Environment News for August 28, 2008

Environment: Energy and Conservation News from Blogs around the worldThe Environmental Justice Foundation(EJF) has written about illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing operations or ‘pirate fishing’ in African waters, particularly in the SADC region (Southern African Development Community composed .

UN urges phasing out of energy subsidies - Miami Herald ACCRA, Ghana A new U.N. report urges countries to phase out energy subsidies, saying they often waste money, do not always help the poor and are bad for the Environment. Gas-rich Russia leads countries spending the most in energy subsidies, laying .

BMW cars became more fuel efficient last year - Detroit News BRUSSELS, Belgium - BMW AG cars made more progress in reducing vehicle fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions than any other carmaker last year, an Environmental group said Monday. But Transport & Environment, an independent European group .

Mid-Tier Retailers Try New Brands On for Size - Washington Post JCPenney new Fabulosity brand is one of the department store’s six new brands that debuted this summer. (Courtesy Jcpenney) This back-to-school season will go down as the Battle of the Brands. Kohl’s launched six new lines of clothing this summer .

Social-Political Sustainability: The Human Element Social-Political Sustainability: The Human Element This article delves into social-political aspects of the sustainability endeavor. Copyright (c) 2008 Jackson Kern It is commonly accepted that the project of sustainable development is conceptually composed of three constituent parts. These parts are (1) Environmental sustainability, (2) economic sustainability, and (3) social-political sustainability. The United Nations 2005 World Summit refers to the “interdependent and mutually reinforci

Eco-Gastronomy: Locavores Are Changing The Way We Eat One Radius At A Time Last November the New Oxford American Dictionary declared the 2007 Word of the Year to be locavore. Wikipedia defines locavore as “someone who eats food grown or produced locally or within a certain radius such as 50, 100, or 150 miles.” Coined by Jessica Prentice from the San Francisco Bay Area in 2005, according to Wikipedia, the word reflects the fact that buying locally grown produce has grown in popularity. According to the USDA, farmers markets increased across the country from 1994 to

Australia Post Fleet Will Feature More Hybrids In a move that is sure to please Toyota officials and shareholders alike, Australia Post will be switching its corporate car fleet over to Toyota vehicles, with a particular emphasis on the Prius. Click through to The Motor Report for the full article.

What next? China in the post-Olympics age From The Independent’s slideshow of Olympic photographs. Now that the Olympics are over, the foreign media and China observers are all quick to speculate about what will happen in the post-Olympic era. Here’s a brief sampling of what’s being addressed: - The economy: While many foreign companies are concerned about a possible downturn, Chinese officials point out that Beijing’s economy only accounts for a very small part of the overall boom. However, maintaining the epic pace that marked