ECOLOGY

OREGON FARMER USES ELECTRIC TRACTOR

BETH CASPER, STATESMAN JOURNAL, OR - A small tractor on Jeff Falen's
farm this summer moved soil for hills of potatoes and winded through
rows of vegetables -- all without the power of gasoline. Falen paid
$4,500 to have his Allis Chalmers "G" Cultivating and Seeding tractor
converted to all-electric. He plugs the tractor in at night to charge
the eight 6-volt batteries. The farm generates 10-kilowatts of solar
electricity, so Falen knows that much of his power is renewable. The
tractor runs for about four hours on a charge. . .

For Falen, the owner of Persephone Farm, between Sweet Home and Lebanon,
there were many reason for the switch to electric. He doesn't breathe
the fumes when he is riding; he has reduced his gas consumption by
between 50 and 100 gallons a year; the tractor will require almost no
maintenance; and he is running his farm in a "greener" way.

http://StatesmanJournal.com

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India's Forgotten Tribes Gain Rights Over Forests
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/010207EA.shtml
Over 40 million of India's most impoverished and marginalized people live in the
country's forests. A new law will for the first time enshrine their right to
live there, but conservationists are worried about endangered wildlife.

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Concern for Rainforest Forces RWE to Scrap Palm Oil Project
http://www.truthout.org/issues_06/010207EB.shtml
A leading German utility has abandoned plans to convert a British power station
to run on palm oil, in a blow to the promotion of biofuels in Europe. The
company halted production because it was unable to secure sufficient supplies
without risking damage to tropical rainforests.

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CLIMATE CHANGE AND EL NINO MAY MAKE 2007 HOTTEST EVER

CAHAL MILMO, INDEPENDENT, UK - A combination of global warming and the
El Nino weather system is set to make 2007 the warmest year on record
with far-reaching consequences for the planet, one of Britain's leading
climate experts has warned. . Combined, they are set to bring extreme
conditions across the globe and make 2007 warmer than 1998, the hottest
year on record. It is likely temperatures will also exceed 2006, which
was declared in December the hottest in Britain since 1659 and the sixth
warmest in global records. . .

The warning of the escalating impact of global warming was echoed by Jim
Hansen, the American scientist who, in 1988, was one of the first to
warn of climate change. In an interview with The Independent, Dr Hansen
predicted that global warming would run out of control and change the
planet for ever unless rapid action is taken to reverse the rise in
carbon emissions. . .

http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article2116873.ece

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RELIGIOUS GROUPS COME OUT AGAINST BOTTLED WATER

RELIGIOUS NEWS SERVICE - Rooted in the notion that clean drinking water,
like air, is a God-given resource that shouldn't be packaged and sold, a
fledgling campaign against the bottling of water has sprung up among
religious groups. And though the campaign is at a relative trickle and
confined mostly to left-leaning religious groups, activists hope to
build a broad-based coalition to carry the message that access to water
should not be restricted to those who can afford it.

Cassandra Carmichael, director of eco-justice programs for the National
Council of Churches, said she has noted an increasing number of
religious groups that consider the bottling of water a wrongful -
perhaps immoral - act. "We're just beginning to recognize the issue as
people of faith," Carmichael said.

In October, the National Coalition of American Nuns, a progressive group
representing 1,200 U.S. nuns, adopted a resolution asking members to
refrain from purchasing bottled water unless necessary.

Likewise, Presbyterians for Restoring Creation, a grassroots group
within the Presbyterian Church USA, launched a campaign in May urging
individuals to sign a pledge against drinking bottled water and to take
the message to their churches. . .

Americans consume more bottled water than any other type of beverage
except carbonated soft drinks, according to the Beverage Marketing
Corporation, a New York-based research organization. In 2005, Americans
drank about 7.5 billion gallons of bottled water, a 10.4 percent
increase from 2004. The U.S. leads the world in bottled-water
consumption.

At the same time, one-third of the world's population lives in
water-stressed conditions. That proportion will double by 2025,
according to a 2006 United Nations report on water scarcity. Water is
scarcest in arid developing countries plagued by drought and pollution,
such as South Africa, where agriculture fuels demand.

http://www.christiancentury.org/article.lasso?id=2783

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HOUSES LIKE CARS

ARCHITECTURAL RECORD - KTA's Loblolly departs most wholly from past
prefab models through its innovative component-based design, in which
KTA minimized the number of parts. "We want materials we can take apart
like used auto parts, as opposed to ending up with rubble," Kieran says.
Unlike many houses, even those built with sustainability in mind,
Loblolly's components, or elements, as the architects call them, could
be unbolted and reconfigured at another site for a different house or,
as the architects like to demonstrate in their public lectures, sold off
in pieces on Ebay. . . The architects divided the chain between three
tiers of suppliers and a final assembler, much in the way automotive
companies outsource major components of each car with final assembly at
factories throughout the world.

http://archrecord.construction.com/resources/conteduc/archives/0611edit-1.asp

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