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The 82nd Rainforest Thread ~

 
 
teenyboone
 
  4  
Reply Tue 19 Aug, 2008 05:28 pm
@danon5,
I found this lovely lady, from gravatar! Thanks! All clicked! Cool
danon5
 
  2  
Reply Tue 19 Aug, 2008 05:59 pm
@teenyboone,
Great teeny, you can upload any picture that is stored in your computer to gravatar and it will become your new avatar.

sumac, thanks. Great article. Did you notice that not one mention was made of the Bush family??? Who were and probably still are involved. Especially the mention of the Chinese proposal which is still in doubt - Papa Bush is in China now and not to see the Olympics I'm sure.
ehBeth
 
  3  
Reply Tue 19 Aug, 2008 07:03 pm
@danon5,
The WildClickers have supported 2,911,391.7 square feet!

Marine Wetlands habitat supported: 215,239.0 square feet.
American Prairie habitat supported: 67,753.4 square feet.
Rainforest habitat supported: 2,628,399.3 square feet.

~~~

the new Care2 launches tonight

and it's friendship week!

http://dingo.care2.com/cards/cats/coffeefrend.gif
danon5
 
  1  
Reply Tue 19 Aug, 2008 09:51 pm
@ehBeth,
I hope it's simple - in my old age, I don't like change as much as I did when I was younger.
sumac
 
  3  
Reply Wed 20 Aug, 2008 05:46 am
@danon5,
Danon, get back your old avatar. I miss you. The CEO of Carlyl stepped down in subsequent article.

I don't know if you all are aware of it, but a lot of what I post here are editorials from either The New York Times, or The Washington Post. It is clear that there is strong interest and support on their editorial boards for environmentally-related issues.

Quote:
August 20, 2008
Editorial
Risking the Galápagos

It’s hard to imagine an ecosystem better protected by nature " and man " than the Galápagos Islands. They lie some 600 miles off the coast of Ecuador. Most of the land is included in a national park, and the waters surrounding the islands form one of the largest marine protected areas in the world. The Galápagos Islands have often been portrayed as an evolutionary laboratory, which is how Darwin came to understand them after stopping there in 1835. But in recent years, the islands have become a laboratory for conservation " an ongoing experiment in how to preserve a nearly intact ecosystem while still making it available to tourists.

Nothing has changed more in the Galápagos since Darwin’s day than the number of humans who come there. In 2006, 140,000 people visited the archipelago hoping to witness both the starkness of the landscape and their biological richness. Those visitors help support a resident population that has grown to roughly 30,000 people " a nearly fourfold increase in less than 20 years " most of them from mainland Ecuador.

Unfortunately, wherever humans go, unwelcome pests also go. Scientists have just discovered a parasite in Galápagos penguins that researchers fear might lead to avian malaria, which had a devastating effect on endemic bird species in Hawaii. It is likely that the parasite was introduced by what one scientist has called an exponential increase in invasive insects caused by the influx of humans.

Getting the balance right between access and protection is always difficult. In the past, the assumption has been that the best way to protect a natural resource was to create interest in it and a use for it. What’s at risk in the Galápagos, though, requires both scientists and politicians to think deeply about how to protect the islands and ensure that humans can still visit, learn from and glory in such an extraordinary place.

This is one of the last nearly complete ecosystems on the planet, which means more weight will have to be given to protection. New rules require incoming passenger planes and cruise ships to be fumigated in quarantine. That quarantine may have to be extended to all vessels reaching the island " by land and sea. Much will depend on how quickly scientists can discover the source of the parasite, and its danger, and whether they can eliminate it easily. These islands are a biological resource too precious to waste.
0 Replies
 
Stradee
 
  2  
Reply Wed 20 Aug, 2008 10:03 am
Here we go again...

The Clinton-era "roadless rule" has been declared invalid by U.S. District Judge Clarence Brimmer. The rule, which prohibits development on 58.5 million acres of national forest, has had a long and rocky past. Brimmer first put the kibosh on it in 2003, and while an appeal was pending, the Bush administration switched it out for an alternative that required states to petition the feds for forest protection. The Bush rule was thrown out by a different district judge in 2006 and the Clinton rule reinstated -- until now. Ruling in favor of the state of Wyoming, Brimmer declared that the roadless rule violated two environmental laws and stymied forest managers from doing their jobs. "The Forest Service, in an attempt to bolster an outgoing president's environmental legacy, rammed through an environmental agenda that itself violates the country's well-established environmental laws," Brimmer wrote. (Wonder what he thinks of the Bush admin's attempt to gut the Endangered Species Act?) The roadless saga will continue: green group Earthjustice has promised to appeal.



http://rainforest.care2.com/i?p=583091674






0 Replies
 
Stradee
 
  2  
Reply Wed 20 Aug, 2008 10:08 am
A very cool photo, Beth.

Hi ya Alex!

Teeny, is that you smilin'? Cool

Dan, google "Marvin Bush". { Interesting connections }

sue, what's your take on greenhouse winter plant storage?
0 Replies
 
Stradee
 
  2  
Reply Wed 20 Aug, 2008 10:20 am
Good news!

Two gigantic solar plants will be built in California under deals announced Thursday between utility Pacific Gas & Electric and companies OptiSolar and Sun Power. Together, the plants could generate 800 megawatts of electricity at peak capacity, enough to power 239,000 homes. (Perspective: The total peak capacity of every photovoltaic panel in the U.S. as of last year was 750 MW.) The largest plant will cover nine square miles with solar panels, but it will be "very visually unobtrusive," says OptiSolar CEO Randy Goldstein; with panels only three feet high, "It almost looks like a lake." Both plants aim to be up and running by 2011, dependent on state and local approval and a renewal of tax credits currently stalled in Congress. Photovoltaic power has until now been constrained to rooftops, considered too inefficient for utility-scale use; the PG&E deals are "monumental," says Julia Hamm of the Solar Electric Power Association. "I really think it demonstrates that the time for solar has come."

danon5
 
  3  
Reply Wed 20 Aug, 2008 11:00 am
@Stradee,
That's good news Stradee.

Hi all, and great clicking.
ehBeth
 
  3  
Reply Wed 20 Aug, 2008 03:45 pm
@danon5,
g'day all
more changes to A2K - now if you reply to a specific post, that post receives an automatic thumb up - unless you manually remove it later
also - you can now see who the last poster on a thread was before entering the thread

the developers continue to work on the site - brilliant!
danon5
 
  3  
Reply Wed 20 Aug, 2008 05:42 pm
@ehBeth,
ehBeth, that's right about the 'thumbs up' - also, if you like the post you may click on the 'thumbs up' and add a positive number.

Alas, the reverse is true it one clicks on the 'thumbs down' - - - Big Grin, because the thumb event was instituted by the American cinema - In reality during the Roman games 'thumb down' actually meant save the opponent. In the real world very few Gladiators were matched to kill each other - they were way too valuable an asset for the owners - it was mostly prisoners from the local jails who were killed to please the audience. And, of course, (close your eyes and ears, Stradee) a lot of exotic animals imported from all over the then known world.

The name Gladiator - came from the short sword used by the men - the 'Gladius'.

Young women would use small metal scrapers to take the sweat off a Gladiator and use it for their own purposes.

Oh, well, never happened to me.
ehBeth
 
  2  
Reply Wed 20 Aug, 2008 08:33 pm
@danon5,
danon, craven's talking about lessening the effect of the thumbs down to help the community experience here - or at least changing how we see it. Changes continue.

I quite like the new care2 - very easy to use - at least one less step to get to each click.

~~~

The WildClickers have supported 2,911,585.5 square feet!

Marine Wetlands habitat supported: 215,290.8 square feet.

American Prairie habitat supported: 67,776.9 square feet.

Rainforest habitat supported: 2,628,517.8 square feet.
0 Replies
 
Stradee
 
  2  
Reply Wed 20 Aug, 2008 09:43 pm
@danon5,
Quote:
stradee, close your eyes and ears


opps, to late Shocked

Cool - another new feature. We can read what a poster wrote during the 'reply'!

Beth, the site is a lot easier to navigate.

sumac
 
  2  
Reply Thu 21 Aug, 2008 08:49 am
@Stradee,
Stradee
I have never heard of that phrase 'greenhouse winter plant storage'. Can you give me a link, or an explanation?

This is a cool site and I have bothered to learn only a fraction of it.

Quote:
August 21, 2008
Editorial
There Ought to Be a Roadless Law

Among President Bill Clinton’s signature environmental achievements was a regulation that prohibited new roads " and by extension, new commercial activity " in nearly 60 million largely undeveloped acres of the national forests. For seven years, the Bush administration, egged on by its friends in the timber and oil-and-gas industries, has worked tirelessly to kill the roadless rule. Conservationists have worked just as hard to preserve it.

Rules devised by the executive branch are often challenged on grounds that they violate an underlying federal statute or have been rushed through without proper vetting. Environmental regulations are especially contentious. The roadless rule, in particular, has been caught in an endless game of Ping-Pong, with some courts upholding it, others overturning it.

The good news is that little has changed on the ground: In seven years, only seven miles of new roads have been built in protected areas in the lower 48 states. Legally, though, things are a complete mess. That means that there is no guaranteed protection for the roadless forests.

The Clinton rule has been thrown out three times by district courts in response to lawsuits from states and industries. The most recent injunction was handed down last week by Clarence A. Brimmer, a conservative Federal District Court judge in Wyoming. He issued one of the earlier injunctions and has supported the administration on whether to limit snowmobiles in Yellowstone, which is another long-running environmental dispute.

The roadless rule has been reinstated twice " once at the appellate level by the Ninth Circuit, and later by a federal magistrate judge in San Francisco, Elizabeth LaPorte. Judge LaPorte also slapped down a sneaky effort by the Bush administration to take advantage of all the confusion by replacing the Clinton rule with a much weaker alternative of its own.

Environmental groups will surely appeal Judge Brimmer’s latest ruling, which, of course, they should. But that still leaves too much room for mischief. Congress will have to intervene. Last year, more than 140 House members and 19 senators introduced the National Forest Roadless Area Conservation Act. It is past time to provide permanent protection for the forests by turning the Clinton rule into firm law.


From today's New York Times.
sumac
 
  3  
Reply Thu 21 Aug, 2008 08:51 am
@sumac,
Can anyone remember the general rules about how to punctuate newspapers, books, etc.? Which get underlined, italicized, in quotation marks?
0 Replies
 
Stradee
 
  3  
Reply Thu 21 Aug, 2008 10:26 am
@sumac,
I checked links but the question i have is: will plants that do very well during the summer months survive in a greenhouse or hothouse during the winter. A few plants are potted and placed on the porches for protection from deer - but during winter storms, the plants may not survive the cold - especially the potted jasmine. Deer guards work for landscaped plants, but the jasmine, purple hearts, and begonias are accustomed to the porches enviornments {morning sun and protection from hot afternoon sunshine}

Any ideas? Thanks sue

The roadless rule article is a good one. I believe congress will act...but when is the question. Also, offshore drilling is becoming an issue for the next elections, so politically {even though drilling is not the answer} those that have opposed offshore drilling are going for the hype and backstepping for political reasons.




http://rainforest.care2.com/i?p=583091674






danon5
 
  3  
Reply Thu 21 Aug, 2008 01:45 pm
@Stradee,
I am with Teddy R. - keep our country clean and road free in parks.

Clicked.
ehBeth
 
  2  
Reply Thu 21 Aug, 2008 03:52 pm
@danon5,
The WildClickers have supported 2,911,733.6 square feet!

Marine Wetlands habitat supported: 215,327.9 square feet.

American Prairie habitat supported: 67,776.9 square feet.

Rainforest habitat supported: 2,628,628.9 square feet.

~~~

danon, would you be abletoclick for me on Saturday?


0 Replies
 
alex240101
 
  1  
Reply Thu 21 Aug, 2008 04:17 pm
Good day. Clicked.
0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  2  
Reply Thu 21 Aug, 2008 04:40 pm
@danon5,
http://inlinethumb47.webshots.com/41134/2273796580098509452S500x500Q85.jpg
 

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