ONLY GOOD NEWS
OCTOBER 2008/JANUARY 2009 / VOLUME 16 ~ NUMBER 3 / PUBLISHED: 14 OCT 2008

ROPER WISDOM: 'CIVILITY DEFINES CIVILIZATION'...

ONLY GOOD NEWS INDEX: THE GREEN GOLD RUSH / ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND / UNLEASH THE FUTURE / DEADLINE SET FOR PROTECTING PENGUIN SPECIES / STURGEON, SALMON TO SWIM IN PROTECTED WATERS / AGENCY PROTECTS 1.8 MILLION ACRES OF CALIFORNIA FROG HABITAT / NAVAJOS STEP UP FOR ARIZONA BALD EAGLES / CALIFORNIA COUNTY PANEL SAYS NO TO TEJON DEVELOPMENT / COURT COMMANDS CALIFORNIA TO GIVE TIGER SALAMANDER A CHANCE / SNOW LEOPARD TRUST NEWS / SNOW LEOPARD BLOG / BACK TO SCHOOL WITH SNOW LEOPARDS / CAT FACTS PAGES / WIKIPEDIA SNOW LEOPARD TRUST / A HEALTHIER RIDE TO SCHOOL: CLEANING UP NEW YORK CITY'S DIRTY DIESEL SCHOOL BUSES [PDF] / FOOD AND WATER WATCH NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE + 1) WATER 2) FOOD 3) FISH 4) PRESS RELEASES / THE COCA-COLA® FOUNDATION PLEDGES $1 MILLION TO OCEAN CONSERVANCY TO HELP ERADICATE OCEAN LITTER / 9LIVES® CAT FOOD PROMOTES CAT ADOPTIONS / OCEAN CONSERVANCY SUPPORTS HISTORIC EFFORT TO PROTECT THE OCEAN IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC / OCEAN CONSERVANCY URGES STRONGER CALIFORNIA LEGISLATION TO PREVENT AND RESPOND TO OIL SPILLS / OCEAN CONSERVANCY AWARDED $500,000 GRANT FROM BANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE FOUNDATION TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE AND MARINE DEBRIS / OCEAN CONSERVANCY SUPPORTS MARINE PROTECTED AREAS PLAN FOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA / OCEAN CONSERVANCY LAUNCHES CONSERVATION TOURISM PROGRAM TO PROTECT ENDANGERED SEA TURTLES / SIX DEGREES TO THE OCEAN / OCEAN CONSERVANCY MAGAZINE / A HISTORIC VICTORY FOR EVERGLADES RESTORATION / OCEANA ~ PROTECTING THE WORLDS' OCEANS / ENDANGERED SPECIES HAVEN / NEARLY 50 TEXAS COMPANIES TO BE IMPACTED BY EUROPEAN UNION CHEMICAL REGULATIONS / HOW EUROPE'S NEW CHEMICAL RULES AFFECT U.S. /ACROSS THE POND X / HABITAT PROTECTIONS WILL GIVE BIGHORN BIG BOOST / JUDGE SAYS NO TO DEATH VALLEY ROAD-BUILDING / ENVIRONMENTALISTS CHALLENGE MORE BUSH ADMINISTRATION POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES DECISIONS ~ INCREASED PROTECTION SOUGHT FOR SIX SPECIES IN SEVEN WESTERN STATES / POLAR BEAR CRITICAL HABITAT TO BE DESIGNATED ~ LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT WILL INCREASE PROTECTIONS FOR SPECIES IMPERILED BY GLOBAL WARMING / PROTECTION SOUGHT FOR KEY DESERT FISH / SANTA FE'S OFF-ROAD VEHICLE PLAN PROVIDES FIRST GOOD STEPS TOWARD PROTECTING WILDLIFE AND NATURAL RESOURCES / SEPTEMBER PROPOSED AS ‘NATIONAL LINK AWARENESS MONTH’ / AMERICAN HUMANE CERTIFIED™ SETS THE FIRST EVER HUMANE TABLE / SAVE FORESTS ~ A SHOPPER'S GUIDE / READ THE NRDC BIOGEMS NEWSLETTTER / NEW CONSERVATION INCENTIVES WILL AID AMERICA’S FARMERS AND WETLANDS / THE ACLU - BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF / URGENT ACTION ALERTS + LEGISLATIVE UPDATE + SUPREME COURT UPDATE + ACTION NETWORK SUCCESS STORIES / CHECK OUT THE GREENPEACE PRESS CENTER + BUSINESSES FOR A SAFE CLIMATE + BLOGS + GREEENPEACE FACTS + TAKE ACTION / CARE2.COM GREEN LIVING / PETS / FOOD & RECIPES / TAKE ACTION / GREEN ENERGY VOTER GUIDE / SIERRA CLUB + SIERRA CLUB CURRENTS / ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND / NRDC / EARTHJUSTICE

THE GREEN GOLD RUSH > Silicon Valley marshals powerful innovation and big money to fuel an exploding clean-tech revolution > In the labs where these new inventions are being built and in the boardrooms where they are being funded, the quest for green gold is being driven by a rigorous admiration for quality and efficiency -- And here's the secret—the chief value proposition, if you will: Increased efficiency, while creating less pollution and wasting less energy, also saves money -- It's as though this new industry is a more highly evolved technology than the old-fashioned machines we're been stuck with for generations. The idea that seems to be inspiring Silicon Valley is: We can build an economy around a technology that is intrinsically better > READ MORE

ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE FUND provides an uncommon approach to environmental issues which starts with rigorous science - They work directly with businesses, government and communities to create lasting solutions to the most serious environmental problems - go to: http://www.edf.org/ + check out: UNLEASH THE FUTURE @ http://www.edf.org/page.cfm?tagID=22080

DEADLINE SET FOR PROTECTING PENGUIN SPECIES - Ten global warming-threatened penguin species continued their march toward protection when a federal judge approved a settlement between the Center for Biological Diversity and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Under the settlement, stemming from a 2006 Center petition and a 2008 Center lawsuit, the Service must decide by December 19, 2008 whether the penguins need protection under the Endangered Species Act -- And they certainly do: Abnormally warm ocean temperatures and diminished sea ice have wreaked havoc on the penguins' food supply, leading to population declines for penguins ranging from South America to Africa to Antarctica. Already, the emperor penguin colony at Pointe Geologie, featured in the film The March of the Penguins, has declined by more than 50 percent due to global warming. Other threats to penguins run the gamut and include industrial fisheries, habitat destruction, and oil spills -- The species under consideration are the emperor, southern rockhopper, northern rockhopper, Fiordland crested, erect-crested, macaroni, white-flippered, yellow-eyed, African, and Humboldt penguins > READ MORE

STURGEON, SALMON TO SWIM IN PROTECTED WATERS - Making good on a settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity, the National Marine Fisheries Service proposed protecting thousands of square miles of watery habitat for the southern population of the North American green sturgeon. One of the continent's largest and rarest freshwater fish, the green sturgeon is also one of the most ancient, remaining unchanged since it first emerged 200 million years ago. But the San Francisco Bay-Delta food web the sturgeon depends on has changed -- in fact, it's rapidly unraveling, and spawning green sturgeon populations in California's Sacramento River have recently plummeted to some of their lowest numbers on record -- On the other side of the country, Gulf of Maine Atlantic salmon recently saw a similar victory when -- in response to a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity -- the Fisheries Service proposed protecting 126,623 river miles and 214,487 acres of lake habitat for the fish. The proposal came just days after the agency declared that Atlantic salmon in Maine's Kennebec, Androscoggin, and Penobscot rivers would be added to the salmon population already protected under the Endangered Species Act. That announcement was the result of a 2008 Center lawsuit requesting protection for the Kennebec fish  > READ MORE & MORE

AGENCY PROTECTS 1.8 MILLION ACRES OF CALIFORNIA FROG HABITAT - Thanks to a lawsuit by the Center for Biological Diversity, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to grant Mark Twain's favorite amphibian no less than 1.8 million acres of federally protected habitat spanning 28 California counties. The California red-legged frog, made famous in Twain's "The Celebrated Frog of Calaveras County," has lost 90 percent of its historic population due to urban development, wetland draining, pesticides, and myriad other threats. Still, in 2006, the Service gave in to development-industry pressure and cited a bunk economic analysis to severely slash the habitat protections the frog needs to survive -- The new proposal for habitat protections isn't nearly as good as a 2001 agency proposal -- which would have protected a hefty 4.1 million acres -- but it is almost quadruple the agency's last designation. That dramatic cut was retracted after federal investigators learned the decision was politically tainted by former Interior Department official Julie MacDonald > READ MORE 

NAVAJOS STEP UP FOR ARIZONA BALD EAGLES - Bald eagles nationwide now number more than 11,000 breeding pairs, but bald eagles in Arizona (with only 43 breeding pairs) were recently added to the Navajo Nation's endangered species list. The tribe's list (called for by the Navajo Nation Code) is amended every couple of years as field personnel keep close track of plants and animals on their land that need protection. Besides adding the bald eagle to the list, the Nation also just added five native plant species and approved nest protection regulations for both bald and goiden eagles, as well as rules to help prevent raptor electrocution on power lines -- Thanks to a Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit, bald eagles in Arizona have been put back on the endangered species list, at least until a final decision is made on their status. With the help of American Indian tribes, this August a court request was filed to extend the deadline until October 2009 to show the true extent of the bald eagle's historical presence in Arizona > READ MORE

CALIFORNIA COUNTY PANEL SAYS NO TO TEJON DEVELOPMENT - An important Los Angeles County science advisory committee recently refused to approve the Centennial project, a humungous development proposed for California's celebrated Tejon Ranch wilderness. The committee rejected the plan because the 23,000-home development, complete with strip malls, would harm two county-designated "significant ecological areas," destroy beloved wildflower fields, and displace the county's last herd of pronghorn antelope. The Centennial project would in fact require 8,300 acres of open space to be bulldozed and is the largest housing development ever proposed in California -- which is saying a lot -- Still, Centennial developers are unwilling to compromise their plans, and the project will now be considered by the Los Angeles Planning Commission. The Center for Biological Diversity strongly opposes development on Tejon Ranch and has campaigned to turn it into a state or national park to preserve its amazing natural treasures, including 23 known types of plant communities and federally protected habitat for the California condor > READ MORE

COURT COMMANDS CALIFORNIA TO GIVE TIGER SALAMANDER A CHANCE - Forced to end its stint of ignoring native wildlife in need of protection, the California Fish and Game Commission was recently court-ordered to consider a petition to protect the California tiger salamander under the state's Endangered Species Act. Already federally protected as endangered, the charming, yellow-spotted salamander has been devastated by development that has eliminated at least 75 percent of its California vernal pool habitat.  Still, the Commission rejected a petition for protection submitted by the Center for Biological Diversity back in 2004 -- just like it rejected a petition to protect the rabbit-like, warming-threatened American pika and the Pacific fisher, a forest carnivore imperiled by logging and development -- This recent ruling, made by the California state appeals court, upholds a previous ruling that rejected the Commission's claim that the tiger salamander was imperiled. Instead of sending the decision back to the agency, the court ordered it to directly advance the salamander to candidacy for protection > READ MORE

SNOW LEOPARD TRUST NEWS @
http://www.snowleopard.org/news

CHECK OUT THE SNOW LEOPARD BLOG @ http://www.blog.snowleopard.org/?cat=6
and/or see more photos on Flickr.com @ http://www.flickr.com/photos/snowleopardtrust/

BACK TO SCHOOL WITH SNOW LEOPARDS - There are some great snow leopard resources: 1) there is a downloadable Snow Leopard Fact Sheet @ http://www.snowleopard.org/external_files/media/Snow-Leopard-Fact-Sheet.pdf -- the CAT FACTS PAGES on the Snow Leopard Trust website, and the series of articles titled "A Year in the Life" @ http://www.snowleopard.org/news/currentnews/snowleopardfall -- Also check out the SNOW LEOPARD TRUST page on Wikipedia @ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Leopard_Trust!

A HEALTHIER RIDE TO SCHOOL: CLEANING UP NEW YORK CITY'S DIRTY DIESEL SCHOOL BUSES [PDF] - New York City has one of the largest public school bus systems in the United States. The city's Department of Education (DOE) transports more than 138,000 students using about 6,700 diesel school buses. Although riding the bus is still the safest way to get to school, the air inside the bus can be polluted by diesel exhaust coming from the engine and tailpipe. Luckily tested retrofit technologies are available today to reduce that pollution by 90% or more - READ MORE @ http://www.edf.org/documents/8616_School_Bus_Healthier_Ride.pdf 

FOOD AND WATER WATCH NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE @
http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/about/newsletters

WATER @ http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/press/publications/newsletters?section=water
FOOD @ http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/press/publications/newsletters?section=food
FISH @ http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/press/publications/newsletters?section=fish
> PRESS RELEASES @ http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/press/releases

THE COCA-COLA® FOUNDATION PLEDGES $1 MILLION TO OCEAN CONSERVANCY TO HELP ERADICATE OCEAN LITTER - Coca-Cola has sponsored the International Coastal Cleanup for the past 13 years. Each year hundreds of Coca-Cola associates from around the world join forces with the International Coastal Cleanup and other volunteers to rid the planet’s oceans, rivers, and lakes of unwanted trash and debris > READ MORE

9LIVES® CAT FOOD PROMOTES CAT ADOPTIONS - Every spring and summer, cats reproduce in record numbers, and millions end up in animal shelters. American Humane encourages the nation to help relieve inundated animal shelters by adopting a cat or kitten. Last year 9Lives® launched a campaign to save the lives of 1 million cats and find them loving families. A year has passed and all signs indicate that 9Lives® will soon meet its goal with the adoption of 1 million cats across the country > READ MORE

OCEAN CONSERVANCY SUPPORTS HISTORIC EFFORT TO PROTECT THE OCEAN IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC - "The ocean not only drives our climate but it is the first victim of climate change -- by preserving these South Pacific regions, the President will help our ocean better protect itself against the threats of climate change," said Vikki Spruill, President and CEO of Ocean Conservancy.  "Coral reef ecosystems are home to 25% of the ocean’s biodiversity and are essential to the welfare of millions around the world, yet ocean warming and acidification are systematically destroying reefs that have been degraded by over-fishing and other destructive human. These areas in the South Pacific, and others like them, may become the last refuges for the great biodiversity of coral reef ecosystem it is urgent that these ocean jewels be protected." > READ MORE

OCEAN CONSERVANCY URGES STRONGER CALIFORNIA LEGISLATION TO PREVENT AND RESPOND TO OIL SPILLS - GOVERNOR VETOES STRONGEST PROPOSED ACTIONS BUT REJECTS EXPANDED OFFSHORE OIL DRILLING - Ocean Conservancy supported legislation that would shorten the amount of time it takes spill response contractors to contain a spill, would start a research and development program that upgrades antiquated response technology and would fund the state’s oil spill prevention and response operations with an increase of three cents per barrel of oil. These substantial bills were vetoed by the governor’s office -- Ocean Conservancy is hopeful that the Department of Fish and Game will work to ensure that administrative solutions to improve spill response times and assessment of new containment technologies are fully implemented > READ MORE

OCEAN CONSERVANCY AWARDED $500,000 GRANT FROM BANK OF AMERICA CHARITABLE FOUNDATION TO FIGHT CLIMATE CHANGE AND MARINE DEBRIS - Over the past 20 years, the International Coastal Cleanup—the world’s largest volunteer event of its kind—has gathered an astounding 6 million volunteers to remove over 100 million pounds of marine litter from a total of 170,000 miles of beaches and inland waterways. The majority of trash collected along beaches and waterways around the world is the result of human impact through recreational and shore-line activities. Therefore, the International Coastal Cleanup also encourages changes in the behavior that causes this debris > READ MORE

OCEAN CONSERVANCY SUPPORTS MARINE PROTECTED AREAS PLAN FOR NORTHERN CALIFORNIA - NEW PLAN TO PROTECT MARINE ECOSYSTEMS APPROVED BY GOVERNOR’S TASK FORCE - The backbone of the Task Force proposal is a network of fully protected marine reserves, where extraction of wildlife and destruction of habitat is prohibited. Scientists have found that these high protection areas are extremely effective in rebuilding and preserving marine ecosystems. Studies of existing marine reserves show that over time, reserves can allow fish to grow older and bigger, producing up to 200 times as many young. An independent economic evaluation estimated that the worst-case potential impacts of all three plans would affect only 5 to 8 percent of the existing economic value of area fisheries > READ MORE

OCEAN CONSERVANCY LAUNCHES CONSERVATION TOURISM PROGRAM TO PROTECT ENDANGERED SEA TURTLES - Ocean Conservancy’s SEE Turtles program currently focuses efforts on essential sea turtle habitat in Baja California Sur, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Trinidad. The SEE Turtles program is guided by nine advisory board members with expertise in policy, sea turtle science, tourism, and marine wildlife conservation. SEE Turtles advisory board members helped to develop sea turtle watching guidelines that are being provided to travelers and tour operators, as well as criteria for selecting sites for SEE Turtles -
> READ MORE

SIX DEGREES TO THE OCEAN - Learn how the price at the pump and the ocean are connected in -- you guessed it -- fewer than six steps @
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=10981&JServSessionIdr001=7fynzrnaf1.app46b

OCEAN CONSERVANCY MAGAZINE - Ocean Conservancy magazine celebrates and reports on Ocean Conservancy’s successes and opportunities in ocean conservation. We engage, inform, and inspire our members to act on behalf of the ocean and we demonstrate how members’ support helps achieve these goals. Ocean Conservancy magazine is free when you become a member of the Ocean Conservancy at the $25 level or higher. Become a member today! - go to: http://www.oceanconservancy.org/site/PageServer?pagename=bpm_blueplanet

A HISTORIC VICTORY FOR EVERGLADES RESTORATION - On June 24, 2008 Florida Governor Charlie Crist announced the natural flow of the Everglades will be restored through the purchase of U.S. Sugar holdings south of Lake Okeechobee -- This is the largest step forward in the long history of Everglades restoration - http://www.earthjustice.org/our_work/victory/a-historic-victory-for-everglades-restoration.html

OCEANA ~ PROTECTING THE WORLDS' OCEANS @
http://www.oceana.org/north-america/home/

ENDANGERED SPECIES HAVEN - To save two imperiled species at Sharp Park, California -- and move toward rescuing the site from its unfortunate fate as a golf course, the Center for Biological Diversity and allies told San Francisco they will sue over harm to California red-legged frogs and San Francisco garter snakes, both protected species. Activities at Sharp Park golf course, built over lagoon wetlands and managed by the county and city of San Francisco, have been hurting frogs by draining and pumping their aquatic habitat, and new evidence shows that extremely rare San Francisco garter snakes have been killed by groundskeepers mowing the grass that snakes use for basking. To make matters worse, San Francisco's Recreation and Parks Department released a flawed plan to privatize the golf course and reconstruct flooded parts of it at the expense of frog and snake habitat -- The Center and local Bay Area groups are now calling on San Francisco to not only stop killing Sharp Park's rare herps, but to consider restoring the area's coastal wetlands as an endangered species haven > READ MORE

NEARLY 50 TEXAS COMPANIES TO BE IMPACTED BY EUROPEAN UNION CHEMICAL REGULATIONS - More than 30 chemicals made or imported by companies in Texas – including Exxon Mobil, Shell, DuPont, Dow Chemical, and Equistar – have been classified as dangerous by the European Union (EU). As a result, these companies will be directly affected by controls imposed under the EU's new chemicals regulation, concludes Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) in a report released today, Across the Pond: Assessing REACH's First Big Impact on U.S. Companies and Chemicals > READ MORE

HOW EUROPE'S NEW CHEMICAL RULES AFFECT U.S. - Hundreds of companies located in the U.S. produce or import hundreds of chemicals designated as dangerous by the European Union. These chemicals are being produced in the U.S. in large amounts and at many different sites in 37 states. (See tables [PDF] for company, state and chemical listings.) > READ MORE

ACROSS THE POND: Assessing REACH'S First Big Impact on U.S. Companies and Chemicals [PDF] -
see also: http://www.edf.org/documents/8519_Across_Pond_Tables.pdf

HABITAT PROTECTIONS WILL GIVE BIGHORN BIG BOOST - Thanks to a Center for Biological Diversity lawsuit, this Tuesday the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service gave its final say on protected habitat for the Sierra Nevada bighorn sheep, officially deeming more than 400,000 acres of land worthy of federal safeguarding for the animal's survival and recovery. The bighorn sheep, one of the most magnificent species in the Sierra Nevada (and that's saying a lot), already lives mostly on federal land, but its distribution has been greatly disturbed for more than a century and it's still in danger from growing threats like climate change, domestic sheep grazing, and off-road vehicle damage. Thankfully, it was protected under the Endangered Species Act almost a decade ago, but the Service ignored the issue of protecting the sheep's habitat until the Center took the agency to court in 2005 -- The new habitat designation comes at a critical time, just as disease transmitted by domestic sheep has been hitting the bighorn hard. Besides requiring protected areas to be off-limits to domestic animals, recovery may also mean limiting off-road vehicles in protected areas > READ MORE

JUDGE SAYS NO TO DEATH VALLEY ROAD-BUILDING - In a victory for desert tortoises, bighorn sheep, and Death Valley archaeological sites, on Monday a federal judge tossed out a lawsuit by Inyo County, California to build roads through remote parts of Death Valley National Park. In the suit, filed against the National Park Service, the county was trying to use an ancient, repealed right-of-way law to get its hands on three routes -- currently little-used paths and canyon bottoms -- and make them into two-lane highways. Fortunately for Death Valley wildlife, the routes had been included in wilderness study areas back in the disco era. Because the county didn't take action within the 12-year statute of limitations, the court dismissed its demand for all of one route and almost all of the other two -- Besides helping species, Monday's decision is a win for the Center for Biological Diversity and five allies, represented by Earthjustice, who intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of the Park Service > READ MORE

ENVIRONMENTALISTS CHALLENGE MORE BUSH ADMINISTRATION POLITICAL INTERFERENCE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES DECISIONS ~ INCREASED PROTECTION SOUGHT FOR SIX SPECIES IN SEVEN WESTERN STATES - The Center for Biological Diversity recently filed five separate lawsuits concerning Bush Administration political interference in designation of critical habitat for six western species, including the western snowy plover, California tiger salamander, southwestern willow flycatcher, Buena Vista Lake shrew and two California plants. The lawsuits represent the latest action in a campaign by the Center to reverse politically tainted decisions concerning dozens of endangered species. The campaign was initiated August 28, 2007 with the filing of a notice of intent to sue over decisions involving 55 endangered species in 28 states and 8.7 million acres of critical habitat > READ MORE

POLAR BEAR CRITICAL HABITAT TO BE DESIGNATED LAWSUIT SETTLEMENT WILL INCREASE PROTECTIONS FOR SPECIES IMPERILED BY GLOBAL WARMING - The Center for Biological Diversity, the Natural Resources Defense Council, and Greenpeace have reached a partial settlement with the federal government of the conservation groups’ lawsuit that seeks to strengthen protections for the polar bear under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and other laws. The agreement, recently filed in federal court, sets deadlines for the Secretary of the Interior to designate “critical habitat” for the polar bear, as well as to issue guidelines on non-lethal strategies to deal with bears that pose a threat to public safety under the U.S. Marine Mammal Protection Act > READ MORE

PROTECTION SOUGHT FOR KEY DESERT FISH - The Center for Biological Diversity, Confederated Tribes of the Goshute Reservation, and Great Basin Chapter of Trout Unlimited recently filed a formal notice of intent to sue Secretary of Interior Dirk Kempthorne for failing to respond to a petition to protect the least chub, a rare fish species found only in Utah, as a threatened or endangered species under the federal Endangered Species Act. The least chub has been reduced to six fragile wild populations, three of which occur in the Snake Valley, where planned pumping of water for runaway growth in Las Vegas is a serious threat to the tiny fish’s survival > READ MORE

SANTA FE'S OFF-ROAD VEHICLE PLAN PROVIDES FIRST GOOD STEPS TOWARD PROTECTING WILDLIFE AND NATURAL RESOURCES - The Santa Fe National Forest has released its initial plan to determine the places and habitats to be protected from damaging off-road vehicles -- The travel plan will reduce roads in the forest by 47 percent, protecting habitat for the Mexican spotted owl, goshawk, Jemez Mountain salamander, and Rio Grande cutthroat trout. The Santa Fe currently has one of the highest road densities of any forest in New Mexico > READ MORE

SEPTEMBER PROPOSED AS ‘NATIONAL LINK AWARENESS MONTH’ - In 1894, the American Humane Association first noted a connection between animal abuse and other forms of societal violence. More than 100 years later, this connection -- which American Humane now calls The Link® -- is internationally recognized > READ MORE

AMERICAN HUMANE CERTIFIED™ SETS THE FIRST EVER HUMANE TABLE -- Animal-loving omnivores are finding a growing number of delicious options to meet their dietary needs, by seeking out the American Humane Certified seal on meat, eggs and dairy products > READ MORE

SAVE FORESTS ~ A SHOPPER'S GUIDE - You can help save forests by choosing environmentally preferable alternatives @ http://www.nrdc.org/land/forests/gtissue.asp

READ THE NRDC BIOGEMS NEWSLETTTER @
http://www.savebiogems.org/newsletter/

NEW CONSERVATION INCENTIVES WILL AID AMERICA’S FARMERS AND WETLANDS @
http://www.edf.org/pressrelease.cfm?contentID=8633

THE ACLU - BECAUSE FREEDOM CAN'T PROTECT ITSELF @
http://aclu.org/ + URGENT ACTION ALERTS + LEGISLATIVE UPDATE @ http://aclu.org/legislative/ + SUPREME COURT UPDATE @ http://www.aclu.org/scotus/ + ACTION NETWORK SUCCESS STORIES @
http://action.aclu.org/site/PageServer?pagename=AP_SuccessStoriesListing

CHECK OUT THE GREENPEACE PRESS CENTER @
http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/press-center/ + BUSINESSES FOR A SAFE CLIMATE @
http://us.greenpeace.org/site/PageNavigator/hotseat/PHS_Business + BLOGS @ http://members.greenpeace.org/gpblog/ + GREEENPEACE FACTS @ http://us.greenpeace.org/site/PageServer?pagename=PHS_Get_the_Facts + TAKE ACTION @ http://members.greenpeace.org/action/index.php

CARE2.COM GREEN LIVING @
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/ + PETS @ http://www.care2.com/greenliving/pets
FOOD & RECIPES @ http://www.care2.com/greenliving/food-recipes

TAKE ACTION @
http://www.care2.com/take-action/

GREEN ENERGY VOTER GUIDE @
http://www.edf.org/documents/8655_green-voter-guide-timeline.pdf