2012 CURRENT EVENTS

Stories in the news, videos on You-Tube and other current applications of the course goals. 

Remember the laws of unintended consequences

Local and State (Florida) Events:

Florida's top wetlands expert reinstated, but details remain murky (Craig Pittman, Tampa Bay Times June 6, 2012)

Environmentalists Battle DEP, industries on two fronts (The Florida Current (May 24, 2012)

Wetlands expert suspended by DEP after she refuses to approve permit (Tampa Bay Times May 28, 2012)

WACKY PLANS FROM FLORIDA’S TOP ENVIRONMENTAL OFFICIALS — Sell State Lands to Foreign Nations, Move Offices to Parks and Pelletize State Forests (PEER May 29, 2012)

Seagrass is A Climate Change Hero (May 22, 2012)

Garden Tour (WGCU April 19, 21012)

FGCU Graduate Studies ON-Campus Road Kill (WGCU May 15, 2012)

Critical Wildlife Corridor Protected (National Resources Conservation Service May 22, 2012)

Conservation partners protect land near Caloosahatchee River critical to wildlife movement and population growth of highly endangered Florida panther.

Land deal in Glades County opens territory to boost Florida panther population (Naples Daily News May 22, 2012)

The Florida Senate Committee on Environmental Preservation and Conservation Bottle Deposits (Interim Report 2012-122)

75% Recycling Goal Report to Legislature (Jan 4, 2010)

Surfrider Foundation petition to adopt recommendation report explained

Lee judge rejects damage claim in mining lawsuit (Naples Daily News May 15, 2012)

EPA DEBARMENT PROBES DISCREPANCIES BY TOP FLORIDA OFFICIAL
Environment Secretary Vinyard’s Current Claims Contradict His Previous Filings

Tallahassee — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is trying to decide which Herschel Vinyard to believe – the one who claimed his expertise in handling pollution permits as his chief qualification to serve as Florida’s top environmental official or the one who is now alleging, through a state lawyer, he had nothing to do with permits.  At stake is whether he will be barred from handling water pollution matters as the result of a federal conflict-of-interest complaint filed by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) and the Florida Clean Water Network.

Silver King: The Birth of Big Game Fishing (WGCU)

I saw this show on the weekend and it is very interesting and well put together.  It tells the story of one of the initial economic engines for the development of southwest Florida that can be sustainable ecosystem services with a high economic value when protected and managed correctly.  The only inaccuracy in the story is the quote of the opinion from Thomas Edison that "net fishing of mullet is what drove the tarpon out of the Caloosahatchee River" is treated as fact rather than opinion. The dredging of the River; removal of most of the mangroves, salt marshes, and sea grasses; water quality pollution from human activities; and the changes to hydrology caused by the locks and the human demand hydrographic pattern of the River removed the tarpon and mullet habitat that Edison had fished right off his pier. It is also interesting to see the extent of sport take of tarpon that occurred prior to restrictions on killing the fish.

Thank you

Jim Beever
Southwest Florida Regional Planning Council (May 15, 2012)

National Events:

Opinion: FDSA's decision on BPAa exposes Catch 22 (EHN June 8, 2012)

 

Camp Lejeune Toxic Water The Few, The Proud, The Forgotten

Semper Fi Always Faithful (2011, Watch the trailer)

 

"Playing with Fire" Chicago Tribune Watchdog (Summer 2012)

 

L.A. OK's ban on plastic bags at checkout (L.A. Times May 24, 2012)

 

Bluefin tuna record Fukushima radioactivity (BBC News May 28, 2012)

 

Proposal to retire the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act and replace it with the proposed Safe Chemicals Act, which currently awaits a Senate vote. Contact your Legislators.

Moms descend on Congress to urge toxic chemical reform. (Huffington Post May 22, 2012) On Tuesday, Christine Nienstedt and her 11-year-old daughter, Tyler Cheyenne, joined about 200 other moms and children as part of the National Stroller Brigade in Washington, D.C. Their mission: convince Congress to retire the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act.

 

Americans Guzzling More Bottled Water than Ever

 

Hawaii Becomes First in the U.S. to Ban Plastic Bags (Surfrider Foundation May 14, 2012)

 

BP Spill Residue Found in Minnesota Pelican Eggs (May 18, 2012)

"Preliminary testing by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources shows that petroleum compounds were present in 90 percent of the first batch of eggs tested and nearly 80 percent of the eggs contained the chemical dispersant used during the spill, called COREXIT."

 

Big Solar's Big Problems Solar Power hits a tortoise roadblock (New Scientist May 2012) (pdf of story from FGCU library)

 

CORPORATE TAKEOVER OF NEW JERSEY’S ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE 
Hand-Picked Science Advisors Meet in Secret to Produce Un-Reviewed Reports

Trenton — With no legislative involvement, New Jersey has handed control over key environmental and public health science to a politically-selected group of advisors, several of whom have industry ties, according to Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER).  As a result, Governor Chris Christie has snuffed out independent public agency science and shelved years of important scientific work on vital topics such as risk assessments for drinking water quality standards and toxic cleanup standards.

 

International Events:

Opinion: Canada's mass firing of Ocean scientists brings 'silent summer' (EHN May 29, 2012)

'Sustainable' Seafood Labels Come Under Fire

A new study states that nearly a third of the fish stocks certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council were actually overfished

(Scientific American, May 11, 2012)

I just found this special issue of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society when a student told me there was enought plastc waste in the Pacific Ocean to be concerned with but not enough to get involved with yet (May 2012).

Theme Issue 'Plastics, the environment and human health' compiled by R. C. Thompson, C. J. Moore, F. S. vom Saal and S. H. Swan  July 27, 2009; 364 (1526)

Troubling Beauty: Artist Angela Haseltime Pozzi turns beach trash into scuplture (Oregon Coast) from High Country News.

10 things we’ve learned about the Earth since last Earth Day. With Earth Day in mind, we decided it was the right time to recap the most surprising, awe-inspiring and alarming things that we have learned about the Earth and the environment since last year’s holiday. Smithsonian Magazine
http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2012/04/10-things-weve-learned-about-the-earth-since-last-earth-day/

Two years after the BP spill, a hidden health crisis festers. The two years since the tragedy began on April 20, 2010, have been “a total nightmare” for Nicole Maurer's family. Not only has her husband's fishing income all but vanished but the entire family is plagued by persistent health problems. Nation
http://www.thenation.com/article/167461/investigation-two-years-after-bp-spill-hidden-health-crisis-festers

Gulf seafood deformities alarm scientists. Gulf of Mexico fishermen, scientists and seafood processors have told Al Jazeera they are finding disturbing numbers of mutated shrimp, crab and fish that they believe are deformed by chemicals released during BP's 2010 oil disaster. Al Jazeera, Qatar.
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/features/2012/04/201241682318260912.html