NSW locust plague

ABC News

18 million dollars will be used to fight an upcoming locust plague, New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally has announced. The plague is expected to be the worst in 30 years, and will require five times more pesticides than last year’s crop protection.

posted by ruby on July 22, 2010 at 9:32 am · filed under

Concerns over BP clean up

ABC News

New York Congressman Jerry Nadler has voiced concerns that the clean up from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill clean-up is further damaging the environment through the use of chemical dispersants.  90 million gallons of oil were released into the ocean in the leak.

“Nobody has ever dumped 1.8 million gallons of a dispersant into an ocean before,” he told ABC Radio’s The World Today.  “We know that dispersants generally… are toxic. Recovery workers are getting sick from a combination of the fumes from the dispersants and the oil.”

posted by ruby on July 22, 2010 at 9:28 am · filed under

International calls for Australia to ban illegal timber imports

Australian Conservation Foundation

Social justice, environment and international development organisations from Indonesia and Australia are petitioning Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard to fulfill the Government’s 2007 election promise to ban imports of illegal timber. The groups say the ban will help to stamp out illegal logging in Indonesia, which has lost, and continues to lose, significant forest cover to illegal logging and clearing.

posted by seamas on July 22, 2010 at 7:34 am · filed under

Google opts for wind power

Engadget

Google has secured a clean and renewable energy supply for several of its data centers for the next two decades. The Internet search giant just agreed a deal to source power from a wind farm in Iowa operated by renewable energy company NextEra.

posted by seamas on July 22, 2010 at 7:26 am · filed under

Australia ignores WHO toxic chemicals warning

WWF Australia

Numerous pesticides still used on Australian farms have been banned overseas because of the risks they pose to human health and the environment, according to a list released yesterday by WWF and the National Toxics Network. More than 20 of the 80 or so chemicals flagged have been classified as either extremely or highly hazardous by the World Health Organisation, yet they remain available for use on food growing farms. Some of the listed chemicals contain carcinogens, others have the potential to interfere with human hormones. WWF is calling for Australian toxic chemical regulations to be brought into line with U.S. and European standards, in order to protect farm workers, wildlife and ecosystems.

posted by seamas on July 19, 2010 at 7:25 am · filed under

Whitsundays stretch listed first among world’s best eco-friendly beaches

CNN

CNN has listed Whitehaven Beach on Whitsunday Island in Queensland first among its list of the world’s most ecologically pristine beaches. Other well preserved and spectacular shorelines were noted in Costa Rica, Thailand and Spain. Most picks were well protected and difficult to access.

posted by seamas on July 19, 2010 at 7:12 am · filed under

National Tree Day (Aug 1)

Planet Ark

National Tree Day will be held on Sunday, the 1st of August, with Schools Tree Day taking place on Friday the 30th of July. Native plants and trees will be planted to help restore natural ecosystems. Last year hundreds of thousands of Australians, including school children, dug deep to improve their natural surroundings. Tree Day shows everyone how easy and fun it is to help our environment.

posted by seamas on July 18, 2010 at 10:08 pm · filed under