Environmental Voters

Blamed for Bee Collapse, Monsanto Buys Leading Bee Research Firm

Monsanto, the massive biotechnology company being blamed for contributing to the dwindling bee population, has bought up one of the leading bee collapse research organizations. Recently banned from Poland with one of the primary reasons being that the company’s genetically modified corn may be devastating the dying bee population, it is evident that Monsanto is under serious fire for their role in the downfall of the vital insects. It is therefore quite apparent why Monsanto bought one of the largest bee research firms on the planet.

It can be found in public company reports hosted on mainstream media that Monsanto scooped up the Beeologics firm back in September 2011. During this time the correlation between Monsanto’s GM crops and the bee decline was not explored in the mainstream, and in fact it was hardly touched upon until Polish officials addressed the serious concern amid the monumental ban. Owning a major organization that focuses heavily on the bee collapse and is recognized by the USDA for their mission statement of “restoring bee health and protecting the future of insect pollination” could be very advantageous for Monsanto.

James Hansen at a recent TED Talk

Evaluating a 1981 temperature projection

Sometimes it helps to take a step back from the everyday pressures of research (falling ill helps). It was in this way we stumbled across Hansen et al (1981) (pdf).

Tim Flannery

Dr. Tim Flannery is an Australian mammalogist, paleontologist, environmentalist, professor and global warming activist. He was named Australian of the Year in 2007.

Flannery explains that over the last 10,000 years humanity has built a “super-organism” – a level of organization similar to that of ants, termites, or bees. The glue that holds the super-organism together is the division of labor, interdependence. As “we form this one great super-organism, where we are all interconnected, we gain the capacity to deal with environmental challenges.” Flannery sees international progress in addressing climate change and expects more in the future.
Source: Dr. Tim Flannery: A Natural History of the Planet

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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council. Kennedy was in San Francisco to promote The Last Mountain, a new film that features his efforts to end mountaintop removal coal mining in West Virginia. Dirty fuels should be forced to cover their full costs, Kennedy says. Dirty fuels cannot compete without subsidies. Kennedy argues our democracy is broken, and the campaign finance system is a system of legalized bribery.
Source: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Senior Attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council

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Wangari Maathai

Hear a Kenyan environmentalist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Wangari Maathai who founded a grassroots organization(Green Belt Movement) that empowers African women to improve their lives and conserve the environment through planting trees. She speaks about the balance of human and natural resources, and her feelings about God. Interviewed by Krista Tippett.
Source: Planting the Future

Neo Johnson and Zjaeriq Sanders

Let 4th Graders Read A Credit Card Agreement

Is your credit card agreement readable? Does it really have to be so long and complicated? 4th graders read a credit card agreement and say what they think of it.
Source: The Friday Podcast: 4th Graders Read A Credit Card Agreement

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Bleached corals on coral reef on southern Great Barrier Reef

Ocean scientists find the effects of climate change in the world's oceans. From acidification and warming temperatures to sea-level rise and sea-ice loss, Ira Flatow and guests explore how the oceans are changing.
Source: Changing Climate Means Changing Oceans

Gareth Porter

Scott Horton Interviews Gareth Porter

Gareth Porter is an independent historian and journalist for IPS News. He discusses the acceptance of the false Iraq War narrative. He explains how the U.S. and Iran are essentially partners-in-meddling in Iraqi politics.
Source: Scott Horton Interviews Gareth Porter, September 13, 2010

Riz Khan of Al Jazeera English questions the food distribution system

He asks with more than one billion people around the world considered overweight, why are so many others still starving and struggling to fill their plates?
Source: Riz Khan - Global food justice

Music includes Earth Anthem, The Maid Freed from the Gallows, Lonely Bull, We'll Meet Again

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Wieslaw Maslowski

Will Travis

Andrew J. Gunther

What do scientists predict the Earth will be like in a few decades? Computer models suggest deterioration of agricultural land, crumbling bridges and flooded roads, and population shifts away from low-lying cities such as Miami and Amsterdam. How fast will Arctic ice melt? What does that mean for the rest of the world? What are governments and businesses doing in the Bay Area and elsewhere to prepare for new water patterns that paradoxically may bring too much water at times in some areas and drought in others?
Source: Hot, Wet and Uncertain, Monday, July 12, 2010 5:24 PM

David Suzuki

David Suzuki Speaks Out

David Suzuki discusses the human environmental crisis and how it could be turned around in a generation.
Source: The Legacy of David Suzuki

Music includes Earth Anthem, star spangled banner, God Re-Floods Middle East, brother can you spare a dime, One Tin Soldier, When the Saints Go Marching In, We'll Meet Again

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'Twin Babies Having a Conversation' Video Explained

Only low level radiation so far. Click the pics to enlarge. The first one is of the jet stream for Friday March 18th; and the second is a graphic on the health effects

Few radioactive particles on U.S. west coast

VIENNA (Reuters) - Minuscule amounts of radioactive particles believed to have come from Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant have been detected on the U.S. west coast, two diplomatic sources said Friday.

The level of radiation was far too low to cause any harm to humans, they said. One diplomat, citing information from a network of international monitoring stations, described the material as "ever so slight," consisting of only a few particles.

"Even a single radioactive atom can cause them to measure something and this is more or less what we have seen in the Sacramento station,"

Fukushima 50 battle radiation risks as Japan nuclear crisis deepens

Workers in protective gear – known as the Fukushima 50 – encounter myriad problems as Japanese PM demands answers

This is in Russian, but it's subtitled, and the visuals are pretty self explanatory. If you have 16 minutes, it's worth it. Plus, there's a subtle reference to Schrödinger's cat

THE DOOR - Short Film from Octagon Films on Vimeo.