Chinese Villagers Battle Police Over Hoard of Fossils

November 29, 2007 09:05 AM - , Environmental Graffiti

Chinese peasants fought a pitched battle against police, using their tractors and farm equipment as weapons, over a cache of dinosaur fossils the villagers were intending to sell on the black market.

China is the site of several of the world’s most productive fossil sites, and the fossils are often seen as a key to riches for the poor villagers who find them. Seven residents of Shaping village in China’s Henan Province were arrested after the police attack and immediately charged with obstructing justice. The group may also be the first to be tried under a 2006 Chinese law on illegal excavation and sale of fossils. The seven are accused of organizing a “Dinosaur Protection Squad” to prevent government seizure of the fossils.

Potato Chips Get Eco-Friendly

November 28, 2007 08:58 AM - , Environmental Graffiti

Frito-Lay, after realizing how much energy it takes for its factories to make (not to mention eat) potato chips, has announced that it will take an Arizona factory off the grid.

The design is capable of reducing electricity and water consumption 90%. And the company was only aiming for a 50% reduction. In total, greenhouse gas reduction could be at up to 75%.

The Solution to High Carbon Emissions on the Road? Gigantic Trucks!

November 27, 2007 09:03 AM - , Environmental Graffiti

In what at first glance seems like a contradictory move, the British government is pushing gigantic trucks as a way to cut carbon emissions and costs.

The trucks are called LHVs, for longer, heavier vehicles, or “superlorries”. They are similar to the Australian “road trains”, although they are a bit smaller. It consists of two trailers joined together behind a single engine. The trucks can carry 60% more than normal trucks, which cuts down on costs and carbon emissions.

White-Tailed Eagle Back from the Brink

November 19, 2007 08:56 AM - Robert, Environmental Graffiti

The white-tailed eagle, once on the brink of extinction in Britain, has bounced back.

The eagle now has 42 breeding pairs on the west coast of Scotland, six more than last year’s total. This year’s breeding has resulted in 34 young birds. The total of all birds is close to 200.

The bird was once extinct in Britain after the last bird was shot in 1918, but the bird was reintroduced into the country in 1975 and it has done well so far. The massive bird has an eight-foot wingspan and is Britain’s largest bird of prey. It is also known as the sea eagle.

And the New Potential Cancer Causing Agent Is... Nanotechnology!

November 14, 2007 06:11 PM - Robert, Environmental Graffiti

Nanotechnology, the science of working with or creating materials 1 nanometer(a billionth of a meter) large, holds amazing promise for the future, but some studies are suggesting some of these tiny particles can be added to the long list of items that cause cancer.

Nanotechnology has already led to improvements in products from golf clubs to beer bottles. In the future, scientists hope to be able to build tiny machines using nanotechnology that they believe could revolutionize the world.

UK Government Bans Non-Natives

November 8, 2007 09:33 AM - Robert, Environmental Graffiti

The British government is introducing new measures to hopefully protect England from foreign invaders.  Invasive species are the second biggest threat to wildlife and plants worldwide. Habitat destruction is the first. The Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) is instituting new measures that will ban the sale of some of the most dangerous foreign species in the UK. These scary foreign creatures include the American Bullfrog, various Crayfish, and Water Hyacinth.

Roaming Monkeys Highlight Climate Change in Africa

November 1, 2007 12:32 PM - Robert, Environmental Graffiti

A population of White Bearded De Brazza’s monkeys were sighted recently in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, far from their original homes, raising concerns over climate change. The monkeys have never been seen in the Rift Valley before. The monkeys were spotted in a forest area that had dried out as the climate in Kenya became more arid.

A Carbon Neutral Olympic Torch?

October 26, 2007 10:58 AM - , Environmental Graffiti

Officials for the 2012 Olympics made an eyebrow raising announcement today when they declared the London Olympic flame will be carbon neutral. Previous games have used high-carbon fuels such as paraffin to fuel the torch so that the flame was more visible. Organizers plan to abandon this, and French company EDF, a major London 2012 sponsor, is assisting the games organizers in finding a low-carbon fuel for the torch.

Wake Up, Generation Clueless!

October 14, 2007 09:34 AM - , Environmental Graffiti

In the USA, there seems to be a strange obsession with New York Times columnists from their lofty perch to denigrate the youth climate movement as quiet, timid, or dare I say it…apathetic. I guess as young people we just don’t quite get the magnitude of the climate crisis. Former Vice President Al Gore said, “I can’t understand why there aren’t rings of young people blocking bulldozers, and preventing them from constructing coal-fired power plants.” as reported in Nicholas Kristof’s article, The Big Melt. Friedman unloaded this one on us today.

Greenpeace 'Billboards' A Power Plant

October 12, 2007 08:44 AM - , Environmental Graffiti

Greenpeace, the environmental campaign group, have hijacked a power station in Kent. Their takeover was spurred by the prime minister’s decision to approve the UK’s first coal plant in over three decades.