Philobiblon

Welcome to the Carnival of the Green No 72….

Let’s start with some good news, since it so often seems thin on the ground. On Thrilling heroics is is report on the US Supreme Court ruling that greenhouse gases ARE pollutants – which should force some federal government action to match that taken unilaterally by a number of states. On Sox First is a post giving a business view of the US political and legal scene regarding global warming.

Also on the good news side, there’s been a fresh sighting of the critically endangered Sumatran striped rabbit, not seen since 2000: reported by Dr Nancy Swift on the Animal Broadcast Network. And Aydin Örstan on Snail’s Tales has also been observing nature (if not of the endangered kind) at close quarters, with an amazing photo of a barnacle.

Staying in the wild, Sarda Sahney on Fish Feet reports on grizzly/polar bear hybrids – one of which was discovered under the saddest circumstances – after it was shot by a hunter who’d paid $50,000 for the privilege.

Now every carnival should have at least one good laugh in it, and here’s this carnival’s – have you considered the effective of the albedo of sheep in your climate calculations? (On the always excellent RealClimate.)

Turning practical, on Green Options, Clayton Bodie Cornell offers some myth-busting about bio-diesel – basically, if your car is post about 1993, drive up, fill up, and drive away, perhaps from your local chippie. Staying practical – very down to earth you might say – is a commercial offering of a composting toilet, which looks just like any other.

Also a plug, although for a very good cause, is this post, from Marie Myung-Ok Lee on Green Fertility, about a line of organic, charity T-shirts.

And Sally on Veggie Revolution writes that a celebrity chef, Wolfgang Puck of Los Angeles, is going humane and eco-friendly in all of his ingredients.

Combining environmental and peace concerns, on Jen’s Green Journal is a suggestion, particularly to Americans, that even if you can’t give up you car altogether, you give it up on Tuesdays, “to demonstrate our willingness to personally sacrifice for world peace and justice”.

And on the simple, serious campaigning side, on Save the Ribble, Reigh Belisama explains just why a barrage and mass development is a very bad idea. Jim on The Daily (Maybe) is also campaigning against genetically modified potatoes.

Tim Abbott of Walking the Berkshires explores the proposal for nuclear power in Namibia, from a floating reactor. If the fishing grounds can’t be secured…?

Finally, one topic on which I’d love to see more blogging is green history – so often I fear we are reinventing the wheel and one of my first ever posts, nearly three years ago now on this very blog, was about an 18th-century “green”. This week one of the Green Party of England and Wales principal speakers, Derek Wall, was offering his own stream-of-consciousness thoughts on the history of Greens in the English town of Stroud. “Unspeakable activities” went on there in the Twenties, the authorities thought.

Coincidentally the other GPEW principal speaker, Sian Berry, has also been blogging on history, and on the pleasures and environmental rewards of holidaying near home.
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To find out more about the carnival visit Tree Hugger’s introduction. The previous carnival was on Sludgie, and the next, on April 16, will be on Common Ground.