Monday, 25 Jun 2007

Canary You Hear Me Now?

Climate change a contributor to Darfur crisis, says U.N. report

A United Nations Environment Program report says brutal conflicts in Sudan are tied to the effects of climate change, including severe drought. Competition over scarce resources, including water, timber, oil, and land, could spark more fighting unless the issues are addressed, says the report: "Ignoring these environmental issues will ensure that some political and social problems remain unsolvable and [are] even likely to worsen." In war-torn Darfur, an estimated 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been left homeless by a conflict that began in part as an agricultural skirmish over water supplies. Even in refugee camps, water shortages are now a source of strain. While programs are emerging to replant trees and manage resources, they are overshadowed by violence and desperation. "The consciousness of the world on the issue of climate change has to change fast," says Muawia Shaddad of the Sudan Environment Conservation Society. "Darfur is just an early warning."


Meet Carson, Christian, Langston, Lati, and Lauren. Together they add up to: an exceptionally talented musical group; five friends committed to climate solutions; and an age of less than 80 years. As jazz ensemble In Black, the teenagers are traveling in California this week to share their music and encourage listeners to seek out a greener way of living. Answering questions as InterActivists, they chat about their unassuming approach to saving the world, being stereotyped as typical teenagers, and why they wish you would get up from that computer and grab a gun. Send In Black a question by noon PDT on Wednesday; we'll publish answers to selected questions on Friday.

Boulder and Wiser

IBM plans green data-center expansion in Colorado

High-tech grandpappy IBM will undertake an $86 million expansion of a greenish data center in Boulder, Colo. The company will add 80,000 square feet to a 225,000-square-foot facility, using energy-efficient lighting and heating, efficient building design, and energy-conservation technologies in the data gear. It's all part of a cunning plan to double data-center capacity by 2010 without increasing energy usage or emissions. And that, in turn, is part of Project Big Green, an initiative the company unveiled in early May that will see it spend $1 billion a year to improve its and its clients' IT efficiency. "This is about growth," says Rich Lechner, IBM's vice president for IT optimization. "The reason we're building these data centers is we continue to have growth in our clients' demands. It's about growing in an eco-friendly way." The company was wooed by $732,000 in incentives from Boulder and Colorado, a state that aims to be, says Gov. Bill Ritter (D), "among the renewable-energy leaders around the world."


When nature calls at an ocean beach with no facilities, is it better to go behind the dunes or in the water? A reader from North Carolina wants the relief of a straight answer, and advice maven Umbra Fisk does her best to satisfy.

Moscow on the Cud Sign

Russian capital introduces label for GM-free food

Now you can have your GM-free borscht and read it, too: next week, the city of Moscow will debut a groundbreaking label for foods that are free of genetically modified ingredients. Under the leadership of Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, the city has devised a voluntary system of testing and labeling that will allow products to carry a GM-free label for a year at a time. While the European Union requires producers to label food containing more than 0.9 percent GM ingredients, Moscow's plan is, say observers, the first of its kind: "It's very important for the rest of the world to watch Moscow," says Greenpeace GM researcher Natalia Olefirenko. Some food companies are pitching a fit; said one, "It involves special testing, special packaging, and the costs will be passed on to the consumer." But their protests aren't fazing Luzhkov, who supports federal legislation that would restrict the production and sale of GM foods, and has urged President Vladimir Putin to set up a commission to research the issue.


Which Canadian crooner hiked the U.S.-Canada border to raise awareness for wilderness protection, what's green about Green Day (pictured) other than its name, and how many Barenaked Ladies does it take to change an attitude? Find out this and more in our list of 15 green musicians and bands.