When you hear about a “bat cave,” you probably think of a hideaway for a caped crusader living somewhere near Gotham City. But believe it or not, there is another type of bat cave currently being constructed deep in the Tennessee woods designed to save bats which are dying by the millions from a fungus.
By Craig Rucker and Paul Driessen This article originally appeared in the National Journal. In 2009, the federal government fined ExxonMobil $600,000 for the unintentional deaths of 85 birds in five states during a five-year period. Meanwhile, well over 500,000 birds and countless bats are killed annually by wind turbines, according to the US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) and other experts. The slaughter “could easily be over 500” golden eagles a year in our western states, says Save the Eagles International biologist Jim Wiegand. Bald eagles are also being butchered. The two species body count could soon reach 1,000-per-year. Supposedly [...]
America needs an “all of the sensible” energy policy. If an energy option makes sense – technically, economically and environmentally – it should be implemented. If it flunks, it should be scrapped.
Submit your comment to the federal register to save our national bird Bald eagles are our national bird. Golden eagles are just as majestic. They have just returned from the verge of extinction, after years of being shot and poisoned. Obama's Department of the Interior and the Fish & Wildlife Service are on the verge of granting industrial wind turbine companies a “programmatic” or blanket license to kill potentially hundreds of eagles every year, for years on end. This is unconscionable. You can help save the eagles by following the instructions below. The Fish & Wildlife Service has proposed a "rule" [...]
By David Rothbard and Paul DriessenThousands of politicians, bureaucrats and environmental activists have gathered in Rio de Janeiro for the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, which runs through Friday. This time, 20 years after the original 1992 Rio Earth Summit, delegates are minimizing references to “dangerous man-made climate change” to avoid repeating the acrimony and failures that came from the United Nations‘ recent climate conferences in Copenhagen; Cancun, Mexico; and Durban, South Africa. Instead, Rio+20 seeks to shift international focus to “biodiversity” and supposed threats to plant and animal species as the new “greatest threat” facing planet Earth. This rebranding is [...]
While there are many insects which pollinate flowering plants, the most celebrated is of course the honey bee. And while important for farmers and gardeners, the honey bee has been experiencing hardship over the past decade through a phenomenon called Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD). Weakening its immune system, this mysterious disease kills one in three bees each year, and conservationists are at a loss as to its origins. Fortunately, according to the group PERC, the free market is ensuring honey bee numbers stay healthy as bee keepers that specialize in stocking hives with new worker and queen bees have [...]
Do captive tigers in the U.S. pose a danger to their brothers who live in the wild? The World Wildlife Fund says "yes" and wants to ban private tiger ownership in the U.S., claiming their body parts could enter the illegal trade and increase demand in Asia as well as poaching. But South African wildlife expert Michael ‘t Sas-Rolfes refutes this claim, noting that a recent census found less than 3,000 privately owned tigers in the U.S., with most found in licensed zoos and sanctuaries. Even if U.S. tiger parts did somehow enter the world market, it makes no [...]
Wind turbine companies, officers and employees, however, are immune from prosecution, fines or imprisonment, regardless of how many rare, threatened, endangered or migratory birds and bats they kill. In fact, FWS data show that wind turbines slaughter some 400,000 birds every year. If “helter-skelter” applies to any energy source, it is wind turbines, reflecting their Charles Manson effect on birds.
By Duggan Flanakin (reviewer)The central theme of Deep Green Resistance, written by Aric McBay, Lierre Keith, and Derrick Jensen (author of Endgame), is simple. To save the planet, its wildlife and some of its people, the enlightened few must rise up in resistance – not to reform, but rather to totally tear down the corporate capitalist economic system, and even civilization itself as we know it. Jensen presents his thesis in the book's preface. "The dominant culture – civilization – is killing the planet, and it is long past time for those of us who care about life on earth to [...]
While many people are suffering through hard times these days, the same can also be said for those in the animal kingdom – particularly frogs. According to New Scientist magazine, frogs are under attack from a worldwide fungus which causes chytrid disease – a deadly killer. However, researchers at James Madison University recently discovered that the frogs exposed to the deadly fungus can actually survive – if their bodies are coated with a bacterium called J. lividum. This bacteria produces an antibiotic that is used in antifungal drugs, and the scientists hope to bathe a number of webbed critters [...]
While wind energy enjoys a great deal of support from the Obama administration, it appears one group is not exactly flying high with enthusiasm – namely, the American Bird Conservancy.
What is a federal government to do? On one hand the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking to declare the sage grouse an endangered bird. Yet on the other hand, the Obama administration would like to expand the use of wind power to generate electricity – on sage grouse habitat. The dilemma, as you might expect, is that the two priorities simply don't match. The wind turbines remind sage grouse of predators ready to swoop down on them. But the grouse habitat, according to wind energy advocates, also happens to be near an opening in the Rocky Mountains [...]
How can we save endangered species like tigers and black rhinos? Terry Anderson, executive director of the Property and Environment Research Center in Bozeman, Montana, believes in an innovative solution, and here explains how it can work: “The free market can be endangered species’ best friend. Unfortunately, landowners in most countries have no right to wildlife, but do have their land use regulated to provide habitat. Such regulations make endangered species a liability. Some southern African countries, however, allow landowners to profit from wildlife, even through hunting endangered species such as rhinos. This makes animals an asset and gives [...]
Starfish make for wonderful keepsakes, and one would find it difficult to believe they could be anything but harmless. But for conservationists concerned about declining coral reefs, there is a certain type of starfish, unlike Patrick of Spongebob SquarePants, that is anything but cutesy. This, according to Planet Ark News, which notes that outbreaks of the notorious “crown of thorns” starfish is wreaking havoc in Asia’s famous coral triangle where it feeds on the pithy rocks by spreading its stomach over them and then using its digestive enzymes to liquefy tissue. Fortunately, nature can manage such problems, since there [...]
Everyone knows that trash can be recycled into useful household items. But did you know that birds are also catching on to this?