A new book entitled "When the Rivers Run Dry" argues that the global water shortage is the "defining crisis" of our time. In a revealing Salon book review and interview with the author, Fred Pearce, reveals that while we may save over four gallons of water by turning off the tap when brushing our teeth, it takes 265 gallons to produce a glass of milk and 800 gallons for a hamburger. Most of the water that each one of us uses comes from the water used to irrigate the crops that we consume. Water has thus become a global commodity as water is imported in foodstuffs. Despite these and a long list of other concerns the author is optimistic that given huge inefficiencies in how water is used, that significant progress in water conservation can be made.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry at 9:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

In yet another startling victory for Ecological Internet's network and partners, Russian President Putin has announced the new Siberian/Pacific coast oil pipeline will be routed at least 40 km from Lake Baikal [more], and outside of the "Jewel of Siberia's" watershed. Lake Baikal is home to 20 percent of the world's fresh water, and is the world's deepest and oldest lake renowned for its water purity and home to tremendous amounts of endemic species including a rare fresh water seal.

Ecological Internet is proud to have generated tens of thousands of strategically targeted protest emails that have successfully supported the local Russian environmental movement and the likes of Greenpeace and WWF in their protests against routing a major oil pipeline adjacent to a fifth of the world's freshwater.

It is clear that Ecological Internet has fully reached its stride, as this is the fourth major environmental conservation victory that we have achieved in the past month, and the second in two days! Over the past year Ecological Internet has entirely renovated our technology, organizational structure, web site design and improved our protest methodology. Ecological Internet now has in place and offers for free to the world the Earth's preeminent biocentric ecological activism knowledge base and action center.

Shortly we will be launching our mid-year fund-raiser to build upon this fully established and highly successful knowledge and action infrastructure, by adding staff and resources to further improve the quality and quantity of our offerings. By participating in the network and supporting Ecological Internet financially you help bring hope to the Earth and her humanity. More on this later.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry at 10:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (17) | TrackBacks (0)

UPDATE: This alert was successful! Russia has announced Lake Baikal will be spared oil pipeline threat.

TAKE ACTION: Let Russian government know oil and water do not mix

A controversial Russian crude oil pipeline from eastern Siberia to the Pacific coast threatens the world's largest freshwater lake. The pipeline may pass within less than one kilometer of Lake Baikal -- a UNESCO protected World Heritage site and home to 20 percent of the world's fresh water. Lake Baikal, called the "Jewel of Siberia", is the world's deepest and oldest lake renowned for its water purity and home to tremendous amounts of endemic species including a rare fresh water seal. It is feared that an earthquake, forest fire or flood around Lake Baikal could rupture the pipeline, sending 4,000 tons of crude oil into the world's largest freshwater body in just 20 minutes.

Experts, including specialists from the Russian Academy of Sciences, have said the oil pipeline should run as far as possible from the coast of Baikal. Scientists who conducted the state assessment of the plan found that in the event of an earthquake there is a high likelihood that water quality would be severely diminished and permanent damage to the unique wildlife would occur, and thus recommended its construction near Baikal be stopped. There has been strong local opposition to the project for years, including recent protests by Russian environmentalists.

Project plans are continually changing, with important questions including whether the pipeline route will fall within the Baikal water catchment still unresolved. Please send an email supporting local campaigns to ensure the final pipeline route steers well clear of Lake Baikal and its watershed, and to promote sustainable development in the Baikal region.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry at 6:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (12) | TrackBacks (0)

A federal advisory panel has recommended a dramatic cutback in the West Coast's commercial salmon season, stopping just short of an unprecedented ban that threatened to put the beleaguered fishing industry out of business. Globally nearly every major fishery is already over-depleted or in the process of collapsing. Even as humanity's dependency upon protein from the ocean peaks, there is virtually no hope that fish populations will be maintained in the long-term unless fishing ends immediately and large marine protected areas are established in order to allow fisheries to restore themselves.

Posted by Dr. Glen Barry at 9:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)