How Can I Attract Wildlife To My Backyard?
Any ideas for how to make my backyard more attractive to wildlife? I would like to be part of the solution to our wildlife extinction problem…
Green Partying
In 1989, at a pub called the Slug and Lettuce in Northern London, Edwin Datschefski was sitting with several of his green design colleagues when he noticed an enviro-minded acquaintance at a nearby table. As it turned out, the friend was sitting with a few of his eco-conscious mates, so they pulled some tables together. And so a movement was born.
Getting There
As a nation, we love our cars. America invented the drive-in restaurant and drive-in bank. NASCAR racing is one of the fastest growing spectator sports, and car magazines have millions of subscribers. We love our cars so much, we have more of them than we do drivers. We also love big cars, and are buying as many light trucks as passenger automobiles. The result is that the U.S. is the largest per-capita consumer of oil and the largest per-capita producer of global warming gases.
A Blizzard of Paper
A recent University of California-Berkeley study found that information stored electronically grew by a whopping 80 percent between 1999 and 2002. And even though less than one tenth of one percent of that data was printed, the amount of printed matter still grew by 36 percent during that same period. Not surprisingly, the U.S. is the biggest paper muncher, accounting for 33 percent of all printed material.
Operation Prairie Storm
As with the highly questionable intelligence alleging Iraqi weapons of mass-destruction that led us into war, hunting continues on the strength of some long-debunked myths, thanks to leaders who kowtow to the gun industry, the National Rifle Association and others.
The Quiet Paradise
Imagine a South Pacific paradise, steeped in the 18th century history of Captain James Cook and William Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. You can almost smell fragrant frangipani blossoms, taste sweet papayas and feel cool breezes. Now add to that vision: blue starfish, a sparrow-size-bird threatened by extinction and a tree-climbing senior citizen.
Wasting the West
Twenty years ago, much of the public land around the San Pedro River in southeastern Arizona resembled the barren and desolate landscape found in a Sub-Saharan desert. For years, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management had granted grazing permits to ranchers for thousands of acres of fragile land along the San Pedro.
Australian Environmentalists Warn of Koalas’ Imminent Extinction
In yet another case of habitat destruction endangering an already protected wildlife species, Australia’s koala bears are facing extinction unless concerned citizens and government officials can stem the tide of urbanization sweeping across the country’s eastern seaboard.
In Nominating David Cobb, Green Party Snubs Nader for 2004
This past week the Green Party selected California lawyer David Cobb as its nominee for the upcoming Presidential election, snubbing 2000 party nominee Ralph Nader, who is again running for the White House. While Nader, who many Democrats considered a spoiler in 2000 for taking crucial votes away from Al Gore, would provide greater name recognition for the Greens, Cobb received a majority of the half-million-member party’s delegates.
Nobel Scientists Endorse Kerry, Criticize Bush’s Science Track Record
Forty-eight American Nobel Science Prize winners have endorsed John Kerry’s bid for the White House, citing their hope that the Democratic challenger can help the U.S. regain its focus on scientific research and technological development.