With the savory scent of summer grilling in the air, here's how to pick the best meat, fish, fowl and veggies for your outdoor cooking. Article written by David Worthman, published on The Green Guide.

As the days grow longer and warmer, grillers across the country will be sizzling and flipping their way through millions of burgers, chicken pieces and fish fillets. Americans eat, on average, 67 pounds of beef and 59.2 pounds of chicken per person, per year, most of it from "concentrated animal feeding operations" (CAFOs). This year, the American Public Health Association has asked that state governments impose moratoriums on new CAFOs due to the pollution and health threats posed by factory farms. Our seafood consumption, which hovered at around 15 pounds per capita until 2000, is expected to rise 26 percent by 2020—provided that fisheries aren't depleted by overfishing.

READ MORE of David Worthman's artile
www.thegreenguide.com

A new film festival is offering free screenings of Leonardo DiCaprio's ecological documentary The 11th Hour to encourage UK cinemagoers to recycle.

While top names in Hollywood will soon be assembling on the Cote d'Azur for the Cannes film festival, British movie fans can attend the 'Can Film Festival' in London, Glasgow and Manchester for a chance to see the Titanic star's acclaimed effort to build environmental awareness.

READ MORE to view screening times and additional information

In just a few weeks, the U.S. Senate will have a historic opportunity to pass legislation to combat global warming. Let your senators know we need a strengthened Lieberman-Warner Climate Security Act to help avert a global climate crisis.

Make your voice heard through the NRDC Action Fund

Bank of America supports the Brighter Planet Visa Card. very $1,000 spent in purchases with the card earns 1,000 points♦ that will fund an estimated 1 ton of carbon offsets—that’s roughly equivalent to taking a car off the road for 2,000 miles or powering and heating/cooling your home for a month!

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“Planners have granted permission to build Sherford, a brand new town for 12,000 people, in South Devon that is billed as Britain’s greenest settlement. Work is expected to begin later this year to transform rolling countryside near Plymouth into the experimental new town with 5,500 homes. In Sherford, cars will be banned from some parts and 390ft wind turbines will loom over a 400-acre car park on the outskirts.”

Half the power needs for the new town will come from renewable sources — with all home sporting solar panels. Additionally, most of the materials to build the town will be sourced from a 50-mile radius! The business section — which will provides jobs for about 7,000 people — will be covered in either green roofs or “covered in a thin layer of rubble to attract insects and birds.” Everything about the town will be organized to encourage walking; not to mention all waste including water and sewage will be recycled to cut CO2 emissions. All of this, and Charles intends to give it a traditional English charm — with the theme being modeled on the Wiltshire market town of Marlborough.

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Article provided By: www.http://www.dailymail.co.uk

The US race for the presidency is one of the focal points of the nation and for the rest of the world. Whoever wins the nomination will have a direct impact on the state of the environment for the next 4+ years. If you’re like me, on top of all the other important issues, the environment is a critical factor when you’re deciding who to vote for. Here is an article from Newsweek that discusses Obama, Clinton, and McCain’s history and voting records on the subject. http://www.newsweek.com/id/130624?from=rss

So, what do you think? I’d love to hear your feedback to who would be the “greenest” president and why.

Best,
Mari

11th Hour Action Intern

by Lily Riahi

At the invitation of the German government, representatives from more than 60 countries met in Berlin earlier this month to discuss the founding of an International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), an intergovernmental organization to exclusively promote the worldwide adoption of renewable energy. During the Berlin meeting on April 10th and 11th, government representatives met to agree the objectives, activities, finances, and organizational structure of IRENA.

There was a clear consensus that a strong, independent force for supporting renewables is necessary to realize the full social, economic and political benefits of clean energies. Most existing initiatives lack a focal point. “Promoting renewables must now become a global and universal priority, and IRENA is a necessary condition for that goal. If we intend to embark on the renewable energy revolution, we cannot do it without IRENA….IRENA will work toward improved regulatory frameworks for renewable energy through enhanced policy advice, improvements in the transfer of renewable energy technology; progress on skills and know-how for renewable energy; it will be able to offer a scientifically sound information basis through applied policy research; and better financing of renewable energy,” said Bianca Jagger, Chair of the World Future Council.

Although the International Energy Agency (IEA) established an advisory board on renewables in 1982, the world has yet to see a breakthrough in renewable energy adoption. This proves the need for an exclusive focus on creating the structural changes needed to ensure widespead adoption of renewable energy, said Hermann Scheer, founder of the European Association for Renewable Energies and member of the German parliament. “The IEA will have to compensate for all of the current energy problems and won’t have time to push for new forms of energy,” said Scheer. The IEA deals with questions of supply security and the needs of energy markets. This is reflected in its allocation of votes, which are based mainly on the oil consumption of different countries. In its in-depth country reviews, the IEA analyzes the energy policies of member states without fully recognizing the potential renewable energy, say some critics, and its activities are largely limited to countries involved with the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD).

One of the major reasons for the foundation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in the 1950s was the desire to exploit the opportunities offered by what was then a new energy source. JoseEtcheverry, chair of the World Council on Renewable Energy notes: “The world sorely lacks innovative economic, social and political institutional frameworks to provide strong support for renewable energy development worldwide. Conventional energy sources such as fossil fuels and nuclear power have incredibly powerful lobbyists to ensure that their interests are provided with preferential treatment over the more socially desirable options of renewable energy and efficiency.”

IRENA would address several critical barriers that are preventing the full-scale adoption of renewable energy. It would provide informed policy advice and assistance to national governments that currently lack the means and capacity to develop effective regulatory frameworks for renewable energy adoption. To strengthen technology transfer, IRENA would combine the various independent projects for synergies, focus on knowledge exchange, integrate technical, administrative and financial actions, and create incentives for industry to engage in developing countries. IRENA would also provide an inventory of current trainings and provide courses for policy-makers and regulators on how to overcome administrative barriers to renewable energy adoption.

This post is a concise version of the original article to be found at -www.renewableenergyworld.com/assets/newsletter/

Taken from: http://ecobuddhism.blogspot.com/ 

A little-noticed amendment to last year's energy bill requires House members who lease vehicles to select those that emit low levels of greenhouse gases.

Rep. Elton Gallegly of Simi Valley likes his taxpayer-funded Ford Expedition. He isn't worried that it's not the most fuel-efficient car. It's reliable, suits his mountainous district and is cheaper to lease than many other vehicles.

"It's not a Cadillac. It's not a Lincoln. It's a Ford," the Republican congressman said with exasperation.

But like it or not, Gallegly and other lawmakers will have to give up gas-hungry SUVs and luxury sedans for leased vehicles that are more eco-correct, such as Toyota's Prius.

And some are in a high-octane fit about it.

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Article provided by www.latimes.com

A young Canadian inventor named Ben Gulak has created an innovative new electric motorbike that takes some of the lessons learned from the Segway device, but implements them in cooler package. The bike, called the Uno, looks from its profile like a strange powered unicycle but actually employs two wheels side-by-side. Riders lean forward to accelerate -- a feature used by the Segway, and can hit a top speed of 25 mph in its current configuration. The Uno also makes use of a set of gyros to enhance ease of balance, and the wheels are independently operated making turning much more precise.

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Site provided by www.treehugger.com

TreeHugger reports that train travel in the UK has reached an all-time high.

Brit's are taking trains in greater numbers than any other time since World War 2. New figures revealed that the number of miles travelled on the rail network reached a record-breaking high of 30.1 billion during 2007. Passenger numbers have been increasing every year for the past thirteen.

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