Thursday, 29 Mar 2001

Shell Game

More than 15,000 green sea turtles are slaughtered in Bali each year, even though they are considered endangered in most of the world and a law in Indonesia prohibits catching, possessing, or eating the animal. Environmentalists say more sea turtles are killed in Bali than any other place in the world. Eating turtle meat is an integral part of Balinese celebrations, however, and catching one turtle can bring hunters the equivalent of more than two-month's pay for an average worker.

Kyo-toad

European and Japanese governments reacted angrily yesterday to the Bush administration's decision to abandon the Kyoto treaty on climate change. Japan's ambassador for global environmental affairs, Kazuo Asakai, said that "Japan will be dismayed and deeply disappointed" if the U.S. rejects the agreement. Today, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder is expected to appeal to Bush on behalf of European Union countries to reconsider his decision, arguing that the U.S. has a responsibility to act on climate change because it is the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases. E.U. Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom indicated she will continue to push for ratification and enforcement of the treaty by 2002, with or without U.S. participation. Meanwhile, U.S. EPA Administrator Christie Todd Whitman is entering a meeting today with environmental ministers from around the Western Hemisphere with no alternative policy on global warming to discuss.

Cod Is Dead

Once upon a time, Atlantic cod ran so thick in the icy waters off the coast of Newfoundland that explorer John Cabot was able to catch the fish by hanging wicker baskets over the side of his ship. More than 400 years after Cabot first visited the remote northeastern corner of North America, Newfoundland's waters were still ripe with cod. Today, the fish are gone. Gargantuan factory trawlers started to strip-mine the seas in the 1950s; only decades later, the Canadian government was forced to close what had once been the world's greatest fishery for lack of fish. The trawlers may have made it impossible for the species to fully recover.

Whose Land Is It Anyway?

U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton took steps yesterday that could lead to commercial development in some of the national monuments designated by former President Clinton. She sent letters to state and local officials to get their feedback on how the lands should be managed and whether the boundaries of the monuments should be adjusted. Norton claims that the Clinton administration failed to get local input before setting aside the lands. Meanwhile, the House Resources Committee voted unanimously yesterday to change the status of land protected by Clinton in Idaho from a monument to a preserve to allow hunting to continue. And a recent report by the U.S. Geological Survey, prepared at the request of House Republicans, identified six of the monuments designated by Clinton as areas that might contain large amounts of oil, gas, or coal.

It's Marine Buoy

A $32 million project to restore marine resources in the South China Sea and Gulf of Thailand was launched yesterday by the U.N. Environment Programme. Seven Southeast Asian nations and donors from developed countries finalized an agreement last November to fund the five-year plan, which is intended to help some 270 million people whose livelihoods have been affected by declining fish stocks, damaged coral reefs, and disappearing mangrove forests. Overfishing, pollution, and coastal development have led to the problems.