GlobeNews 8/2000 | Resouce Consumption | Vol.2, No.8 Global citizen! Keep on top of events worldwide: politics, travel, society, environment, technology. Not your nine o'clock news. GlobeNews by Kahl Consultants. STOP! Add a friend to the mailing list: subglobenews-@-kahl.net TABLE OF CONTENTS ---------------------------- LA SOLAR CENTER LESS TREES ARE BEING CHOPPED MY BACKYARD DURSBAN BAN CHERRY GARCIA SCOOPED UP IMPACT OF RESOURCE CONSUMPTION RAINFOREST PETITION EXPLORE THE ZONE 100% OF HUMANITY ============== THE GOOD NEWS ============== L.A. GETS SOLAR CENTER ------------------------------ [Thanks Lynda!] Los Angeles city officials announced on June 15 a contract to convert the downtown Convention Center to solar power! The conversion will make the Convention Center one of the largest solar-powered buildings in North America (Source: Los Angeles Times, June 17). LESS TREES ARE BEING CHOPPED ----------------------------------------- The rate of deforestation has declined by as much as 10 percent over the 1990s from the 1980s in some areas. This was reported in a study by the United Nation's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Despite the report's conclusions, drawn from analysis of more than 300 satellite images, the agency warned that deforestation continues, and better forestry practices need to be developed. Hosny El-Lakany, assistant director general of FAO's Forestry Department: "These preliminary results do not mean that the battle against deforestation is over, and a reduction in deforestation must not be used as an excuse for unsustainable forest practices." [Source: Greenwire] ========== GLOBESITES ========== MY BACKYARD ------------------- Everyone knows the phrase "Think Globally, Act Locally". Since I live next to a wetland I've decided to use my daily walks and bike rides to create a PHOTO JOURNAL of this ecosystem, known as the Santa Venecia Open Space Preserve. And I'm using one of the many free online photo services to archive my photos for the whole world to see. Go ahead, browse all you want, but don't leave any fingerprints on my pictures! Alex Kahl's Photo Journal of Santa Venecia Open Space Preserve, Marin, CA http://www.onlinephotolab.com/go/opl.album.album?view=images&albumId=1330 ========= GlobeNews ========= DURSBAN BAN ------------------ Prominent scientists, including former EPA officials, have asked EPA Administrator Carol Browner for tighter restrictions on the pesticide chlorpyrifos, sold as Dursban. The EPA is expected to issue its final risk assessment for chlorpyrifos, the nation's most widely used pesticide. "For the protection of current and future generations of children in the United States, we urge that you take deliberate action in this last year of the Clinton-Gore administration to tightly restrict the agricultural use of chlorpyrifos and to ban outright all applications of chlorpyrifos in the residential setting, schools and childcare facilities," the scientists wrote. The EPA's own preliminary assessment of chlorpyrifos, released late last year, found evidence that the chemical can affect the nervous system in humans. The pesticide is found in more than 800 products, including pet collars, pest control products, and lawn and garden insecticides. Recent studies indicate that exposure may cause severe and lasting nerve damage in infants and children. The authors of the letter hail from major universities and medical schools. The lead authors on the letter are both former EPA officials. Dr. Phil Landrigan, director of the Center for Children's Health and the Environment at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, served as senior advisor on children's health for the EPA in 1997 and 1998. Dr. Lynn Goldman, adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins University, School of Hygiene and Public Health, served as assistant administrator for the EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances from 1993 to January 1999. [Source: ENN News] CHERRY GARCIA SCOOPED UP -------------------------------------- Ben & Jerry's was the poster child of the progressive business world. Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield were entrepreneurial hippies with a mission. Their unique brand of thick Vermont ice cream (with flavors like Cherry Garcia and Phish Food) has been the hippest way to spend money for years. Until it recently got gobbled up by the global conglomerate Univeler. The guys that make Q-tips, popsicles, and Wisk detergent. What's a hip capitalist to do when eager shareholders put the pressure on you to sell shares to a giant offering 25% over stock price? ============= FUTURE IS NOW ============= IMPACT OF RESOURCE CONSUMPTION ------------------------------------------------ Not many people in industrialized nations like hearing about the real impact that their resource use has. North Americans and Europeans alike consume without thinking much about the true impacts of our lifestyles. If you are interested in thinking globally and acting locally, personal consumption habits are a good place to start. Here are some articles to help you live sustainably: Production and Consumption (World Resources Institute - WRI) http://www.wri.org/trends/consume.html Consumption and Resources (Center for Development and Population Activities - CEDPA) http://www.cedpa.org/cairo/media/consumption.htm Reducing Consumption, Sustaining Quality of Life ( National Council for Science and the Environment - CNIE http://www.cnie.org/pop/CO2/reducing.htm Sustainable Consumption and Trade (International Institute for Environment and Development - IIED) http://www.iied.org/scati/ UNIVERSAL ADVERTISEMENT: If you are also interested in space, astronomy and extraterrestrial news, subscribe to ASTRONEWS, another free newsletter from Kahl Consultants. Visit us: http://www.kahl.net/astro Beam your request to: subastronews-@-kahl.net ============ !!GLOBALERT!! ============ RAINFOREST PETITION ---------------------------- Sign The Rainforest Site Petition! It will be delivered to the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development this Fall 2000. The petition urges the UN to enforce the international community’s political and legal commitments to protect the rainforests. All you have to do is click on the link below to sign up: http://www.therainforestsite.com/rbt/TRSPetition/r061322 [Thanks for the lead Katie!] ============= SAVE ON CALLS ============= Long Distance Tips --------------------- LIVING IN THE USA? Get the VoiceNet GOLD plan! ANY domestic US calls from ANY phone for only 6.9 cents/min! No more expensive calls! It's the best deal we could find! Check out this offer AND MANY MORE! Visit GlobalCom: http://www.kahl.net/global ====== NetTips ====== EXPLORE THE ZONE ------------------------ If you enjoy keeping up with world of science and the latest innovations and discoveries, EXPLOREZONE is the site to bookmark! This informative site comes from Philadelpia and is written for young and old. Explorezone is at: http://explorezone.com/ Thanks to all who wrote in. Send us your questions for the next edition of GlobeNews. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Email: globenews-@-kahl.net Add an email to the mailing list: subglobenews-@-kahl.net Unsubscribe: unsubglobenews-@-kahl.net GlobeNews online: http://www.kahl.net/globenews ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE PLUG ======== How's your small biz performing? Happy with work? Technology. Use it appropriately. Put it in our hands. Kahl Consultants. Visit us: http://www.kahl.net You got this far - you obviously enjoy GlobeNews. Pass it on! Please forward to a handful of friends. Remember, the best things in life are free. THE PUNCH LINE ============== 100% OF HUMANITY ------------------------- [Thanks Peter!] If we could shrink the earth's population to a village of precisely 100 people, with all the existing human ratios remaining the same, it would look something like the following: There would be: 57 Asians 21 Europeans 14 from the Western Hemisphere, both north and south 8 Africans 52 would be female 48 would be male 70 would be nonwhite 30 would be white 70 would be non-Christian 30 would be Christian 89 would be heterosexual 11 would be homosexual 6 people would possess 59% of the entire world's wealth and all 6 would be from the United States 80 would live in substandard housing 70 would be unable to read 50 would suffer from malnutrition 1 would be near death; 1 would be near birth 1 (yes, only 1) would have a college education 1 would own a computer. When one considers our world from such a compressed perspective, the need for acceptance, understanding and education becomes glaringly apparent.