WWF 'greenprint' for presidential candidates
Source: WWF-US
WWF-US has released a "greenprint" agenda, a policy roadmap for the next US president to address global threats to environmental, social and political stability in four key areas: climate change, natural resources, food security and freshwater.
Typhoons bury vast amounts of carbon dioxide at sea
Source: New Scientist
In just a few days one typhoon can dump the same amount of carbon to the bottom of the ocean as a year of rain. The storms do this by ripping mud and decaying vegetation off the land, and flushing it down rivers in huge floods and out to sea. Two studies have recently measured just how much carbon gets moved from land to sea in this way and come to similar conclusions.
EU says emissions trading system may fund forest conservation
Source: Mongabay.com
Europe's carbon trading scheme may be used to generate funds to fight deforestation, reports Reuters. Speaking at a news conference on Friday, EU environment commissioner Stavros Dimas said he hoped the EU's emissions trading scheme could reduce gross tropical deforestation by half by 2020 and eliminate net forest loss by 2030.
Green policies in California generated jobs, study finds
Source: New York Times
California's energy-efficiency policies created nearly 1.5 million jobs from 1977 to 2007, while eliminating fewer than 25,000, according to a study to be released Monday. It found that although the state's policies lowered employee compensation in the electric power industry by an estimated $1.6bn over that period, it improved compensation in the state overall by $44.6bn.
Urgent action needed over Sumatran peat forest logging
Source: Telegraph
Sumatra's Tripa area of peat swamp forest is being logged to make way for new palm oil plantations and the effects will have dire consequences for the people and wildlife that live there. The Tripa forests are located in north western Sumatra and provided effective coastal protection for communities in the tsunami. Behind them, very few casualties were recorded and they also serve to protect against floods as the peat swamp regulates water flow.
