Wednesday, 16 May 2007

Or Are You Just Happy to Sue Me?

U.S. prosecutors compare "eco-terrorists" to KKK

In its unyielding quest to root out terror at its terror-y roots, the U.S. government is battling to have 10 eco-activists sentenced as terrorists. At a hearing in Eugene, Ore., yesterday, attorneys argued that 10 members of the loosely coalesced Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front deserve the label, which could not only net them longer sentences in scarier prisons, but also redefine how other forms of activism are prosecuted. U.S. attorneys compared the 10 -- who have pleaded guilty to arson and conspiracy in connection with 20 fires from 1996 to 2001, including a mega-blaze at a Vail ski resort -- to the Ku Klux Klan. The defense objected, pointing out that the KKK killed people. On purpose. The U.S. attorney's response? The fires are "a classic case of terrorism" because the groups were trying to coerce the feds into changing their policies, and it was "pure luck" that no one was killed or injured. Did we mention no one was killed or injured? A ruling is expected next week.


After media mogul Rupert Murdoch launched a big climate plan last week for his News Corp. media empire, he sat down with Amanda Griscom Little of Grist for an exclusive interview about the venture. In a candid conversation, he shares his climate conversion moment, gives his opinion of President Bush's environmental record, says he'll no longer make campaign donations to climate skeptics, and predicts that even conservative Fox News commentator Sean Hannity will see the light.

Smells Like Progress

As climate summit continues, fed-up mayors unveil actual plans

They cover 1 percent of the Earth's surface, but the world's cities spew 80 percent of greenhouse-gas emissions -- and 180 percent of climate-action plans. "Where national governments can't or won't lead, cities will," said Toronto Mayor David Miller at the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit in New York City. Yesterday, Miller unveiled an online social-networking carbon calculator called Zerofootprint Toronto that will, he says, "help make my city not only one of the greenest on the planet, but one of the most innovative as well." He's not alone: Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) plans to green his notoriously smoggy city, pledging to cut carbon 35 percent below 1990 levels by 2030, and 16 world cities will eco-renovate city-owned skyscrapers under a $1 billion partnership led by former President Clinton's Climate Initiative. The award for most diplomatic slam goes to New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (R), who noted that federal governments in the U.S. and elsewhere "seem to be tied up."


Has your garden become an all-you-can-eat buffet extravaganza for unwanted pests? A reader from Texas, tired of finding holes in her basil leaves, says her garden-supply store sells praying mantises and ladybugs for pest management. But will unleashing more insects help her yard, or hurt it? Advice maven Umbra Fisk crawls in with an answer.

So That's Why Their Little Hearts Beat So Fast

New hummingbird species discovered, imperiled by cocaine trade

It's hard out here for a gorgeted puffleg. The hummingbird species with the fabulous name was just discovered in southwestern Colombia, where farmers slash and burn 1,235 acres of cloud-forest habitat every year to grow coca, the raw ingredient in cocaine. That's bad news for a species that bird-conservation expert Andr Weller calls "the most spectacular discovery of a new hummingbird taxon during the last decade or more." Ornithologists are urging the Colombian government to create a 494,000-acre nature preserve for the safety of pufflegs, so named for the cottonball-like plumage above their legs. Cute! Says Ian Davidson of Birdlife International, "To go undiscovered for so long, the bird's range must be extremely small and fragile -- hence conservation action is undoubtedly a priority." And if forest preservation helps out other feathered folk, all the better; Colombia houses more than 1,800 bird species, the largest variety in the world.