Unchopping a Tree...

Watch this: Maya Lin - Unchopping a Tree from What is Missing? Foundation on Vimeo. I saw this video in a post at Treehugger.com, where they’ve gathered some interesting facts about deforestation. Currently 90 acres of rainforest worldwide are being destroyed every minute. That’s an amazingly fast rate. The video shows how quickly some famous parks around the world could be deforested. I wanted to try it...

What happened on Easter Island?...

Credit: Aurbina, Wikimedia Commons One of the most interesting books I’ve read that talks about environmental issues is Jared Diamond’s Collapse. It’s about societies around the world, and the differences between the ones that thrive and the ones that fail. Diamond wants to know if there’s anything we can learn from societies that collapsed, because those who don’t know their history are...

Gunns gets the go-ahead...

Turnbull has approved the Gunns pulp mill in Tasmania. After rigorous scientific assessment, he’s increased the number of conditions imposed on the mill from 24 to 48. This’d be great if they were actually going to monitor any of those conditions after the mill is built. Since Gunns has always ignored regulations in Tasmania, the extra conditions will make any difference at all. Turnbull says the mill will...

Extension on pulp mill decision...

Federal Minister for the Environment, Malcolm Turnbull, has given himself a 6-week extension to decide on the Gunns’ pulp mill in Tasmania. He says he’s going to use this time to get a scientific assessment (something Gunns has tried to avoid) and go through the public submissions from activist groups. The way I see it, he’s got 3 choices from here: override Tasmania’s state government and prevent...

Gunns’ protests...

A few places you can register a protest against the Gunns pulp mill in Tasmania: The Australian Conservation Foundation sends an email for you to the Minister for the Environment, Malcolm Turnbull. GetUp’s email comment camapign sends either a prepared email or your own comment. Turnbull is accepting public comment until this Friday, 31st August. He’s probably going to approve the pulp mill, since he’s...

Science pulped so Gunns can profit...

On Monday night I watched the 4 Corners episode about the Gunns pulp mill controversy, Grist to the Mill. Gunns, Australia’s biggest native-forest logging company, wants to build a pulp mill in the Tamar Valley, Tasmania. There are serious environmental concerns about the mill, and the community strongly opposes it, but the State Labor government has pushed it through all the review processes and waved away all...