GreenWatch

B. McPherson When the nuclear power plant at Fukushima Daiichi failed during the earthquake and tsunami in April of 2011, it was thought at first, that a sincere effort on the part of TEPCO and the Japanese government would be made to clean up the mess as best they could. Unfortunately that has not been the case. From the very beginning of the crisis, it looks as if company executives were emphasizing saving face more than reacting to the crisis. As radiation leaked over the nearby residents, the true extent of the danger was minimized.  A series of accidents at the wrecked plant might have been laughable if not for their dire consequences. Huge amounts of radioactive water leaked into the Pacific Ocean. Fuel rods remain in danger of ignition   when power to cooling fails. Rats electrocuted themselves shutting off electricity. Evacuees have been moved out of the worst contaminated areas now, but are awaiting compensation for the loss of their farms and homes...

B. McPherson This kind of entertainment belongs with bear baiting and bull fighting In a bold move, the Minister of Environment and Forests has issued an edict to ban the captivity of dolphins for public entertainment. It labels the keeping of cetaceans for entertainment as “morally unacceptable” and that they should be considered as non-human persons. In a policy statement released Friday, the ministry advised state governments to reject any proposal to establish a dolphinarium “by any person / persons, organizations, government agencies, private or public enterprises that involves import, capture of cetacean species to establish for commercial entertainment, private or public exhibition and interaction purposes whatsoever.” Environmental News Service Many of the dolphins trapped in Japan at the infamous Cove are not killed, but captured live to sell to dolphinaria. The life of these intelligent, social creatures is often short and beset with constant stress. For...

B. McPherson The eight nation Arctic Council will reconvene on May 15 th to discuss security, sustainability, environmental protection and development. The nations which have coast lines on the Arctic Ocean formed the Council in 1998 in the face of the warming Arctic and threats and opportunities that an ice-free ocean would present. In addition to the eight nations with coastlines on the Arctic – Canada, USA, Russia, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark(Greenland) – there are six nonvoting members who represent indigenous people and their interests. Observer status has been granted to eight nations. 14 other nations have applied to sit as nonvoting observers at this conference. Some of the nations applying for status are puzzling at first glance, but the expected natural resources that lie under the ice have some already rumbling that they deserve a share of those riches – natural gas and oil. This year China, Japan, S.Korea, India, Italy, Singapore and the EU have all...

B. McPherson   California is the latest state to be hit with the invasive fly that carries what is called Greening Disease . It was first identified in March of 2012 and has citrus growers on high alert. The culprit spreading the disease is a tiny flying insect, a psyllid fly. It has established itself in Florida where it was discovered in the citrus groves in 1998. Now California is fighting the difficult battle against this unwelcome pest from Asia. The fly damages the citrus tree in two ways. It sucks juices from the new growth, leading to stunted and deformed growth. More seriously, it carries a bacterium that causes the greening disease. There is no treatment and no cure. Citrus trees must be cut down and destroyed to slow the spread of the disease. Once they are infected with Candidatus liberbacter , they are doomed in any case. Once infected any fruit produced is deformed, small and has a bad taste. Humans have aided the spread of the disease as well. The 1...

B. McPherson The biggest petroleum pipeline corporation in Canada, Enbridge, has safety deficiencies in 117 out of 125 pump stations across Canada according to the National Energy Safety Board. It is a requirement that each pump station have emergency power backup to operate shut-down procedures. You may recall that it took Enbridge hours to shut down the pipe spewing bitumen into the Kalamazoo River. Eight stations across the country complied with that safety regulation. Of the 125 stations inspected, 83 lacked an emergency shut-down button. These regulations have been in place for at least 14 years. The regulation requiring an emergency shut-down button has been on the books since 1994. For its part, spokesman for the pipeline company, Graham White, said that it is a matter of interpretation of the rules. Battery power was in place at the stations, but this is deemed insufficient. The corporation has since installed the emergency equipment and is working towards com...