Like many other small towns in Japan, the village of Rokkasho (六ヶ所村) in Aomori prefecture, situated in the north of Japan’s main island Honshū and just south of its northernmost prefecture Hokkaido, hosts a nuclear facility. And like other nuclear facilities in Japan, while fueling the local economy, the plant’s main function is not to generate energy for local inhabitants of Aomori but rather to power the country’s larger urban centers, whose need for energy drives and maintains Japan’s nuclear industry as a whole.

The nuclear facility at Rokkasho is different from others in Japan, however, in a critical respect: it is not, strictly speaking, a nuclear power plant. It is something very different, referred to as a reprocessing plant (再処理工場). Blogger charider37 explains:

再処理工場とは、原子力発電所で出た使用済み核燃料を文字通り再処理して再び使用可能な燃料にするための工場のことです。

この使用済み核燃料の再処理技術は世界的に見てもフランスと日本にしか存在せず、本来はゴミであるものからエネルギーを抽出できるという点に関して非常に注目されているものです。

しかし、一方でマイナス点も多く、この再処理工場で再加工される際に発生する高レベル放射性廃棄物をどうするのか。そもそも、そんな危険なものをどうやって扱うのか等等･･･

特に怖いのは、万が一事故が起こったときに漏れ出す放射性物質(放射能を出す物質)です。特に、日本は地震大国のため工場自体の破損は正直言ってあると思います。

そんな時に一体どうするのか･･･下手をするとチェルノブイリのような惨事を日本にも招いてしまう虞さえあります。

One of the convergence points for discussions of the Rokkasho reprocessing plant is a documentary film entitled Rokkasho Rhapsody, directed by Kamanaka Hitomi （鎌仲ひとみ） [ja] and reviewed in English by students at the University of Chicago “Popular Culture In/Out of Japan” blog here and here (and with its own blog).

正直な所、僕はこの再処理工場に関しては賛成でも反対でもありません。

何故ならあまりにも知識が少なすぎるためです。賛成派の意見を聞けば納得できるし、反対派の意見を聞いても納得できます。

また、今回の監督のコンセプトが「反対、賛成はともかくとにかく多くの人にこのことを知ってもらいたい。まずは『再処理』という単語を広めること」ということなので、これに則って今回の旅の中で考えたこと、感じたことなどをつづす綴っていきたいと思います。

In this issue of Global Voices environment, we check in with various blogs around the world. The themes are varied, and some are of global concern with commentary from Kenya about elephant culling in South Africa, commentary from Europe on “Eco-colonialism” in Botswana, Brazil, DRC, Patagonia and other countries.

Lets begin with South Africa (SA), where Elephant culling may soon return as a way to control the population of elephants in National parks. This was a banned practice, and it is still banned in other countries like Kenya. Richard Leakey of Wildlife Direct explains his position on the question

Is culling imminent for South African elephants?

Reducing elephant populations may therefore, be a necessary part of population management, and this will be done in a humane and considered manner. South Africa intends to reserve culling as a last resort after all other options such as translocations, fertility control have been exhausted. Though I find elephant culling repugnant, I can see the sense in it in some scenarios, as I imagine many others do also

He adds his recommendations to SA conservationists based on his vast experience working with wildlife in Kenya.

If culling is deemed necessary, then I would personally like to see the management authority ensure that entire families or bond groups are removed intact to eliminate or minimize the emotional trauma to remaining individuals, and secondly, to maintain smaller populations using the tested and approved fertility control. It means that the authorities have much work to do in terms of studying the family and bond groups and maintaining good records. If done well, removing or culling entire bond groups would reduce cases of rogue elephants and could eliminate or reduce the frequency of further culling in the future.

While we are still in South Africa, we get a March Update with pictures from the Cobhouse. The house is unique because it is constructed using sustainable timber, straw and clay.

Rory Williams of Carbon Copy considers the question of transportation and carbon emissions in the post “getting old clunkers off the road”.

There are three key challenges to reducing the carbon impact of transportation. One is reducing the need for motorised travel (by, for example, restructuring cities so that jobs and homes are closer, or encouraging telecommuting), another is encouraging a switch to public transport (or alternatives like ridesharing) where nonmotorised transport isn’t an option, and the third is bringing to market more environmentally benign vehicles.

Andreas posts on a helpful map that can help South Africans answer the question

“Do you know if there are any trial fields for genetically modified crops near where you live?”

On Indonesia’s challenge dealing with the aftermath of the devastation wrought by the tsunami, the Changing Climate blog looks at initiatives for protecting future generations.

“The casualties from the tsunami showed the vulnerability of children to disasters in the area, and the multistakeholder Committee is dedicated to identifying and addressing threats to the young ones. While these committees were formed as a response to the tsunami, the groups have now widened their scope to work for the protection of children. The villagers have enhanced the role in children in community in the post-tsunami rehabilitation, and have raised awareness that protect children against any other threat, including drought, floods, famine, or even issues related to children rights.”

John vidal writes on China Dialogue, about the The great green land grab

From Britain to Botswana, the Philippines to Patagonia, individuals and organisations are buying up vast areas of land in the name of protecting environments. But is private ownership the way to save them?

Richard Leakey posts on the recent post election crisis in Kenya, (covered by Global Voices on this special page) and its effects on the conservation efforts in the Trans Mara region.
Crisis looming in the Mara - please help:

Sadly my beloved country Kenya has been in the news a great deal in the past few weeks, and the news has not been good. We have problems and these were triggered by the outcome of the Presidential election where the result was close, and where there is plenty of evidence for rigging. The dispute led to violence which has deteriorated into inter-ethnic fighting in certain parts of the country. Tragic scenes and news fill the media and a sense of doom, gloom and fear is palpable. The violence is not directed against foreigners or tourists in any way and much of Kenya is untouched by it. The main airports are functioning normally and the National Parks, the Game Reserves and the wildlife sanctuaries are perfectly safe from this fighting.The sense of normality in the wildlife areas is unfortunately deluding. Foreign tourists and the tourism industry has all but collapsed. Many, many people are losing their jobs and critical funding for the protection of the wildlife areas has essentially dried up. Revenue from tourism has been providing the bulk of the funding for conservation, and without these funds, patrols and essential activities will cease. In these circumstances we can expect a real upsurge in poaching; for bush meat and commercially valuable species such as rhino and elephant.

From Kenya’s neighboring country Uganda, Moses Paul Sserwanga writes: MR PRESIDENT, STOP THE MABIRA GAMES:

President Yoweri Museveni is at it again; this time around reminding the country that the controversial proposal to give away Mabira forest which led to the death of three people about six months ago, is not yet resolved after all.His remarks while meeting the NRM Parliamentary Caucus last week in effect mean that government could still go ahead a give away part of the tropical rain forest to a private investor, the Lugazi-based Mehta Group, in total disregard of public opinion.

He adds…

The negative effects that await the country once Mabira is given away, can also be prescient too. Over the years, there has been too much destruction of our forest cover and the ramifications for this obliteration have been clear for all to see including the unprecedented severe weather conditions experienced in the country this year.
The unpredictability in climatic conditions that threaten the survival of mankind, have led to the development of a basic international environmental precautionary law principle to protect and conserve nature for the benefit of present and future generations.

Is it still disinformation if the speaker believes it’s true? On the Gristmill blog, Joseph Romm debunks US President Bush’s statement

“… we’re in the lead when it comes to global climate change.”

meanwhile a continent away, Phil of KE Environment News posted some statistics; Global Warming by the Numbers

“Global warming is the most serious environmental threat of our time. As these facts show, affordable options are available. And America cannot afford to fall behind any more in the race to invent clean, renewable energy sources.”

Not to leave you on a sad note, but from Basawad’s Safari notes Omar is saddened by a report of Sea Turtles dying in Kenya.

Dale Wen, writing on China Dialogue looks at the myth that high income lifestyles in the west come with a clean environment; noting that China needs to rethink its development model

The (impossible) American dream: “Exporting pollution”

In the past few decades the environmental movement has achieved a number of local successes in western countries. Air and water pollution have been brought under control, and green areas are conserved, but this is still largely in middle-class areas of these countries. Most problems are not solved, but transferred to other areas. For example, polluting industries are often moved to poor areas of the country, and waste from electrical appliances is (sometimes illegally) exported to countries like China and India.

We have to ask if problems can really be solved by externalising pollution. Greenhouse-gas emissions are a global phenomenon and cannot be exported: we all live on the same planet. In the first half of 2007, for example, Beijing moved 200 factories to the outskirts of the city or other cities entirely. Many cities, rather than controlling water pollution, are bringing in water from further and further away, and extending channels so that polluted water is deposited further away. As one rural resident put it to me: ‘If it’s pollution in the city, it’s still pollution in the countryside.

Understanding extreme weather in China: “What are the potential lessons to be learned for China from extreme weather events that seem to be increasing in frequency?”

The most important lesson China can take from this event is that climate change has real and potentially severe costs. It is true that the US and Europe are responsible for most of the greenhouse gases currently in the atmosphere. However, given its current path of development, China will be the largest single contributor to greenhouse gases added to the atmosphere in the future and will therefore be the largest contributor to those impacts that can still be avoided in the future. It is important, therefore, for China to understand the trade-offs that are inherent to any path of future economic development. Today a carbon-intensive economy may seem to be the most expedient path to economic growth, but the real and unpredictable costs to the economy of future climate change could be debilitating.

Tim Hurst of ecopolitology posts a short Video: State of Resolve
“this short pbs video highlights California’s relatively progressive environmental policy and juxtaposes it with *our (lack of) federal policy. The well-produced piece also does a good job of linking our drive for material wealth as a contributor to environmental pollution in China”

Santiago is a very beautiful valley. The mountains are very impressive. That is, if you have the chance to see them.

Smog is a permanent problem that has no solution yet. In winter, between May and August the situation is critical. We have three statuses for the contamination air levels: environmental alert, pre-emergency and emergency. This is determined by the “Air quality index” that measures the amount of dust suspended in the air (different grain sizes).

Every contamination status has consequences on citizens. Every year, we have vehicular restriction and no solid combustion is allowed if you don’t have a double-chamber conversion. In the emergency status, schools are prohibited to do sports and some factories have to stop their engines. Fortunately, government environmental plans have been working. The CONAMA (ES), Environment Commission, only has registered 4 alerts and 2 pre-emergencies, the lowest index since 1997.

Smog is in our newspapers’ conversation, but is hardly mentioned in our blogs. Tourists experiences of visiting Santiago, also bring up the smog issue. In “Charlies Travels,” Santiago smog is described “It was like walking through a smoky bar at times, but at least the transportation is efficient.” Alison posts “the only down side of the city is the smog, its fall here and there´s no wind or rain to clear it away, so you´ll see in the pics its a little dirty”. Anneopreis’ blog has many posts about her experiences in Chile, all good. But, regarding smog: “There is a lot of smog though, most of the time you can hardly see the andes surrounding entire santiago, it really is very bad”

For details of the contamination plan of Environment Commission click here (ES).

Mine exploitation in Argentina has been controversial for decades. While this kind of activity is presented as economically positive, many populations strongly oppose it due to its environmental impact. In many cases, the start of mining projects in the region has raised reasonable suspicion of connivance between the local political power and transnational companies. In these negotiations, the possibility of large profits was quite an incentive to ignore the will of local populations that oppose these kinds of economic activities. Since 2003, the blog Oro Sucio [ES] follows the topic of mine exploitation and its political and environmental impact. Luis Claps, who maintains the blog, is also the spanish Editor of Mines & Communities Network. He has a degree in Communications Sciences from the Universidad de Buenos Aires. He’s part of the Asamblea Patagonica contra la Contaminacion y el Saqueo (Patagonic Assembly against Pollution and Plunder), the Union de Asambleas Ciudadanas (UAC) and the Observatorio Latinoamericano de Conflictos Mineros (Latin American Mining Conflicts Observatory), and has participated in many forums and reunions of communities affected by the mining industry in Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru and Equator. He lives in the patagonic region of Puerto Madryn, Chubut province, Argentina.

In this recent interview, Claps discusses his interest in this field and how his blog draws attention to the impacts of mining.

Global Voices: How, where, and when did you come up with the project? What reasons triggered the interest in working with this topic?

Luis Claps: Oro Sucio was created in the middle of 2003. We’d been closely following the struggle of Esquel against the Canadian mining company, Meridian Gold. We had been working on our thesis for the communications degree at the University of Buenos Aires. The topic was precisely on this case, so we had a lot of material. We decided to make use of this material, publish it, and somehow fill part of the hole that the local and national press left in regards to the this mining issue. We perceived there was good work there and that it was a space where we could be useful as advanced communications students and future professionals.

GV: In the blog there are several articles by many authors and from many locations in Argentina. How do you contact them or organize this coverage?

LC: To attempt to provide full coverage of all the mining conflicts is almost impossible. We make a quite heterogeneous and sporadic selection of material, since the site doesn’t update on a determined regular basis, but rather whenever we can. We publish documents that are the result of collective fieldwork. Also, we keep in contact with many people and organizations that work in this problem in Argentina and other countries as well. Of all the amount of information around, we try to ultimately publish the least visible cases, and what we feel needs our support. And also, every now and then, some informs of our own or from trustworthy colleagues.

GV: The topic of mining usually leads to important mobilizations in many Argentinean locations, but these are poorly covered by the big media. What do you think are the causes?

LC: We believe the causes are diverse, and that each case has a particular mix of circumstances. There’s a big dependence on official advertising guidelines, especially in the regional media, and this discourages a deeper coverage. There’s a logic in the journalistic activity that forces the press to constantly jump from one topic to the other. There’s straightforward censorship and strong pressure, in many cases. But there’s more: the Venezuelan mogul Gustavo Cisneros (owner of Caracol Television, I-Sat, Space, Radio Disney, just to mention a few media) is part of the Barrick Gold Corporation’s board of directors, one of the world’s most powerful mining companies. So, there’s many issues. But the assemblies and popular movements know all of this perfectly, and they go out to manage their own press coverage and intervene in the media’s agenda. And they do it quite well. There are moments when the collectively accumulated information (in an autonomous, patient, word-of-mouth kind of way) reaches a level where it’s no longer possible to restrain, not even by the big media. When this happens, even the politicians assume a speech that adjusts to the community’s arguments, and they try to capitalize or domesticate the problem. On the other side, there are colleagues that work by advising mining companies to develop “crisis management” strategies.

GV: One of the most present topics in mine exploitation is the relation between political power and the companies. Could you cite cases in which the people’s mobilization and the media coverage definitely stopped projects that would’ve affected the environment?

LC: For communities potentially affected by mining projects, there are only partial victories, there are no definite triumphs. In our country, there were very important advances: in Esquel the Meridian Gold project was stopped; in Ingeniero Jacobacci, it was the Calcatreu project from Aquiline Resources; in Mendoza, a law that prohibits the use of toxics in open sky mining was recently approved; in La Rioja, Barrick Gold announced that it’s leaving Cordon del Farnatina because a similar law that was approved and the neighbors had cut the access route to the project for over four months!

In these cases, there was a lot of work from all available fronts: communication media, legal actions, public manifestations, legal modifications, etc. But Meridian Gold still has its office in Esquel, and last year, it started taking legal actions against four neighbors and two local journalists. Aquiline Resources continues exploration works in the south line of Rion Negro, while it tries to “modify the province’s political conditions” (as we read in the press releases from Toronto), and as if something was missing, Carlos Menem is a candidate for governor in La Rioja, with some possibilities to win the elections next August. So, unfortunately, the threats are still there. Just like political power, capital also recycles, changes faces, returns, straightens, and goes straight to the attack.

GV: What are the topics that are most covered in Oro Sucio, by specific problems or location?

LC: We cover a little what happens in the Patagonia, which is our area. And mostly it’s two lines: resistance to mining project and the mining companies’ strategies facing this resistance. We understand that mining mega projects operate on many different levels: political, legal, social, environmental, and economic. We try to identify the particular aspect on these levels, in the framework of a more general or global outlok. Another issue that interests us is the connection of the different experiences of the struggle, many of which involves the company itself: for instance, Barrick Gold operates in San Juan and La Rioja (Argentina), Valles del Huasco (Chile), Ancash (and other regions in Peru), Nueva Gales del Sur (Australia), Marinduque (Philippines), USA, Tanzania, Papua Nueva Guinea… How can information be exchanged in solidarity among those affected around the world?

GV: Could you mention other sites that cover similar problems?

LC: Yes, there are many other sites. In spanish: the one from the Asamblea de Vecinos Autoconvocados por el NO A LA MINA de Esquel [ES] and the Coordinadora de Asambleas Ciudadanos por la Vida de La Rioja [ES]. There are sites for specific campaigns such as No a Pascua Lama [ES] or the global protest against Barrick. You can also check the site of the Observatorio Latinoamericano de Conflictos Mineros [ES], the Confederación de Comunidades del Perú Afectadas por la Minería [ES], or the OLCA de Chile [ES]. The DECOIN [ES] site covers the long conflict between Íntag’s communities and the Canadian company Ascendant Copper in Ecuador. In the English language, there’s the Mines and Communities Website, and many sites of organizations such as Mining Watch Canada.

As the world observed World Water Day on March 22, issues concerning sanitation and access to safe water were discussed and debated in the media. This year’s theme for WWD is sanitation as 2008 is the International Year of Sanitation.

Maldivian bloggers have brought water and sanitation issues to the forefront of discussion in the country. It has emerged that the groundwater in several islands of the Maldives is contaminated with sewage.

It began with the death of 5 young people in a water well on March 3. They were part of a construction team working to bore a hole in the well when toxic gases caused the death. When there was no news of two persons, another person climbed in for rescue, and this cycle repeated till five people were in the well. The well was used to supply water for the Fish Market in the capital Male’.

When the accident took place, the eyewitnesses alerted Maldives Police Service. However, in such emergencies it is the Maldives National Defense Force (MNDF) which has to be alerted. The hospital ambulance which arrived did not have paramedics as in the Maldives ambulances are no more than simple vans which carry patients in stretchers. The MNDF rescuers who arrived to the scene did not give CPR to the victims.

The Maldives Medical Watch blog examines the failures of emergency services to respond to this accident and gives recommendations on improving the medical rescue services.

We asked some of our friends about who they would contact in a similar event. The answers we got were not surprising. Most of them said that they would contact MPS or IGMH. The MNDF Fire and Rescue services were mentioned by only one of the 25 people we contacted. This maybe a biased assessment but this highlights one issue. The general public have not been made aware of what emergency service they need to contact in which kind of incident.

This brings us to our argument for the need for a common Emergency Services. Why can’t we organize an emergency response service that has teams from various fields (Fire, Rescue, Police, Medical Services) that could be contacted by calling an umbrella Emergency Service?

International practice is to have a single body responsible for Emergency services. They will be comprised of the different teams that will be mobilized to respond to an event. It would them be easier for the common people to know which number to call in an emergency. Much like the 911 service we see on Reality TV.

We also note that the information conveyed at the time of calling the rescue service is vital. If details were not provided by the caller, the person receiving the call should have the sense to keep him or her online and to gather more information till the rescue services could reach the site.

Another issue that has been raised is how unprepared workers are when they are at high risk work. With inadequate safety regulations and laws to make it mandatory for employers to provide safe working environments, many workers in the Maldives are facing work-related risks while accidents at work are common.

The blogger Hamdun examines the issues concerning work safety in the Maldives.

The state in any country bears the burden of legislating and implementing laws to serve and protect its citizens. Legislating Rules and Regulations on workplace safety standards also falls on the government’s shoulder in making work sites safe for the people who work in them and also the general public from those work sites. It is also the government’s responsibility to monitor the workplaces to ensure the state of the workplaces are with the workplace safety standards, and penalise those who fail to adhere to it.

Poor workplace safety Standards and poor monitoring of the standards is equal to inviting tragedy with open arms. The Bopal tragedy in India serves the best example of this. The state of Madhya Pradesh was aware of the poor workplace safety observed in Bopal plant but decided to ignore the issue on the ground that it provided much needed employment and income for the locals. Then, on the night of 3 December 1984 tragedy struck, when a reaction in one of the storage tanks resulted in leaking more than 40 tones of Methyl Isocynate (MIC) gas into the air killing 3800 people instantly and more than 30000 people to date. Should the Maldives wait on for proper workplace safety standards till we experience a similar tragedy? Obviously no, if a Workplace Safety Standard means saving a single life it is definitely worth it. Thus, it is time for the government to introduce tighter Workplace Safety Standards and develop a monitoring mechanism to ensure that the standards are well observed within worksites and no more lives are lost to poor safety conditions.

It was the work safety angle that the mainstream media picked up immediately after the deaths of the five people. However, Bluepeace blog examined the reasons as to why toxic gases were built up in the well and came up with a shocking conclusion: the groundwater in Male’ is contaminated with sewage. Male’ Water and Sewerage Company (MWSC) providing sewerage services has built a sewerage system which discharges effluent without any treatment.

Unlike other inhabited islands in the Maldives hardly any household in Malé sink effluent (sewage and waste water) into the ground using septic tanks. Household effluent is collected in catch pits and transferred to MWSC’s Central Sewage System. If this is the case, why is the groundwater in Malé contaminated with sewage? For more than a decade, sewage manholes have been causing sewage infiltration into groundwater because of defective manhole housing. In addition, the poor design and construction of catch pits used in households have lead to further infiltration of sewage into groundwater. In order to reduce the pressure from sewer gases in manholes and thus reduce infiltration, MWSC erected sewage vents in Malé, some of them located in public parks.

The use of septic tanks and the primitive sewage systems in the rest of the country causes equally alarming problems. Sinking of effluent into the ground has caused contamination of groundwater in several islands of the Maldives. Unlike Malé, in the other islands the people use groundwater for washing clothes, dishes and for bathing, as piped desalinated water is not available. When rainwater is depleted, during dry spells, the people drink groundwater in several islands. In fact, 25% of the people of the Maldives depend on groundwater for drinking according to State of the Environment Report 2002.

After the issue was raised by Bluepeace blog, mainstream media picked on the issue and newspapers started running articles on it. Another interesting revelation that came in the wake of this debate is that Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA) was aware that contaminated water was used to clean fish at the Fish Market but did not intervene to stop it, as Bluepeace blog reports.

According to Miadhu, the Maldives Food and Drug Authority (MFDA), which has been established in 2006 to centralise the setting of standards relating to food and drugs in Maldives, has carried out a groundwater testing in the Fish Market area in January 2008. The tests carried out by the MFDA indicated presence of “considerable amounts of hydrogen sulphide and ammonium in that area”.

What is amazing to learn is that even the MFDA, while being scientifically aware of the high concentration of deadly gases in the groundwater of Male’, much prior to the deaths on Youth Day, had failed to take measures to stop the use of contaminated water to wash fish and the Fish Market’s floors.

After the tragic death of five young men on Youth Day in the Maldives, the various government agencies are involved in a game of pointing fingers and blaming one another. Meanwhile the public has been made more aware of water and sanitation issues through blogs and other media outlets. An increasing number of people have stopped buying fish from the Fish Market although contaminated water is no longer used to clean the fish. However, Maldives Water and Sanitation Authority (MWSA), the regulatory body on water and sanitation, has so far not responded to the circumstances surrounding the recent deaths, and have not issued any statement. With irresponsible authorities in charge, a large number of Maldivians live in islands with contaminated groundwater, leaking toxic gases, and sewerage systems discharging untreated effluent.

As UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in his message on World Water Day, the biggest culprit in failure to achieve the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by 2015 is the lack of political will.

Starting June 1, the Chinese government’s country-wide plan to make shoppers pay small fees for plastic bags, and to forbid the production of ultra-thin bags will take effect. The move should save China 37 million barrels of oil a year. NGOs have been into the act earlier, pushing for relief from the ubiquitous plastic bag — Chinese use over 3 billion such bags every day.

The bag ban has been spreading throughout the world over the past couple years, popping up in places like San Francisco and England, and others. Such a proposal appeared in the southern city of Shenzhen last year, and even earlier in a city in the southwest China province of Yunnan has even tried to control 白色污染 (”white pollution,” or plastic pollution) starting five years ago with such a ban, with favorable
results.

On Chinese-language environmental BBS boards and blogs, news of the plastic bag ban has been a hot topic since it was announced in January. Many netizens are supportive, others concerned; below are some excerpts.

Blogger Liu KenPeng on Sina.com writes:

看到这个消息，真是 BIG FAST PEOPLE HEART（大快人心）啊！
记得在评论人类历史上最糟糕的发明时，塑料袋耻登榜首。这东西最可怕的地方，就是自然界没有办法分解.
When I saw this news, it really was most gratifying!
In discussing the most terrible invention in the history of man, plastic bags are the worst of the worst. This thing’s most scary aspect is that it has no way to decompose in nature.

Others seemed nervous about the ban’s implementation. One netizen posts on Baidu.com:

这其实是一个很严峻的问题.而且实际实施中必然重重困难.

从消费者的角度来看,增收塑料袋费,对于比较节俭的家庭主妇来说,为了最大限度的得到利益,对一些额外的不必要的物品的消费就自然减少.消费减 少，商场的利益减少，不排除某些无良商家谋私利私自提供免费塑料袋，消费者的了便宜，特别是一些素质不高的人，自然是你不说，我不说，大家心知肚明。所谓 上有政策，下有对策。环保目的最终仍不能实现。

This is a rather serious issue, and the implementation will be difficult.
From the consumer point of view, for housewives, in order to maximize their interest, they will reduce spending on unnecessary items. It will affect the interest of shopping malls. Some irresponsible businessmen may provide free plastic bags. Consumers, especially those without environmental conscious, will accept that. We have policy on top, but people have their own strategies, and environmental objective still can’t be accomplished.

Qianyuyu at Bjelf.com, the online Beijing environmental law forum, writes:

关于购物塑料袋不应该收费,而是应该限制使用!

从六月份开始,消费者在超市购买东西,使用塑料袋商家要开始收费了.这一政策不知道政府经过听证没有.如果开始收费,在这物价非涨的年月,老百姓的消费支出无形当中又增加了.这给老百姓带来的生活压力,不知道政府考虑过汉有.
为什么政府不出一个限制使用的办法,比如,每个购物都只能免费使用一个,想用第二个就是付费了了而动不动就是收费.塑料袋收费不是便宜了商家吗?现在大多数老百姓都是在超市购买生活必须用品.每一个都收费,会给商家带来多少利润.
…should limit the use of plastic bags rather than collecting fee.
Consumers need to pay for the plastic bags in supermarket starting from this June. I wonder if the government had any public hearing on such policy. As the inflation rate has been very serious this year, the fee would add pressure to ordinary citizen. I wonder if the government really thinks this through.
Why doesn’t the government adopt a policy to limit the use. For example, everyone can get one free plastic bag and has to pay for the second. The policy of plastic bag fee will only favor the business people. People are buying necessary items in supermarket, with the fee, the business will gain extra profit.

On the Baidu.com BBS, others wondered if the small fee for plastic bags would even make a difference:

1 塑料袋才3毛一个,太便宜了.
基本上不会有什么影响嘛!

2 回复：塑料袋才3毛一个,太便宜了.
馒头1元3个 现在成2个了 你说有没有影响

1 Plastic bags (fees) will only be 3 mao, that’s too cheap
Basically there will be no influence!

2 Reply: Plastic bags (fees) will only be 3 mao, that’s too cheap
Steamed buns were 1 RMB for three, now it’s down to two Now tell me if that’s influenced anyone

The “green” movement is not only sweeping across Western countries like the United States, Australia, and the continent of Europe, but has now spread to the Dominican Republic. The country has apparently decided that it needs to conserve and maintain its resources based on the report from DR1’s environmental blog

The DR’s Environment Ministry (SEMARENA) has launched a environmental services payment (PSA) program. The basic concept is to encourage parties — whether communities, farmers, landowners, or others — to act in an environmentally responsible manner by compensating them for behaviors that result in the recovery, conservation and/or sustainable management of natural resources.

This is moderately old news in the world of instant technology as this occurred way back in May of this year. However, what this has begun to produce is a heightened awareness to ecological friendliness in the Dominican. The most recent and forefront of this environmental spirit is the Nature Conservancy and the Caribbean nations collaborating to begin the “Caribbean Challenge”, which is designed to protect the marine life that feeds the Caribbean people and attracts tourism. The reason for this challenge, as Caribbean Beat blogs, is because presently

Destructive fishing methods, pollution, heavy industry, and climate change are degrading regional coral reefs and marine ecosystems, which have a trickle down effect of negatively impacting fishing and tourism industries, and threatening some of the region’s unique marine life with extinction.

Blogger Temasactuales writes that he would normally be skeptical about such a governmental endeavor of this monetary proportion ($40 million), but thinks this has positive aspects that might make this project viable. Those things are

• money — from The Nature Conservancy (TNC) (kudos to TNC for stepping up first to make this happen!), probably the German Government and Global Environment Facility (GEF) as well and maybe even the US Government and World Conservation Union (IUCN) (these latter two helped sponsor the event at which the Challenge was launched);
• technical help, not only from TNC, but also probably from the UN Environment Programm’s (UNEP) Caribbean office (CEP), the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and groups such as Reef Check
• mutual reinforcement, not only among themselves, but also from other members of the Global Island Partnership (GLISPA) (kudos to GLISPA for inspiring some concrete initiatives)

Finally, Christopher Ward, an expat living in the Las Flores area, polled the residents of said area about their environmental concerns. He writes “their major concerns were planting trees, picking up the garbage and rerouting their black water so it isn’t going directly into the river.”

It is promising to see the Dominican Republic, which is tangled in governmental discrepancies, do something to sustain and preserve the beauty that is driving more and more people to vacation here. It is, also, hopeful to notice how they are taking the initiative to feed themselves with the abundance of natural resources at their fingertips.

Due to skyrocketing oil prices, many Southeast Asian countries are intensifying efforts to tap alternative sources of energy. Even oil producing countries like Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei are investing on renewable energy.

Use of alternative energy is expected and necessary. Recent fuel hikes have caused widespread protests in Malaysia and Indonesia. Expensive oil is also exacerbating the economic crisis in the region, which is still burdened by rising food prices.

Lifestyles are changing since people are now more aware about the oil price crisis. Tree Maple reports that a green complex will soon rise in Singapore. The eco-complex will make good use of alternative energy sources. Tumelor writes about the plan of the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration to use wind turbines for the electricity requirement of public park lights.

The largest company of consumer products of Thailand has announced its plan to reduce oil consumption by 1 percent this year, using solar energy. Rambling Librarian hopes some day solar energy (through energy-efficient batteries) will power some of the household appliances.

Asiabiofuels’s Weblog notes that state-owned plantation firms have jointly set up a consortium for the construction of a biodiesel plant in Indonesia. While opposition to the use of biofuels is growing in the world, blogger The Poisoned is supporting it. In a related issue, Orangutan Outreach points out that the palm oil industry in Indonesia is causing of local conflicts, displacement, homelessness and morbidity.

Geothermal energy has a lot of potential in the region, especially in the Philippines and Indonesia. A study explains that “both countries are in the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire, an area peppered with volcanoes and home to the world’s biggest reservoir of geothermal power.”

The Asia Tomorrow warns of possible obstacles in promoting geothermal energy:

“Some obstacles are affecting other potential new projects in any location. A fairly extensive amount of drilling is involved to drill deep enough in the earth to reach hot water or steam so that turbines can be powered. Furthermore, the legal formalities needed to organize and carry out these projects is also hindering progress. Active volcanoes are associated with high acidity, as thus cause the corrosion of pipes involved in geothermal power projects.”

But the writer insists geothermal plants are less expensive to operate:

“Although drilling and plant construction, not to mention exploration, costs are high in comparison to other alternatives, the maintenance and operation costs of a geothermal plant are significantly lower in comparison. Typically it takes 7 to 8 years for a geothermal project to go from an exploration to production stage. Road costs to remote areas are also a factor. Carbon credit eligibility would make investments in these projects more likely, as well as help with some of the initial project cost.”

Use of nuclear energy is now being considered by Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia. A regional cooperation on nuclear safety issue was recently initiated by these countries with China, South Korea, and Japan. But nomad4ever opposes the building of nuclear plants in Indonesia:

“Due to its growing economy, there is demand for an additional 5.000 megawatts of electricity, building nuclear plants is said to make the country less dependent on fossils like oil or coal, while providing the necessary power at ease. The question is: why build nuclear reactors in an area plastered with volcanoes and prone to earthquakes, flooding and tsunamis? Aren’t there any alternatives? Geothermal Energy can be a valid green alternative, which could help satisfy Indonesia’s rising energy demands and boosting its reputation for Global Warming topics beyond the ‘warm words’ of the Bali Climate Conference.”

Bellamy Budiman also opposes the construction of nuclear plants, for another reason. Instead, the blogger is promoting wind power.

“If the government is really that concerned about the energy crisis, they should take approximate steps to develop greener energy. Take wind power for example, we have plenty of wind down here. If the government put some effort to install residential-grade turbines on every few blocks or so in the city, I’m sure some of that power consumption need could be taken care of.

“The idea of building a nuclear power plant. Well this just sucks monkey balls. If our country can’t even take care of simple matters such as garbage or traffic, I don’t see why we SHOULD build a nuclear power plant. I can envision the comeback of Chernobyl, or the second coming of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Without the bombs, of course. We won’t need them as it would probably explode on its own. Even developed countries are now moving away from nuclear power plants.”

Blog of Bobby from Brunei proposes the following:

“A hopeful alternative is the use of novel methods, which are being researched but are not commercially viable. My favorites include Fusion, Cold fusion, and zero point energy. Nuclear Fusion is a huge contender, but it has yet to produce more energy than it consumes.”

Sarawak Headhunter on the potential of natural gas:

“Sarawak has a wealth of alternative energy resources such as natural gas. According to the Bintulu Development Authority, the state has a total known gas reserve of about 50 trillion standard cubic feet.”

moglie’s recycled ramblings emphasizes the importance of energy conservation:

“Perhaps we should learn by now that these are not renewable energy and if we failed with our conservation then that could spell our pitfall. I’m not being overly pessimistic but we got to change our mentality that easy oil is thing of the past. We’re already struggling with secondary oil/gas extractions and our next best source would be from deep water exploration.”

Melting ice caps, rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns aren’t the only potential consequences of climate change. Scientists are warning that changes in global climate may also endanger public health by increasing the spread of diseases and other health problems.

The issue of climate change’s impact on health is currently a popular one. World health experts have committed to research this area, and the topic has been the theme of medical journals and World Health Day this year. Researchers fear that current warming trends, if uncontrolled, will greatly increase health risks. These health hazards range from deaths related to extreme high temperatures and natural disasters to a change in patterns of diseases that are sensitive to temperature and precipitation, such as malaria and dengue. Experts say we’ve already seen examples of this impact, from epidemics of cholera in Bangladesh to Rift Valley fever in Africa.

Laura Grant, posting on Treevolution, adds that climate change’s effects have been seen in Kenya too.

“The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned us that the range of vector-borne diseases like malaria is likely to change thanks to climate change. Kenya has already reported cases of the disease in previously malaria-free areas.”

Though climate change is a global phenomenon, experts warn that its health consequences will be the most severe for the poorest people in the poorest countries. Approximately 600,000 deaths occurred worldwide because of weather-related natural disasters in the 1990s and some 95 percent of these were in poor countries. Also, diarrhea, malaria and protein-energy malnutrition, which are all impacted by climate, caused more than 3 million deaths globally in 2002; over one third of these deaths happened in Africa. This photo gallery illustrates more health consequences of climate change.

However, the blog Globalisation and the Environment points out that it’s hard to separate climate change and poverty’s impacts on health.

“There is considerable debate about the effect of global warming on the spread of diseases. Try to remember that there is a close relationship between poverty and disease as well as between disease and climate. That point aside it is always of interest to a dismal scientist to consider alternative ways that we can die.”

Scientists at the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) have done just that — they released a report earlier this month naming 12 animal-human diseases that might spread to new regions of the world because of changes in temperature and rainfall. The “deadly dozen” diseases include avian flu, cholera, Ebola, Lyme disease, tuberculosis, and yellow fever. In order to prevent a major outbreak, the WCS recommends better monitoring of wildlife health to help detect how these diseases are moving. trimurtulu, posting on MeDiCaLGeeK, elaborates on their suggestions:

“The authors suggest that the best way to protect ourselves against worst possible scenarios is to track how the diseases shift through wildlife populations by establishing a global surveillance network based on a mix of Western science and the knowledge of indigenous people.”

The report has scared some bloggers, such as one blogging on ThinkingShift, into considering the connection between disease and climate. She says:

“We’re so absorbed right now with the financial fracas going on that if we think about climate change, we think of regions heating up, sea levels rising, poor polar bears unable to find ice floes to rest on and so on. But do we ever stop to think about the deadly diseases that we might face? Well, this report sure helped me think about it especially the fact that pathogens, which pose a threat to humanity, have already caused significant economic damage. The SARS virus and avian influenza, for example, have already caused an estimated US$100 billion in losses to the global economy.”

The World Health Organization (WHO) says that unless adaptive measures are taken, climate change is projected to approximately double by the 2050s the percentage of its population at risk of hunger and associated health effects. Maina, blogging on Baraza, proposes multiple solutions to combat this problem.

“One, we have to adopt sustainable living as humans to reduce the severity of climate change and its effects; two, now more than ever, we have to safeguard our wildlife for they are our early warning systems against outbreaks of these deadly diseases.”

However, leg-iron accuses WCS’s report of being scaremongering with no scientific basis. Peri Urban, blogging on the urban blog, adds that very little research exists on this topic and that the link between climate change and health hasn’t been proven yet.

“There are no ‘adverse effects’ that we know of from which the WHO should feel obliged to protect us. Nor is it possible to raise public awareness of an issue that is yet to be researched, unless your aim is to generate the advance belief that there is a problem so that you can get funding. Scientists have mortgages to pay just like the rest of us.”