50% die off of bees worst in 40 years!!!!!!!


Spring is in the air, and as we plant our vegetable gardens and enjoy the blossoming flowers, it’s easy to forget the small creatures that keep many of our spring favorites alive and are essential to our food supply: bees.
One out of every three bites of food you and I eat is pollinated by honeybees. In fact, bees and other pollinators are necessary for about 75 percent of our global food crops. From nuts and soybeans, to squash and cucumbers, from apples, oranges, cherries and blueberries, to avocados, peaches and melons, bees play a critical role in producing the food we eat. Honey bees also contribute over $15 billion to the U.S. economy. Bees are a keystone species and with roughly 80 percent of all flowering plants on the earth reliant on pollinators to reproduce, if we lose bees we will likely lose a host of other important species.
As you may have read in the news, these critical pollinators are in trouble, victims of Colony Collapse Disorder – or CCD, a phenomenon in which bee colonies have been mysteriously collapsing when adult bees seemingly abandon their hives. This last winter, beekeepers reported bee die-offs of more than 50 percent – the worst loss in more than 40 years. CCD has pushed the beekeeping industry in the U.S. to the verge of collapse, and this could spell trouble for a variety of our favorite foods from almonds to blueberries.
For years, the cause of CCD was a scientific mystery, but a growing body of scientific evidence is pointing to a key factor, a class of neurotoxic pesticides called neonicotinoids, or neonics. In fact, a January 2013 EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) report labeled neonicotinoids as an 'unacceptable' danger to bees. And a new report from the American Bird Conservancy provides compelling evidence that neonics are also harming birds.
Neonics are the fastest-growing class of synthetic pesticides in history, and the neonicotinoid imidacloprid (Bayer Crop Science's top-selling product), is currently the most widely used insecticide in the world. Neonics are used as seed treatments on more than 140 crop varieties, as well as on termites, cat and dog flea treatments, lawns, landscapes and gardens. Neonics are persistent and last for years in the soil. They permeate the entire plant and are expressed in pollen, nectar and guttation droplets (dew). And, they can’t be washed off food, meaning that we are all eating them.
What’s worse, Neonics aren’t just in use in commercial agriculture. Many of the plants and seeds we buy in nurseries across the U.S. have been pre-treated with the pesticides and at much higher doses than is used on farms – so when we plant our gardens we may unwittingly be harming bees!
The EPA approved Bayer's products based on the companies own studies and despite mounting evidence – including a memo by the EPA’s own scientists discrediting Bayer’s original study – and 1.25 million public comments, the EPA has delayed action on neonics until 2018. Other governments haven’t been so slow to act. Governments in Italy, Germany, France and elsewhere have already taken action to limit neonics, and beekeepers there are reporting recovery.
The 2013 EFSA study has prompted the EU Parliament to consider a two-year ban on three popular neonics. And, due to a successful campaign by our sister organization Friends of the Earth England, Wales, Northern Ireland (EWNI), many of the major home and garden retailers in the UK have pledged to stop selling neonics.
Bees really are the “canary in the coal mine” when it comes to our food, telling us that the way we produce our food is unhealthy and unsustainable and needs a rapid transition to sustainable, just, ecological agriculture. A new USDA study shows that we could move away from chemically intensive industrial agriculture toward a system of ecologically friendly agriculture and continue to produce enough food for us all.
Friends of the Earth has some exciting actions coming up to save the bees and other pollinators. You’ll have an important role to play, so check back soon.
And in the meantime, choose to buy organic food as much as possible, and, as you plant your spring gardens, be sure to say no to the neonics and choose certified organic seeds and plants to help protect bees and other pollinators!

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Taryn Kiekow’s Blog

Revolution

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Posted March 14, 2013 in Moving Beyond Oil, Reviving the World's Oceans, Saving Wildlife and Wild Places

Tags:

climatechange, coal, deforestation, endangeredspecies, film, fossilfuels, globalwarming, marinemammals, ocean, oceanacidification, overfishing, revolution, sharks, tarsands

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Director Rob Stewart set out to make a new movie to save sharks. Then the acclaimed director of Sharkwater, a 2007 documentary about shark finning, realized that it’s not just about fighting to save sharks.  It’s about fighting to save our entire planet. Revolution, his latest film, captures our fight for the future and is playing this Saturday at the D.C. Environmental Film Festival.

Revolution rivets the audience from the start.  It opens to stunning underwater footage of sharks – and the realization that Stewart is lost 900 miles off the coast of Equator.  In his words: “I’m in big trouble.” Our planet is in trouble, too.
             
Trouble is a theme that transcends the entire film.  Revolution is an extraordinary journey that documents some of the major threats to our planet.  Overfishing. Ocean acidification.  Global warming.  Fossil fuels.  Coal. Deforestation. The Canadian tar sands.  Climate change. 

Stewart realized there was no point in saving sharks if our oceans – and indeed planet – are headed for disaster. As he said in the film, “it’s no longer just about saving the oceans.  It’s about saving ourselves.”
Revolution is a story about the fight for our future.  It’s a story about sharks, the ocean, and climate change.  And above all, it’s a story about starting a revolution to save our planet.

It’s a powerful movie that makes you think about the possible, not simply dwell on the inevitable.  Revolution is more than just beautiful cinema: it’s an exceptionally well made documentary that inspires action…and change. It’s moving, engaging, astonishing, and enraging.
Revolution has been a festival winner abroad and made its American debut at the Santa Barbara Film Festival to great acclaim last January.  It is showing this Saturday, March 16 at 5:15 pm at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland.  For those of you in the D.C. area, it absolutely demands to be seen.

Manatees Dying in Record Numbers

Sometime this weekend, the record for manatee deaths caused by Red Tide will be broken.

A Red Tide bloom has been killing 10 or more manatees a day and the deadly algae bloom shows no sign of letting up any time soon, say state biologists.

"This is probably going to be the worst die-off in history," said Martine DeWit, a veterinarian who oversees the state's marine mammal pathology laboratory.

The record for manatees killed by Red Tide was set in 1996, with 151 killed by a toxin in the algae bloom. As of Friday, the number killed this year had hit 149, DeWit said, which means the record is likely to fall by today.

Eleven manatees have been rescued, alive but ailing, and taken to Lowry Park Zoo in Tampa for treatment. The treatment requires having zookeepers stand in the manatees' water tank and hold the manatee's head up out of the water so it can breathe.

"They're basically paralyzed and they're comatose," said Virginia Edmonds, the zoo's animal care manager for Florida mammals. "They could drown in 2 inches of water."

Although the zoo does have flotation devices to support the manatees' heads, said zoo spokeswoman Rachel Nelson, "they tend to have seizures, which makes them drown." So each staffer takes a three-hour shift holding the manatees' heads up, she said.

One that was brought in Thursday took a long time to recover and start breathing on its own. That meant that "for 29 hours our keepers held a manatee's head out of the water," Nelson said.

The problem is what to do with them once they've recovered, noted Pat Rose, executive director of the Save the Manatee Club.

"Right now we just have full pools," Edmonds said.

Releasing the recovered manatees back into the wild where the Red Tide is would just sicken them all over again.

"We're making arrangements to move them to other places and stabilize them and keep them there until the Red Tide goes away," Rose said.

SeaWorld has taken two, Edmonds said, and Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park will probably get four. But after that, no one is sure what will happen.

"We'll just keep taking them in," she said. "We want to save as many as we can."

Red Tide has plagued Florida's beaches for centuries. Spanish explorers recorded blooms in the 1500s. Karenia brevis — named for retired biologist Karen Steidinger, who spent decades studying its properties at the state's marine science laboratory in St. Petersburg — lives in the Gulf of Mexico all year long, usually without causing anyone any problems.

But every now and then the algae population just offshore explodes into something called a bloom, staining the water a rust color and releasing large amounts of toxins. No one knows what spurs those blooms or how to stop them, but they can wreak havoc with the state's fishing and tourism industries by causing massive fish kills.

The current Red Tide bloom affects about 70 miles of the southwest Florida coast, extending along the shores of Sarasota County south through the middle of Lee County. It has been floating out there since last fall, hanging on despite changes in the weather, but it did not begin killing off manatees in earnest until last month, DeWit said.

Roughly 40 percent of the state's estimated manatee population of 4,000 to 5,000 animals lives in southwest Florida from Tampa Bay down to the Ten Thousand Islands. Virtually all of the manatees killed by the Red Tide have turned up in the center of that stretch, in Lee County.

During the winter, manatees tend to congregate in areas where they can stay warm, such as springs and the outfalls of power plants. One of the most used of those refuges is in Lee County, where the Caloosahatchee and Orange rivers flow together.

DeWit said biologists figure the manatees that were huddled up in the rivers during the winter have left it and ventured out into the wider waterways — and run into the Red Tide.

In 1996, biologists were at first baffled about what was killing so many manatees. Eventually, once the Red Tide bloom dissipated, the die-off ended, which helped solve the mystery. Biologists figured out that the manatees were breathing in the toxins from the algae bloom, producing the spasms and paralysis that led to their death.

This time, Dewit said, scientists believe the toxins have settled onto the sea grass that the manatees eat, so when they feed they become paralyzed and drown.

Unfortunately, she said, that means that even after the Red Tide bloom ends, the sea grass beds are likely to retain their poisonous coating for another two months, extending the die-off that much longer.

Craig Pittman can be reached at craig@tampabay.com

Up to

5,000

Estimated statewide manatee population

392

Manatees killed last year from all causes

151

Manatees killed by Red Tide in 1996 (record)

146

Manatees killed by Red Tide in 2013 (as of Friday)

About Red Tide

Red Tide is a higher-than-normal concentration of microscopic algae. The blooms stain the water a rusty tint and can kill fish, manatees, dolphins and other marine creatures. The algae contains at least 12 different toxins that can also be harmful to humans, particularly those with respiratory problems. No one knows what spurs the algae growth that produces a Red Tide bloom, but it can wreak havoc with the state's fishing and tourism industry.

.FAST FACTS
How to help
Anyone who notices an ill manatee should immediately notify the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission by calling 1-888-404-FWCC (1-888-404-3922). Cell phone customers can punch in *FWC or #FWC. Be prepared to answer the following questions:
. What is the exact location of the animal?
. Is the manatee alive or dead?
. How long have you been observing the manatee?
. What is the approximate size of the manatee?
. What is the location of the public boat ramp closest to the manatee?
. Can you provide a contact number where you can be reached for further information?

. FAST FACTS
Hed goes here
Anyone who spots an ill manatee should immediately notify the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission by calling 1-888-404-FWCC (1-888-404-3922). Cell phone customers can punch in *FWC or #FWC. Be prepared to answer the following questions:
. What is the exact location of the animal?
. Is the manatee alive or dead?
. How long have you been observing the manatee?
. What is the approximate size of the manatee?
. What is the location of the public boat ramp closest to the manatee?
. Can you provide a contact number where you can be reached for further information

Been away for a while seeking funding for the Colorado Green News Paper. Since the election it is time to turn up the focus and PROMOTE our green living agenda!! Let's begin!!!! Good to be back.

Why is Grilling with Gas Instead of charcoal worth a big spicy impactful 30 points on Practically Green?

Grilled food tastes fantastic—and what’s more fun than a cook out? But grilling is far from an eco-friendly experience. If you’re using charcoal, it can have a negative impact on both personal health and the environment. Charcoal burns dirty, releasing soot and other greenhouse gas pollutants into the air. Because it is made from trees, it also promotes deforestation. And lighter fluid is far from safe.

Weber Portable Gas Grill: looks small but boasts 12,000 BTUs & 280 sq inch cook top. Enough to serve up a mean bbq.

The eco-friendlier alternative to charcoal is gas. Natural gas, propane, and even electric grills burn cleaner and are more efficient than charcoal. Grilling meat—on any kind of grill—can further pollute the air with smog from released fatty acids.

PG Grill Guru reminds that almost ANYTHING can be grilled to perfection! Check EatingWell for an abundance of recipes

Environmental impact is only half of the story here; cooking over an open flame can be a health hazard. According to the American Cancer Society, carcinogenic compounds (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs and heterocyclic amines or HCAs) can form directly on your meat as it chars. When burning fat drips on charcoal it creates smoke, which then deposits these compounds back onto your food—so says the Texas Commission on Environmental Air Quality. And Texans know a thing or two about grilling.

Extreme Grillers will love this PG recommendation: It seems only natural to cook up yr organic grass-fed burgers with a Verde grill set made of bamboo & recycled stainless.

Grill less, and less meat. When grilling, gas grills are easy to use—even for beginners. Choose one that works for your needs.

Source meats, veggies, and seafood well. Look for local and organic when possible.

If having a cook out, opt for reusable plates and utensils.

Clean charred material on your grill—before and after use—with a natural cleaner.

Wouldn’t it be great if the answer to every decision could be “all of the above?” It would make life easier. But I'd be a bad father to my newborn son if I told him there's no difference between right and wrong, good and bad -- if I taught him the moral ambivalence of “all of the above.”

When it comes to protecting the environment, President Obama is refusing to choose. He’s now touting “all of the above” as his energy answer, all the while staying appallingly silent on the accelerating climate crisis we face.

It’s a cop-out -- an excuse to continue to embrace dirty, dangerous energy sources, including climate-wrecking tar sands oil and dangerous, outdated nuclear reactors, while purporting to be a leader.

Friends of the Earth has been fighting for the right energy choices since our founding 42 years ago, not because it’s easy, but because it’s necessary. Make a contribution of just $5 or more today and help strengthen our campaigns to stop harmful choices like dirty tar sands oil and dangerous nuclear reactors.

We face steep challenges, which is why we cannot sit back and accept pandering to the purveyors of a “drill baby drill” mentality.

When President Obama stood in front of pipes intended to build the Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline and promised to fast-track the southern portion to the Gulf Coast, we stood with David Daniel, a Texas landowner and father who is organizing to stop the pipeline. Our Stand with David photo petition is showing the resilient grassroots opposition to Keystone XL and its threats to our climate, air and water.

Your pressure has stopped this pipeline and the dirty tar sands oil it would carry for more than two years. Your support will enable us to continue fighting every step of the way, from the streets to the media to the courts.

Will you pitch in just $5 or more to Friends of the Earth and help give us the strength we need to keep up the pressure on the president?

The president’s “all of the above” energy policy also means he’s embraced more nuclear reactors. After the meltdown and radioactive crisis in Japan -- a disaster that has left an area almost twice the size of Manhattan contaminated with radiation -- the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is acting as if safety upgrades are not urgent, and even approved the first new reactors in 30 years.

We’re working in the courts to block the new reactor design, and we're not stopping there:

• We're working to prevent a potential crisis in California, where nuclear reactors at San Onofre, situated within fifty miles of millions of people, are shut down because of serious malfunctions. A nuclear engineer's analysis we released Tuesday was covered by the Associated Press and Los Angeles Times -- and compelled federal regulators to intervene.
• We're on the ground in Iowa campaigning to stop legislation that would allow a utility company to raise consumers' electric rates to pay for new reactors, guaranteeing windfall profits while passing the risks on to Iowans.

And there's so much more to be done. Will you make a contribution of just $5 or more right now and help strengthen our work for the right energy choices -- choices for clean, safe 21st century energy that will protect our health and the climate?

When you contribute to Friends of the Earth, you’re standing with thousands of fellow supporters who are fired up and taking action to define and fight for the right choices -- those that will protect our health, the climate and future generations.