global briefs Golden Rules
Moms Launch Eco-Friendly Certification The nonprofit
MomsAcrossAmerica.org (MAA) has launched its Moms Across America Gold Standard, a multi-tiered verifi- cation program for food, beverages and supplements that creates a simple, trustworthy re- source for con- sumers while encouraging best practices by suppliers. It will be awarded to those brands that have achieved superior levels of organic practices and eco-friendly procedures, and is intended to make it simple for people to choose the healthiest products and use their wallets to take a stand against unhealthy alternatives and unethical business practices. The standard also provides a path for compa- nies that know better and do better to prosper by shifting the buying power of millions of dedicated mothers behind their products.
Jaws of Life
California Bans Fur Trapping California has enacted a ban on fur trapping for animal pelts, making it the first state to outlaw a centuries-old livelihood that was intertwined with the rise of the Western frontier. The Wildlife Protection Act of 2019 prohibits commercial and recreational trapping on both public and private lands. Legislators are con- sidering proposals to ban the sale of all fur products, including fur coats, and to outlaw the use of animals in any circus in the state, with the exception of domesticated horses, dogs and cats.
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License to Plant Gun Control in India Goes Green In a northern India district, regulators require that ap- plicants for gun licenses, in addition to normal back- ground checks, must plant 10 trees and submit selfies as photographic evidence of having done so. To mark World Environment Day in June, Chander Gaind, the deputy commis- sioner of the district of Ferozepur in Punjab
State, had an idea. “I thought about how much Pun- jabi people love guns,” he says. “We receive hundreds of applications for gun licenses from this district every year. Maybe I could get them to love caring for the envi- ronment, too.” India has more than 3.3 million active gun licenses. Tajinder Singh, 47, a farmer in the district, says he wants to protect himself from wild animals and bands of armed robbers.
Methane Matters
Fracking Linked to Global Warming As methane concentrations increase in the atmosphere, evidence points to shale oil and gas as the probable source, but the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has taken steps to stop regulating it. New Cornell University research published in Biogeosciences, a journal of the European Geosciences Union, suggests that the methane released by high-volume hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has different characteristics than the methane from conventional natural gas and other fossil fuels such as coal. About two-thirds of all new gas production
over the last decade has been shale gas produced in the U.S. and Canada, says the paper’s author, Robert Howarth, a professor of ecology and en- vironmental biology: “If we can stop pouring methane into the atmosphere, it will dissipate. It goes away pretty quickly compared to carbon dioxide. It’s the low-hanging fruit to slow global warming.”
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