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Cindy Lowry: Having Drew Barrymore Play Me On Screen

2012-02-10T00:00:00Z

My Greenpeace tenure began as their Alaska Field Representative in Anchorage, after I had been volunteering on wolf and marine mammal issues for a local group. My only caveat was that I would continue to work on wolves, which they agreed. I was thrilled to work on issues that I loved and for an organization that, at the time, closely shared my personal philosophy about wildlife.

For about three years, I worked out of my home office on about 12 issues including fisheries/marine mammal conflicts, offshore energy, native marine mammal take, and predator control. I really didn't have a routine as it changed constantly depending on the issue or environmental crisis. In truth, my greatest challenge was to not add on more issues. Over a decade, I moved into an office and built a staff of five incredible women and their dogs!

I developed great relationships with state and federal agencies, native groups, fishermen, colleagues and the public. We had our differences at times, but we also had respect for our differing positions. As one native friend said, we chose to respect our differences while working together on issues that we agreed upon.

The producer tracked me down through Earth Island Institute's International Marine Mammal Project, which my project Oceans Public Trust Initiative, OPTI, is under. He left a voicemail that they were making a film about the 1988 whale rescue and wanted to talk with me. I called him back.

We had a great conversation and discussed the event. He said that Drew Barrymore would be playing me. I said OMG, I can't think of a better person, as she is so down to earth and a great actor! I was so excited about telling this amazing story to new generations.

Drew Barrymore playing Cindy Lowry in Big Miracle (Universal Pictures)

The experience has been wonderful. The director, producers, film crew, and especially Drew have been so inclusive and respectful of my work. I was honored to be a consultant and instill the movie with my passion for those amazing whales. There were times when I had to remind myself which decade I was in as all the sets looked exactly like 1988.

When Drew and I met, it was an immediate bond. We walked across a restaurant, took each other's hands and started smiling, saying how happy we were to meet. She said "I'm going to be playing you" and I said "I know, it's so amazing." We are kindred spirits - we both love dogs and are passionate about the issues we care about.

I spent time at her home in California, and she with me in my favorite Alaskan places. We became good friends. I was on the set the first few days of her filming and it was just like watching myself 20 years ago, she had the nuances down to even my pacing around the office and how I related to the whales.

I'm thrilled with the movie. It's a wonderful retelling of the whale rescue. It was an amazing experience, and I'm still bonded to those whales. The public acceptance to the movie's message about people with diverse backgrounds working together has strengthened my resolve to work for environmental causes through OPTI (www.oceanmiracle.org).

My attention is on offshore development, including oil, gas and wind energy. There is too much development in the oceans without a common-sense plan. One of the first US wind projects is proposed for Nantucket Sound, which will have devastating effects on whales, marine life, and protected values. Like the movie's message, I'm hoping people can set aside differences and look at the big picture of where we're trying to develop energy projects.

Big Miracle is in UK cinemas on 10 February. Watch the trailer below:

Brad Friedman and Desi Doyen: 'Green News Report' - February 9, 2012

2012-02-09T23:08:20Z

TWITTER: @GreenNewsReport.

The 'GNR' is also now available on your cell phone via Stitcher Radio's mobile app!.

IN TODAY'S RADIO REPORT: Santorum down the rabbit hole; New nukes for the US; Clean energy breakthroughs: seaweed ethanol, highest efficiency solar panels ever, plastic-eating fungus; PLUS: 'Betty Crocker Solar Power Cake Powder' ... All that and more in today's Green News Report!

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Got comments, tips, love letters, hate mail? Drop us a line at GreenNews@BradBlog.com or right here at the comments link below. All GNRs are always archived at GreenNews.BradBlog.com.

IN 'GREEN NEWS EXTRA' (see links below): Interior Dept drilling reg enforcement is 'erratic', 'inadequate'; Green economy lost fewer jobs in Great Recession; Big Oil: record profits by pumping less gas; Sea to submerge Louisiana by 2100: study; Frustrated fracking co. begins eminent domain proceedings against homeowners; 9/11 experiment shows whales affected by human noise; Wind energy does not contribute to global warming ... PLUS: Good news: Himalayas and nearby peaks have lost no ice in past 10 years: study ... and much, MUCH more! ...

'Green News Report' is heard on many fine radio stations around the country. For additional info on stories we covered today, plus today's 'Green News Extra', please click right here..

WATCH: Hot Slug Sex At The Academy Of Sciences

2012-02-09T23:07:15Z

This Valentine's Day we could talk about the birds and the bees. But we think that the snails -- and the spearlike "love darts" they use to impale each other before mating -- are much more interesting.

Starting Friday, San Francisco's California Academy of Sciences will celebrate Valentine's Day with its latest exhibit, Animal Attraction -- exploring the fascinating mating tendencies of animals.

(SCROLL DOWN FOR PHOTOS)

In a series of 18 aquarium tanks, the exhibit will explore reproduction, from attraction to mating to evolution, using iPads instead of labels, allowing guests to flip through images, videos and loads of information.

Some examples: The Ceratoid Anglerfish who permanently fuse during mating; The Coral Banded Shrimp who fight their mate's potential suitors to the death; And of course, your everyday garden snail who shoots its mate with enormous hormone-laced darts (sometimes impaling the snail entirely, reaching out the other side) that increase the odds of reproduction. And you thought your sex life was interesting.

Check out photos from the upcoming exhibit below, as well as a video teaser. Then stop by the Animal Attraction Nightlife on Thursday night.

Are You Listening? Ship Noise Stresses Whales

2012-02-09T22:54:30Z

By Jennifer Welsh, LiveScience Staff Writer:

Quiet oceans make for calmer right whales, new research suggests. When fewer ships sail the Bay of Fundy, the big baleen whales are less stressed -- as evidenced by hormone levels in their poop.

This stress could be one reason the North Atlantic population of right whales, which spend part of their lives in the Bay of Fundy off the East Coast, is having such a hard time reproducing. If the sounds chronically stress them, they could be more prone to disease and it could possibly interfere with their ability to reproduce, the researchers say.

"We know that whales have responded to underwater noise by changing their vocalization, but we didn't know if they responded with physical changes as well," study researcher Rosalind Rolland, of the New England Aquarium in Boston, told LiveScience. "What this study has shown is that they are having a measurable physiological stress response to the noise in their environment."

Calling all whales

Right whales use their calls to communicate across long distances. They use low frequencies because they carry farther, but these are similar to the frequencies made by ocean-going ships. Previous studies have shown that noise levels can impact the whales' behaviors, including where they swim and how they vocalize. It's like trying to talk at a party -- often a lot of noise will make you either speak louder or, in the worst cases, wait until later to make your point. What the researchers didn't know is how noise may be impacting the whales physically.

The researchers analyzed noise recordings from September 2001, in areas of the Bay of Fundy where the whales generally reside; they then compared them with samples of whale poop collected by researchers in 2001 through 2005. They were looking for evidence that decreased ship traffic after the tragic events of 9/11 lowered the whales' stress hormone levels.

In the two days before 9/11, nine ships passed through the Bay, but in the two days after, only three ships passed through. This led to a significant decrease in low-frequency noise in the Bay and a drop in the intensity of the noise, they found. This coincided with a drop in stress-hormone levels in the whales' fecal samples: Compared with before Sept. 11, hormone levels were significantly lower after Sept. 11 ... only in 2001.

"Compared to the four following years, there was something different that affected their baseline stress levels," Rolland said. "A big decrease in their fecal stress hormones -- that tells me the whales are responding to the noise in their environment with stress."

The researchers believe that these chronically high stress levels can cause behavioral changes and can impact the whale's immune and reproductive systems. We haven't figured out how to take a whale's blood pressure, but the stress system is the same in whales and other vertebrates, including humans.

"The stress pathway is the same, it doesn't matter if you are turtle or a human being," Rolland said. "It's chronic, continual stress that's known to suppress the immune system and reproduction.You can't measure that directly in whales, but there's really no question it applies to whales as well."

Unexpected experiment

The unplanned nature of the study means it has some caveats. A longer-term study (with more data points) comparing ship-traffic fluctuations and the stress hormones from whale feces could establish a more reliable trend in the data, said Hans Slabbekoorn, a researcher from Leiden University in the Netherlands, who wasn't involved in the study.

"It is possible that the statements by the authors reflect reality about a decline in stress levels in 2001 after a decline in vessel-related low-frequency noise levels," Slabbekoorn wrote in an email to LiveScience. But, he added, "I had a thorough look at the paper and I cannot say that I am very happy with the paper as a scientist."

Not all researchers agree with Slabbekoorn's assessment, though. Most were positive about the study and data.

"You can't control the ocean. You can't do a nice controlled experiment where you can tease out each possible effect. So this is about as close as you can get," Lindy Weilgart, a researcher at Dalhousie University, in Nova Scotia, who wasn't involved in the study, told LiveScience. "I think this one [study] comes closest to tying an effect to a population impact, and that's the Holy Grail that you are looking for: How damaging is noise on the population?"

The study will be published Feb. 8 in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

You can follow LiveScience staff writer Jennifer Welsh on Twitter @microbelover. Follow LiveScience for the latest in science news and discoveries on Twitter @livescience and on Facebook.

In Photos: Tracking Humpback Whales

The World's Biggest Oceans and Seas

Album: The World's Biggest Beasts

Copyright 2012 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Mason Inman: The Climate Post: Maldives President and Climate Advocate Forced at Gunpoint to Step Down

2012-02-09T22:32:55Z

Maldives leader Mohamed Nasheed, called the "world's most environmentally outspoken president" because of his calls for drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions, was forced to resign -- at gunpoint, he claimed. He had used stunts such as an underwater cabinet meeting to highlight his island nation's vulnerability to sea-level rise.

His resignation followed weeks of protests and was apparently motivated by internal politics unrelated to his environmental views.

Global Warming behind Europe's Winter

Global warming could be behind the Arctic blast that recently hit Europe, killing more than 200. The unusually small ice cover over the Kara and Barents Seas has changed wind patterns, pushing frigid air into Europe.

Meanwhile, most of the U.S. has been enjoying an especially mild winter -- although Alaska has had one of the coldest and snowiest on record, and the Bering Sea's ice grew to its second-highest on record in January.

Meteorologist Jeffrey Masters said it's not clear if global warming is the culprit behind the U.S. weather, but "... over the last couple of years, it's really not the atmosphere I know anymore."

When the Los Angeles Times reported on the warm winter without mentioning the possible influence of global warming, climate scientist Michael Mann called it "journalistic malpractice."

However, the media is too often the scapegoat, with politicians and the economy having a bigger influence on public opinion about climate change, according to a new study.

"Fracking" Study Raises Greenhouse Gas Worries

A new study, which sampled the air around sites where hydraulic fracturing is being used to extract natural gas from shale, revealed more gases -- mainly methane -- escape into the air than previously thought. Although natural gas is usually touted as being better for the climate than other fossil fuels, the study indicated these leaks could erase much of that benefit.

Geoengineering Gets More Scrutiny

Tycoons including Bill Gates and Richard Branson have funded research and reports on geoengineering -- proposed planetary-scale projects to fight climate change -- raising concerns about the power of vested interests.

Research into geoengineering is a small but fast-growing field. One recent study found that sunlight-blocking particles could cool the planet, but would change regional climate patterns, so would not be able to keep the climate as it is now. Another recent study found that such geoengineering could help food production by limiting heat stress, while retaining the boost in growth from higher carbon dioxide levels.

Wind Power Struggles Ahead

Wind turbine installations in 2011 were up six percent over the year before, a slight increase compared with the rapid growth before the 2008 recession. Less than half of the installations were in Europe or North America, and Asia led the growth.

The world's largest turbine manufacturer, Denmark-based Vestas Wind Systems, has been flagging: It lost $220 million in 2011 -- four times more than expected -- and a number of senior officers left, most recently the chairman.

In the U.S., wind-power advocates have been fighting for offshore turbines along the Atlantic for decades, and now the federal government is aiming to speed permits after a positive environmental review. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said, "We'll have those leases issued by the end of 2012."

Hair, No -- But Grass, Yes

Reports from a few years ago that Nepalese teenagers made a solar panel from hair was apparently a hoax, but now MIT researchers have done something that seems equally unlikely: making solar panels from grass clippings. The new study described how to fairly cheaply isolate a key part of the molecular machinery behind photosynthesis, and then apply it to a metal or glass surface to create a photovoltaic panel. The researchers are trying to make it simple enough that anyone can hack together a solar panel using grass clippings and a bag of cheap chemical powder.

The Climate Post offers a rundown of the week in climate and energy news. It is produced each Thursday by Duke University's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions.

John F. Bruno: The Smoking Gun: Plot by Fossil Fuel Giant to Further Corrupt Aussie Media Exposed

2012-02-09T22:22:03Z

An explosive new piece of investigative journalism,Â "Monckton, Rinehart and a plan to capture the Australian media" by Aussie journalistÂ Graham Readfearn,Â is turning the climate change world upside down.

ReadfearnÂ learned about a remarkable video (via Twitter!) of a meeting hosted by the Mannkal Economic Education Foundation, a group that promotesÂ free-market policies.

Famed, if half-crazy,Â climate change denier "Lord"Â Christopher Monckton was lecturing the group on how coal mining interests could capture even greater control of the Australian media market to promote their climate change denialist propaganda. Let's listen in:
We have all heard about the fossil fuel-funded conspiracy to confuse the public about human-caused climate change in books like Merchants of Doubt. The fruits of these plots are on display every day in the news, where on a typical morning, weÂ wake up to be told,
No Need to Panic About Global Warming:Â There's no compelling scientific argument for drastic action to 'decarbonize' the world's economy

and

Forget global warming -- it's Cycle 25 we need to worry about (and if NASA scientists are right the Thames will be freezing over again):Â Met Office releases new figures which show no warming in 15 years

Both pieces are riddled with lies. They come from the Wall Street Journal andÂ Britain'sÂ Daily Mail. An overwhelming majority of scientists that work in climate change science would disagree with these pieces. So would anÂ overwhelming majority of reporters in the newsrooms of such esteemed newspapers. Yet, the leadership and ownership of these and many other enormous media outlets, e.g., the Washing Post, The Australian, Fox News, even the New York TimesÂ continue to give not just a voice, but a Godzilla-sized megaphoneÂ to the corrupt ideologues that make a living promoting junk science. To control public perception these days, the super rich don't bother with commercials or bribes, they simply buy whole media outlets.

This isn't exactly news. We all know it is happening and how effective it has been in delaying the cuts in carbon emissions we will inevitably have to make. But still, it is chilling to listen in as schemes to subvert our "free" press are hatched.

What became of Monkton's advice? It seems thatÂ Australia's richest woman, coal mining tycoon GinaÂ Rinehart, is purchasing controlling interest in Aussie media:

"Just a few months after this meeting, Gina Rinehart finally secured herself a seat on the board of Channel Ten after buying up shares the previous year. Just before that meeting, right-wing blogger and Andrew Bolt was given his own showÂ The Bolt ReportÂ on which to promote his climate "sceptic" agenda.' - Graham Readfearn

"Gina Rinehart, the country's richest woman with a wide portfolio ofÂ miningÂ and coal interests, hasÂ secured a 15% shareÂ inÂ Fairfax Media, the parent company of, amongÂ many other media outlets, the Age and Herald. This stake would add to theÂ 10% share of Channel 10Â she secured in late 2010." -Â >Leo Hickman, the Guardian reporter that originally uncovered the video onÂ Mannkal's web site.

This game has become far too rich for scientist, NGOs, and other advocates of sane environmental policies.

Just yesterday, a friend wrote to say we needed to raise $10,000,000 to begin to get our message about ocean conservation out. Steve, I hear you, but you better add a few zeros to that number.

Hardy Jones: Larger Breast Size, Obesity and Diabetes Tied to Estrogen-Mimicking Pollutants

2012-02-09T22:09:49Z

Women's breasts are larger than they used to be. For a while I thought it was just a change among younger women. But then it became clear to me that the same phenomenon had emerged in women of more mature ages. My weekly trip to surf a nude beach north of San Francisco clinched it.

A quick run around the Internet confirmed what my eyes were telling me. According to Britain's The Daily Mirror, no stranger to alluring photos of fetchingly undraped lassies, the average bra size in the UK is now 36C, up from 34B ten years ago. And the paper reports Marks & Spencer will stock J-cup bras for the first time. Formerly the largest cup size was a G. Similar figures are found in the United States. The average bra size has gone from 36C to 36DD over the past five years.

I realize some of the increase in breast size is intentional. Cosmetic implants are ever more popular. The contraceptive pill has been linked to increasing breast size. And larger breasts may simply be the result of the simple fact that people are eating more food and more fattening food and so carrying more overall weight than they have historically.

So why is a writer/ocean conservationist who specializes in marine mammals and ocean toxicity turning his attention to bra sizes? I'm a man and hard wired to notice such things but that's not why I'm writing about this.

The answer lies in my studies of the relationship between the super feminization of women (and feminization of men) and consumption of foods that contain estrogen-imitating chemicals. Classes of chemicals called persistent organic pollutants (POPs) mimic the effects of estrogen in the mammalian body. Some of these POPs are familiar to many -- PCBs and PBDEs, flame retardants and coolants in transformers, electric motors, computers, even baby clothing. Another, still persistent in the environment after 35 years off the U.S. and European markets, is DDT and its metabolite DDE. The more you eat of foods containing these and similar chemicals, the more of the estrogen imitating compounds are ingested, significantly altering the body's hormonal balance. POPs are lipophilic; that is to say, attracted to fat. These chemicals, that arrive via the wind and waters are stored in the fat of animals and fish.
My area of concentration has been with this phenomenon in the marine environment. POPs are bio-magnified up the food chain so that someone eating a large fish will ingest far more contamination that when eating smaller fish. The tests BlueVoice and others have done on dolphins, feeding at the apex of the oceanic food chain, show high levels of POPs in their tissues virtually worldwide with variation depending on size of prey fish and location.

The larger breast phenomenon is only the tip of this chemical iceberg. Serious illness and disruption of mammalian immune systems are additional byproducts of these chemicals. Obesity and diabetes have been directly connected to them as well. Recent studies on animals (tests I almost always oppose) show evidence of a link between POP exposure and insulin resistance syndrome, metabolic disorders that include type 2 diabetes (EHP 118:465-471; Ruzzin et al.) A highly alarming correlate is that obese and diabetic individuals have a far higher risk of getting cancer than people with lean physiques. A critical factor is that POPs are absorbed in fatty tissues. Ironically when obese persons lose weight they flood their blood and tissues with the POPs previously bound in fat. This is especially dangerous on a crash diet.

I was diagnosed in 2003 with multiple myeloma, a disease that has been linked to high levels of toxins. In 2005 I had myself tested for POPs and the levels were, in some cases, extremely high. The reason for my accumulation of these chemicals appears to be that during the late 1990s I ate large quantities of tuna and swordfish as well as other fish. In 1997 I had been diagnosed with chronic mercury poisoning. Again, best guess is the culprit was large predatory fish. The mercury levels came down within six-months of taking large fish off the menu. The POPs have half-lives of eight to 15 years and take decades to fully clear.

Today, through BlueVoice.org in collaboration with Elsa Nature Conservancy in Japan, I test dolphin meat for chemical pollutants. We virtually always find high levels of both POPs and heavy metals such as mercury. We publish these results both to educate human consumers of fish and to argue that eating dolphin meat, with the high contaminant levels, is a health hazard. We hope this will drive down demand for dolphin meat in Japan and worldwide.

It is not only the females of species that are affected. In mammals as diverse as alligators, polar bears and human beings high levels of estrogen imitating POPs correlate with decreased sperm counts, reduced volume and quality of semen, depressed levels of the male hormone testosterone, and high levels of estrogens in both males and females. Reproductive failure in mammals including humans has reached alarming levels.

The impact of these chemicals does not stop with the immediate consumer. Women who inadvertently include PCBs in their diet pass them to their children in fat rich breast milk. The role of environmental chemicals in obesity is emerging from the realm of speculation to hard science. And more studies are in the works. The Presidential Task Force on Childhood Obesity and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Strategic Plan recently acknowledged the problem. In 2011 the NIH launched a three-year effort to fund research exploring the role of environmental chemical exposures in obesity, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and metabolic disorders.

These studies and action to reverse the conversion of the world's waterways into chemical soups cannot come too soon. In the meantime there are steps you can take: choose fish that are no larger than an average dinner plate and trim away fat. Avoid farm-raised fish. They contain high levels of POPs. Choose lean cuts of meat and trim fat. Do not cook with lard or by frying.

Follow Hardy Jones on Twitter.

The Greenest Car Of 2012 Is...

2012-02-09T22:00:14Z

From Mother Nature Networks' Melissa Hincha-Ownby:

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has published its 14th annual Greenest Cars List and for the first time an electric vehicle takes the number one spot. The new Mitsubishi i-MIEV bested the Honda Civic Natural Gas, which held the number one spot for eight straight years.

A variety of environmental criteria are assessed when evaluating a vehicle's green score, including the emissions created by the power plant used to provide electricity to the i-MIEV and other electric vehicles. The changing face of the eco-friendly automotive scene actually led to a few changes in the ACEEE's methodology this year.

"This year, a number of updates were made to the Green BookÂ® methodology to more accurately estimate vehicles' environmental impacts. These include improved emissions estimates for the vehicle manufacturing process, changes reflecting current natural gas extraction practices, and consideration of upcoming shifts in the generation mix for the electricity used to power electric cars." Source: ACEEE

One very prominent electrified vehicle is missing from this list, the Chevy Volt. According to CNNMoney.com, "That's because the ACEEE uses vehicle weight as a criterion for scoring, under the assumption that a heavier vehicle causes more waste in production."

Unfortunately for General Motors, the Chevy Volt was their best chance for inclusion on the list. Instead, the Greenest Cars of 2012 list is dominated by Japanese imports. General Motors and other Detroit-based automakers are receiving unfavorable recognition on the Greenest List's companion, the Meanest Vehicles for the Environment in 2012.

Both the Chevrolet G3500 Express Cargo van and its GMC cousin, the G3500 Savana tied with the Ford E-350 Wagon for the Meanest Vehicle of 2012 with a Green Score of 17. For those that cry foul, there are electric cargo vans on the market that are a viable alternative to these gas-hogging beasts.

The 2012 Greenest List and each vehicle's corresponding Green Score follows:

7 Eco-Tourism Sites Under Siege

2012-02-09T21:54:11Z

The federal government's approval of a Glacier Discovery Walk in Jasper National Park has raised concerns about the impact increased tourism will have on the Columbia Icefield â specifically, on the Athabasca Glacier, which will be the walk's main attraction.

The glacier is already the most visited glacier in North America and has been receding at an accelerated pace because of global warming.

Many other natural sites around the world are under threat from a combination of development, tourism and climate change. We take a look at some of them.

Galapagos Islands, Ecuador

The site of some of Charles Darwin's most pivotal discoveries of evolution, this archipelago of volcanic islands in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Ecuador is known for its rich biodiversity. Hundreds of species of plant and animal life found on the islands do not exist anywhere else, but these are under threat from the more than 150,000 visitors a year who come to the islands as well as from invasive species that have been introduced to the islands over the years.

Everglades National Park, Florida

This subtropical wetland at the southern tip of Florida is beloved for its impressive mangrove forests and diverse plant and animal life. The park has been damaged by residential development and poorly regulated tourism.

Great Barrier Reef, Australia

The 2,000-kilometre reef off the coast of Queensland state is the world's largest and is home to hundreds of species of marine life, including many types of hard and soft coral and six of the world's seven threatened species of marine turtle. The reef faces threats from fishing, pollution â especially from the pesticides, fertilizers, sediment and other agricultural and mining run-off that washes up on the reef via the river systems that drain into the ocean â rising sea temperatures, which are exacerbating the bleaching of coral, and the shale oil industry. Tourist activities such as snorkeling and diving are not considered as big a threat to the reef as the other activities.

Dead Sea

The mineral-rich waters of the Dead Sea, which lies between Israel and Jordan, draw international tourists who float easily in water that is 10 times as salty as seawater. The lake â which has a surface 417 metres below sea level and is the lowest place on earth â and the many hotels and resorts that dot its shorelines generate millions of dollars in tourism revenue, but it's not the tourists who pose the greatest threat to the lake. It's the increased water consumption on the rivers upstream from the Dead Sea and at the mining operations on the lake itself that has been causing water levels to decrease at an alarming rate in recent years. The lake, which is about 85 kilometres long and about 17 kilometres wide, is mined for potash, salt and other minerals that are used in cosmetics, fertilizers, cars and computers.

Machu Pichu, Peru

One of the most important archeological and cultural sites in Latin America, these ruins of an ancient city of the Inca empire sit 2,430 metres above sea level in a tropical mountain forest in the Peruvian Andes. The much-visited UNESCO world heritage site has been flagged as being under threat from urban development, tourism and neglect.

Virunga National Park, Democratic Republic of Congo

This 7,800-square-kilometre park, which is Africa's oldest national park, is known for its population of mountain gorillas, which number fewer than 800 in the world, and the diversity of its many kinds of habitats, which include active volcanoes, mountains, icefields, savannas, swamps and steppes. The park's wildlife and habitats have been damaged by the country's protracted civil war, which among other things forced the park's rangers to flee and brought in an influx of refugees who poached the park's animals and cut down its forests. Poaching, habitat destruction and the felling of trees for charcoal production continue to threaten the park, and although the civil war is officially over, park rangers are still being ambushed by militia fighters and poachers.

Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System

Tens of thousands of visitors a year flock to the coastal area that includes a barrier reef that is the largest in the northern hemisphere and the second largest in the world. The area also features mangrove forests, sand cays, coastal lagoons and coral islands. The reef system, which extends almost 300 kilometres from the Belize-Mexico border south to close to the Guatemalan border and has been divided into seven marine reserves and national parks, is home to an impressive array of plant and marine life, including threatened species of marine turtle, manatee and the American crocodile. The influx of tourists and the associated hotels, tour operators and recreation industry have put great pressure on the reef system, as has over-fishing, pollution and climate change.

Renegade Girl Scouts Recognized For Saving Orangutans

2012-02-09T21:45:54Z

A pair of renegade girl scouts accepted a prestigious U.N. award in New York Thursday for their work bringing attention to the threat palm oil production poses to orangutans and the rainforest in Malaysia and Indonesia.

Nominated for the award by the Union of Concerned Scientists, the U.N. Forest Heroes Award the scouts received is the first of its kind.

"It is exceptional to be considered and we're both delighted, thrilled and humbled to win the award," Girl Scout Madison Vorva said in an interview with the Huffington Post.

Back in 2007, Vorva and Rhiannon Tomtishen started a five-year campaign to get Girl Scouts USA to ditch Southeast Asian palm oil from its girl scout cookie recipe. The ingredient is said to fuel deforestation as trees are clear cut for palm oil production, leaving orangutans with no forest to inhabit.

The girls' slick lobbying efforts and social media campaign persuaded Girl Scouts USA and Kellogg to commit to introducing sustainable palm oil by 2015, a policy they announced last fall.

The organization also pledged to purchase certificates from the GreenPalm program, which directs funds to palm oil producers who are working sustainably under guidelines outlined by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.

While the pair agree the policies are a step in the right direction, they said more still needs to be done for Girl Scouts USA to make truly sustainable girl scout cookies.

"We are trying to keep the pressure up to ensure the Girl Scouts find an environmentally and socially responsible palm oil to be used in these in the cookies," Vorva told HuffPost.

That's why Vorva and Tomtishen recently launched an online petition with Change.org to call on the organization to completely eliminate unsustainable palm oil from their cookies.

Over the past two weeks, more than 57,000 people have signed the petition supporting Project ORANGS.

"Essentially we are asking Girl Scouts [USA] to live up to the Girl Scout values. We are trying to make a positive change and take a holistic approach. So it is little steps with some pressure," Tomtishen said.

So far, they've partnered with a number of organizations, including UCS and Roots And Shoots. They've even gained the support of Jane Goodall, someone they say has been an inspiration.

As for what's next for the duo? Turning Project Orang into a registered non-profit is on the horizon so they can begin urging other companies to switch from palm oil to a more sustainable ingredient.

"Every individual has a role. If you have a passion, you can change anything," Tomtishen said.

WATCH: Baby Bear And Wolf Tumble And Play Together

2012-02-09T21:15:52Z

They were unlikely friends, a grizzly bear cub and a wolf pup. But the pair shared a friendship that lasted beyond their days tumbling around the gift shop at the Woodland Zoo as youngsters.

Six years after the video was shot, Lil' Bear and Tala still remain close, according to footage posted by Dennis Crossland, an employee at the former Pennsylvania zoo.

The clip features some photos of the rambunctious duo all grown up and seemingly posing for the camera. The "aww"-inducing footage has already garnered more than 200,000 since it was posted on Jan. 27.

Bella the dog and Tarra the elephant were another pair of unlikely friends whose tender interactions captured the hearts of workers at the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. Tarra mourned Bella's untimely death and carried the dog's body to the spot they often spent time together.

Although the video above might make you squeal, there has been recent controversy regarding the purchase and ownership of exotic animals.

In October, Terry Thompson released a slew of exotic animals, including Bengal tigers and a spotted leopard, from his Zanesville, Ohio, farm before committing suicide. Officials were forced to kill at least 48 of the animals.

The incident highlighted the importance of enforcing exotic animal laws, particularly in Ohio.

Grizzlies like Lil' Bear can grow to be about 6 feet tall and run at speeds of up to 30 miles per hour, National Geographic explains.

The bears are extremely powerful and potentially deadly, but their population is threatened in the United States due to poaching and loss of habitat, according to the World Wildlife Fund.

Santorum Warns Of 'New Boogey Man'

2012-02-09T20:56:11Z

Rick Santorum took aim at environmental regulations Thursday at a campaign stop in Oklahoma, a hub of the domestic energy industry. The presidential hopeful told voters that opposition to fracking is nothing more than political fear-mongering, according to CNN.

"We have to have all sorts of government regulations because of the threats of hydrofracking," Santorum said. "It's the new boogey man. It's the new way to try to scare you."

Later he imitated anti-fracking politicians and environmentalists. "Ooh, all this bad stuff's going to happen, we don't know all these chemicals and all this stuff," he said. "What's going to happen? Let me tell you what's going to happen, nothing's going to happen."

It's not the first time Santorum has dismissed environmental threats as bogus rhetoric. At a campaign stop in Colorado on Tuesday, he told voters that he never bought into the "hoax of global warming."

Santorum reiterated his thoughts on climate change on Thursday, telling the Oklahoma crowd it is "a politicization of science." He has attacked Newt Gingrich and Mitt Romney for their previous support of cap and trade policies.

For his part, Newt has disowned the climate change ad he shot with Nancy Pelosi, calling it "the dumbest thing I've done in the last four years."

Thousands Of Dogs Heading To New York To Vie For Best In Show

2012-02-09T20:38:39Z

From Mother Nature Network's John Platt:

This week, thousands of show dogs, their trainers and their owners are descending upon New York City, where the Westminster Kennel Club 136th Annual Dog Show will be held at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 13 and 14.

While only one of the 2,000 or so dogs competing will win the coveted "best in show" award, many are already local celebrities, treasured by their hometown communities.

Take Indy, for example. The Dalmatian from St. Charles County, Mo. -- one of nine Dalmatians competing at this year's Westminster dog show â is a frequent sight at local festivals and parades. Owner Kathy Ryan-Hogan loans her out to local fire departments that do not have dogs of their own. "When the average child comes to the fire department, they want to know where the fire dog is," Ryan-Hogan told Fox 2. "So here she is."

Then there's Kinderteckel's Charlotte My Lady in Red, better known as "Charlie." The standard smooth female dachshund from Woodland Hills, Calif., was recently profiled in the Los Angeles-area paper, the Daily News. This is owner Richard Van Elgort's second year at Westminster. Last year he was there with another dachshund, Freddie, who he says is currently "engaged" to Charlie.

Over in Wilton, Conn., a 3-year-old white Samoyed named Suka is preparing for this year's show, as is her owner. "I've had butterflies in my stomach ever since we found out Suka is going to the show," Heather Hubbard told the Wilton Bulletin. Suka is a favorite with the neighborhood children, who come over and ask if she can come out and play. "They invented a game called 'Scatter,' in which Suka tags the kids and then they scatter and she finds them," said Hubbard.

Some dogs were born to compete at Westminster. Owners Michelle Soave and Scott Tomassi told Powhatan Today that they named their 19-month-old Havanese Madison after Madison Square Garden. That's not the only reason they're excited to attend they show: trainer Soave and fan Tomassi met and became a couple at Westminster in 2010.

For other dogs, this may be their last time in the ring. Fort Merrill Topsfield Yahoo, a basset hound from Corpus Christi, is already the country's top-ranked dog in his breed, and Westminster will be his retirement show. "We hope he goes out in a blaze of glory as opposed to a cloud of defeat," co-owner Joan Urban told Caller.com.

One of the most inspiring dogs heading to Westminster is Kalahari's Call to Attention (a.k.a. Patton), a Leonberger from Plano, Texas, who is not just a frequent award-winner but also a service dog. "I have multiple sclerosis, and my balance is awful," owner Janis Cook told NBC Dallas-Fort Worth. "He kept me from falling." Patton not only knows how to navigate a show ring, he has also been trained to open handicapped-accessible doors for Cook. You can watch Patton's story here:

WATCH:

Also on Mother Nature Network:

Four breeds that have never won the top title

Meet 6 breeds making their debut at Westminster

Mary Anne Hitt: Clean Air and Public Health Wins -- Now Will Energy Company Stand Up for Its Workers?

2012-02-09T20:37:52Z

On the heels of January's announced coal plant retirements in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Maryland, this week we received another announcement from FirstEnergy that it would retire three more of its coal-fired power plants in West Virginia. The plants are slated to close on September 1, 2012. Last month's major FirstEnergy news was that the company will retire a whopping 2,689 megawatts (MW) of coal, bringing the total FirstEnergy announced retirements to 3,290 MW.

All this news means cleaner air for thousands of Americans, and it's a result of years of tireless advocacy by hard-working local residents and volunteers across these states. It also means less air pollution in my backyard, for my family -- one of the retiring coal plants is just 20 miles away from my home here in West Virginia.

But there's some unfinished business in these states. The transition from coal to clean energy needs to happen in a way that protects workers and communities, and FirstEnergy so far has shown no signs that it will do so.

We welcome this good news for our health, and for clean air and water, but we were disappointed to hear that -- unlike other energy companies in the same position -- FirstEnergy made no clear commitment that its affected workers would get new jobs in the clean energy economy.

We are calling on the company to do right by its workforce and the communities that rely on these plants for a sizable portion of municipal revenue. We are also calling on the company to invest in the enormous clean energy potential of these communities to create good, union jobs through energy efficiency, wind and solar. As the nation transitions away from coal, we must ensure that the workers and families who have dedicated their lives to producing coal-powered electricity are helping lead the way into a clean energy future.

This isn't a pipe dream. We know that a transition from fossil fuels to clean energy is possible because we've seen it happen, in state after state, in recent months.

Last March in Washington, the state senate approved a landmark agreement between the Sierra Club, Governor Chris Gregoire and TransAlta to phase out the state's massive 1400MW coal plant between 2020 and 2025. The local International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers also supported the agreement.

That agreement created a $55 million fund that will be invested in the Centralia community to help move away from relying on the plant. Not only will tens of millions of dollars be invested in Centralia community development, but a significant portion of the transition fund will additionally be dedicated to innovation and new technologies that will help reduce Washington's carbon pollution and create jobs.

Then, last April the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) board of directors approved a landmark agreement with three citizen groups -- including the Sierra Club -- four states and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to phase out 18 units at coal-fired power plants and install modern pollution controls on three dozen additional units in Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee.

That agreement also required provisions for affected workers: TVA must invest $350 million in Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina and Tennessee on additional air pollution-reduction projects over the next five years, including funds to help consumers and business cut their energy bills, support local businesses that are creating jobs in local clean energy projects and cut carbon pollution.

We are committed to clean energy, and we are committed to good jobs. And we will continue pushing FirstEnergy to do the same.

4 Breeds That Have Never Won The Westminster Dog Show

2012-02-09T20:12:44Z

Despite the breed's popularity, a Labrador retriever has never won the coveted 'best in show.'