ecobriefs
Undersea Universe First Comprehensive Look at Marine
Life Yields Surprises
The results of a decade of discovery by 2,700 sci- entists from 80 nations in the first comprehensive Census of Marine Life detail the diversity, distribu- tion and abundance of ocean life. New technology “binoculars” provided an unprecedented picture of the world under the waves. Some 540 expeditions estimated diversity at 250,000 species, including 6,000 potentially new species. Researchers found living creatures everywhere, even under extreme conditions. The census affirms that we know less about
the small than the large, and that by weight, up to 90 percent of marine life is microbial. It docu-
ments a changing ocean—richer in diversity, more connected through distribu- tion and movements, more impacted by humans and yet, less explored than we had known. It reveals long-term and widespread declines in marine life, but also resilience in areas where recovery is apparent. This baseline will help scientists forecast, measure and understand changes in the global marine environment and better inform the management and conserva- tion of its resources. The census’s legacy includes a promising heightened collabo- ration across borders.
Source:
Origin.coml.org
10/10/10 Results America’s White House
Goes Solar
President Obama has an- nounced the installation of so- lar panels and a solar hot water heater on the roof of his White House residence as part of a Department of Energy demon- stration project. Interestingly, the move comes after
350.org Founder Bill McKibben carted solar panels to Washington, D.C., in October, as part of his grassroots movement’s 10/10/10 Global Work Party on curbing climate change. The Washington Post reports that the panels were some of the same ones
that were donated to Unity College in the 1990s after President Reagan had them removed from the White House and let federal renewable energy subsidies expire. President Carter had the original solar equipment installed in 1979, say- ing “A generation from now, this solar heater [behind me] can either be a curios- ity, a museum piece, an example of a road not taken, or it can be just a small part of one of the greatest and most exciting adventures ever undertaken by the American people.”
Remarks McKibben: “If it has anything like the effect of the White House garden, it could be a trigger for a wave of solar installations across the country and around the world.”
Green Guides United States Updates Rules
for Green Marketing
Following three public hearings, a period for public comment on the pro- posed document that ended December 10 and 35 months of development, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission will publish a much anticipated update to its original Green Guides. First pub- lished in 1992, the last update ap- peared in 1998. The guides comprise a common sense set of rules defining required sub- stantiation and disclaimers for the ex- plosion of evolving green claims made by marketers. Like its predecessors, the new edition will represent a helpful, if low, bar, intended to eliminate outright misrepresentations and fabrications. “The new guidelines [still] don’t re- ally keep up with the world of sustain- able business practices,” comments Joel Makower, executive editor of GreenBiz. com. Rather, they address a fraction of what companies are doing—the behind-the-scenes innovations that reduce use of water, energy and materi- als. While a step in the right direction, they have yet to provide, for example, guidance on reduced packaging or use of the words “sustainable” and “green.” Plus, they don’t yet address the potent eco-claims of cradle-to-cradle, biomim- icry and green chemistry. Makower observes that, instead of
“greenwashing,” [making false claims or leveraging words like “natural” to intentionally mislead consumers], most companies today are engaging in ran- dom acts of greenness—tweaks to their products, facilities, policies or practices, rather than undergoing systemic change. While some are seriously changing their ways, for most companies and consum- ers, “going green,” notes Makower, means making a series of incremental changes that over time reduce their worst environmental impacts, while perhaps also garnering some PR points.
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