canadian government let loose an extraordinary rant against opponents of a controversial project to pump tar sands crude to Pacific Coast ports on Monday, accusing campaigners of colluding with foreign “radicals” and “jet-setting celebrities” to hijack the government. Read the rest of this entry »

Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich all tout anti-environmental credentials ahead of crucial New Hampshire primary

By the end of the year the USA will be deciding who will occupy the White House come 2013. This will have a crucial affect on the direction of US environmental and climate change policy.

Just4theplanet has been critical of the GOP in the past. Indeed one wonders whether they should replace their elephant logo – to an osterich – with it’s head buried in the sand.
True to form – the first week of campaigning of election year saw a series of interventions where Republican nominees and their supporters reiterated their opposition to a raft of climate change and environmental policies, underscoring how green issues are likely to emerge as one of the major dividing lines during the presidential campaign. Read the rest of this entry »

Study says rapidly thinning sea ice in north Atlantic has ravaged seal numbers, making annual commercial seal hunt superfluous

Just4theplanet and j4tp ambassador Stevie Riks have often spoke out against the disgusting practice of seal pup culling. The cause against this most inhumane of activities has also been highlighted by many well known personalities – including Merseysides favourite son – Sir Paul McCartney. A new study now reveals that these beautiful animals face even more danger from melting ice – making culling an even worse crime than it already is.

And so Canada has faced fresh calls to shut down its commercial seal hunt on Thursday, following new evidence that death rates among seal pups had dramatically increased due to thinning winter sea ice. Read the rest of this entry »

Twelve panda cubs in captivity in in south-west China have left their mothers to live together as a group for the first time.

Their first step towards independence attracted a large number of visitors at the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding in Sichuan province Read the rest of this entry »