Tuesday, 10 Jan 2006

Been There, Bumped That

Whaling and protest ships collide in Antarctic waters

Japanese officials are claiming that a Greenpeace ship intentionally hit a whaling ship in the Southern Ocean on Sunday. But crewmembers of the protest vessel say the whaler rammed their smaller ship, and they've posted video of the incident on the Greenpeace blog. The collision left a big dent in the activist ship's hull, damaged a mast, and scared the bejeezus out of the Greenpeacers, who say they practice only nonviolent protest. The Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, meanwhile, has taken full and unapologetic credit for intentionally sideswiping a whaling supply ship yesterday. Vessels from the two activist groups have been harassing Japanese whaling ships as they hunt for 850 minke and 10 fin whales in the Southern Ocean this season. Japan claims it's legally hunting the cetaceans for scientific research, but the eco-groups -- as well as some countries that are members of the International Whaling Commission -- counter it's really an illegal commercial hunt for whale meat.

Forest Trump

Judge halts more than 140 Northwest timber sales to protect rare species

U.S. District Judge Marsha Pechman has reinstated the "look before logging" rule on federal lands in the Pacific Northwest -- abolished in 2004 by the Bush administration -- and ordered a halt to 144 timber sales in California, Oregon, and Washington that might imperil about 300 rare animal and plant species. Federal lawyers had argued that reinstating ecological surveys would cost the government about $2.7 million a year, but Pechman ruled that the potential for environmental harm outweighed the burden and costs on both the government and timber companies. Although logging interests say they may restart a lawsuit to have the ecological surveys declared illegal, environmentalists are relieved by the ruling. Said Pete Frost of the Western Environmental Law Center, the law firm representing environmentalists in the case, "I think it's a small investment to make to preserve old-growth forests and the species that live in them."


If you're like us, you spent New Year's Eve sipping bubbly, chatting with friends, and obsessively worrying about the end of the world. No? Well next year, you'll have to come to our party. In the meantime, check out Lou Bendrick's cheery rundown of all the ways our planet could meet its doom, and find out -- straight from the experts -- which ones you really need to worry about.

You Be Spillin'

China faces two more toxic river crises

Two new toxic spills have hit rivers in central China. Last week, cadmium seeped out of silt dredged in a cleanup effort on the industrialized Xiangjiang River, contaminating a 60-odd mile stretch of the waterway, and a broken pipe at a power plant dumped six tons of diesel fuel into a tributary of the Yellow River. Chinese officials are downplaying both incidents, saying that they're using chemicals to neutralize the spills, and that drinking water supplies are safe. But with some 70 percent of China's rivers polluted, more and more citizens are feeling that the country is paying too heavy an environmental price for its economic boom. "Some local authorities only pay attention to the environment when problems arise," says local legislator Wang Guoxiang, "and sometimes then they still respond carelessly." China has meanwhile announced that it will spend more than $3 billion over five years to clean up November's massive benzene spill on the Songhua River.

Ape of Good Hope

King Kong director campaigns to save wild gorillas

The original 1933 King Kong gave gorillas a bad rep and inspired an upsurge in gorilla hunting, but the director of the 2005 remake hopes to use his blockbuster's appeal to help keep the apes from going extinct. Peter Jackson is backing efforts by the International Gorilla Conservation Program to save Kong's smaller and less terrifying prototypes. Jackson's contributions include charity premieres of the film, which have raised $100,000, and plans for the King Kong DVD to include a documentary film about the mountain gorilla of central Africa. "Gorillas are truly amazing animals -- without them there wouldn't be entertainment like King Kong," says Jackson. Um ... true. Another good reason to protect gorillas is that all wild ones are considered endangered, some species critically so. Mountain gorillas could die out within the next few decades, scientists say.