Pe scurt, directorul general a menţionat 3 consecinţe ale lucrărilor la Canalul Bîstroe. Va urma o scurgere mai rapidă a Dunării, cu efecte secundare asupra braţului Chilia, echilibrul ecologic va fi afectat şi vor fi cauzate pierderi economice pentru partea română, dar şi ucraineană. Prin intervenţiile internaţionale a fost stopată faza a doua a lucrărilor la Canalul Bîstroe. Acum, institutul român dă replica Ucrainei cu ajutorul MMGA, prin propunerea unui proiect. Planul urmează să fie pus în practică pe etape, în următorii 10 ani, şi va costa 31 de milioane de euro. ?O parte din bani vor veni de la bugetul României, iar alta va fi atrasă de pe plan naţional şi internaţional?, ne-a declarat directorul Ştiucă.

Planul strategic de reconstrucţie ecologică a Deltei Dunării urmăreşte să restabilească, să refacă şi să menţină starea iniţială specifică zonelor umede: hidrologică, biogeochimică şi ecologică. La conferinţa de ieri s-a mai subliniat că Ucraina a încălcat 6 convenţii internaţionale, două acorduri cu România şi un tratat bilateral. Mai mult, s-a criticat aprobarea lucrărilor de către Cabinetul ucrainean de Miniştri, care nu a prezentat studiul de impact asupra mediului. În finalul expunerii, directorul general ne-a declarat: ?Este curios că Ucraina vrea cu orice preţ acest canal, cu toate că, din punct de vedere economic, nu se justifică, aşa cum au declarat ei. Doar 4% dintre navele ucrainene trec pe la noi, ceea ce înseamnă că ne plătesc anual aproximativ 80.000 de euro. Acum însă investesc milioane pentru a face economie la cîteva zeci de mii?. Guvernatorul Rezervaţiei Biosferei Delta Dunării, Virgil Munteanu, susţine că adevăratul motiv reiese chiar din prezentarea făcută de specialiştii ucraineni prezenţi la Palatul Naţiunilor din Geneva: Canalul Bîstroe reprezintă un obiectiv strategic şi militar pentru Ucraina.

Ideally, you will have proven leadership qualities and the ability to create concerted action among groups with disparate views and objectives. With five years’ management experience, you must be able to demonstrate involvement in advocacy at the highest levels, possess well-honed diplomatic skills, a track record of running public campaigns and preferably have knowledge of the politics of climate science.

Apply to: For further information and an application pack please email: [email]jobs@foe.co.uk[/email]

Potrivit surselor citate, la spargerea unui asemenea bec, in conditii favorabile, se poate elimina in aer o cantitate de vapori de mercur suficienta pentru poluarea a 20 metri patrati de sol sau aproximativ 3.000 metri cubi de aer.

Presedintele OTC a MEM, Vladimir Garaba, a comunicat, vineri, in cadrul conferintei de presa consacrata Zilei internationale a Pamantului, care se marcheaza anual la 22 aprilie, ca deja exista un contract cu intreprinderea FID Dubna, Rusia, de livrare a utilajului de demercurizare a tuburilor luminescente, dar nu sunt adoptate decizii de finantare. Garaba a precizat ca pretul utilajului este de 21 mii USD.

Reprezentantii OTC a MEM au informat ca in Republica Moldova se importa anual, cu preponderenta din Ucraina si Rusia, sute de mii de becuri cu continut de mercur, care, dupa jumatate de an de folosire, se uzeaza. ?in prezent, la intreprinderi si institutii s-au acumulat cantitati mari de astfel de deseuri, iar o partea din becurile uzate sunt sparte, aruncate in containere, sau direct in mediu inconjurator, astfel avand loc o poluare intensa a naturii cu metal toxic?, atentioneaza ecologistii.

OTC a MEM presteaza din anul 2002 servicii de colectare, transportare si depozitare centralizata a tuburilor luminiscente uzate si a altor deseuri cu continut de mercur. Potrivit reprezentantilor respectivei organizatii, pana in prezent, in depozit s-au acumulat aproximativ 150 mii de bucati de la peste 100 de intreprinderi din oras si din raioane.

“O eventuala poluare cu cianuri provocata de punerea in practica a proiectului de exploatare a aurului de la Rosia Montana – asemanatoare cu cea de acum cativa ani de pe Tisa – ar afecta, in afara de Romania, si Ungaria” se afirma in comunicatul remis MTI de catre ombudsmanul ungar. Continue reading Ombudsmanul ungar cere contracararea proiectului de la Rosia Montana

[b]Posibilitati de acces:[/b]
– cu masina personala, pe valea Bistritei, pana in localitatea Rusca (cota 780 m alt.), de unde pe un drum forestier in stare buna (practicabil si cu Dacia) se ajunge pana in curtea cabanei Giumalau (cota 1600 m alt.);
– cu autobuzul, dinspre Vatra Dornei sau dinspre Bicaz / Tg. Neamt, pana la Rusca, si cu piciorul pe drumul forestier pana la cabana Giumalau pe marcaj triunghi rosu, 4 ore; sau pana la Zugreni, si de aici cu piciorul pana la cabana Giumalau, pe marcaj punct albastru, 4 ore de mers, diferenta de nivel 1.112 m;
– cu trenul, pana in pasul Mestecanis, iar de aici cu piciorul pe marcaj banda rosie, 6 ore de mers pana la cabana Giumalau; Continue reading Trofeul Turistor editia a XIII

Among other things, 1970 in the United States brought with it the Kent State shootings, the advent of fiber optics, "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Apollo 13, the Beatles’ last album, the death of Jimi Hendrix, the birth of Mariah Carey, and the meltdown of fuel rods in the Savannah River nuclear plant near Aiken, South Carolina — an incident not acknowledged for 18 years.

Participant in Earth Day, 1970.
Photo: EPA History Office

It was into such a world that the very first Earth Day was born.

Earth Day founder Gaylord Nelson, then a U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, proposed the first nationwide environmental protest "to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda. " "It was a gamble," he recalls, "but it worked."

At the time, Americans were slurping leaded gas through massive V8 sedans. Industry belched out smoke and sludge with little fear of legal consequences or bad press. Air pollution was commonly accepted as the smell of prosperity. Environment was a word that appeared more often in spelling bees than on the evening news.

Earth Day 1970 turned that all around.

On April 22, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks, and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. Denis Hayes, the national coordinator, and his youthful staff organized massive coast-to-coast rallies. Thousands of colleges and universities organized protests against the deterioration of the environment. Groups that had been fighting against oil spills, polluting factories and power plants, raw sewage, toxic dumps, pesticides, freeways, the loss of wilderness, and the extinction of wildlife suddenly realized they shared common values.

Earth Day 1970 achieved a rare political alignment, enlisting support from Republicans and Democrats, rich and poor, city slickers and farmers, tycoons and labor leaders. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the United States Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species acts.

Sen. Nelson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom — the highest honor given to civilians in the United States — for his role as Earth Day founder.

As 1990 approached, a group of environmental leaders asked Denis Hayes to organize another big campaign. This time, Earth Day went global, mobilizing 200 million people in 141 countries and lifting the status of environmental issues on to the world stage. Earth Day 1990 gave a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide and helped pave the way for the 1992 United Nations Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

As the millennium approached, Hayes agreed to spearhead another campaign, this time focused on global warming and a push for clean energy. Earth Day 2000 combined the big-picture feistiness of the first Earth Day with the international grassroots activism of Earth Day 1990. For 2000, Earth Day had the Internet to help link activists around the world. By the time April 22 rolled around, 5,000 environmental groups around the world were on board, reaching out to hundreds of millions of people in a record 184 countries. Events varied: A talking drum chain traveled from village to village in Gabon, Africa, for example, while hundreds of thousands of people gathered on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., USA.

EPA Administrator William K. Reilly with former Senator Gaylord Nelson, Earth Day 1990. Photo: EPA History Office

Earth Day 2000 sent the message loud and clear that citizens the world ’round wanted quick and decisive action on clean energy.

Now, the fight for a clean environment continues. We invite you to be a part of this history and a part of Earth Day. Discover energy you didn’t even know you had. Feel it rumble through the grass roots under your feet and the technology at your fingertips. Channel it into building a clean, healthy, diverse world for generations to come.

Was postponed on Wednesday in a bid to avoid direct defeat from the members of the European Parliament (EP), as the lawmakers were threatening to vote down the entire designated EU executive team. The incoming Commission?s mandate was supposed to begin on 1 November, but the decision has now been postponed for several weeks while Barroso must find a compromise or make changes in his team. MEPs were especially incensed over the nomination for the justice portfolio of Italian Rocco Buttiglione, whose controversial comments two weeks ago on gays, single mothers, and marriage disgusted Socialist and Liberal parliamentarians. ?I have come to the conclusion that if a vote is taken today, the outcome will not be positive for European institutions or for the European project. Continue reading Vote on new European Commission postponed

The WWF’s Living Planet Report 2004 shows that humans are now consuming 20 percent more natural resources than the Earth can produce. As a result, other species are being crowded out of existence.

The Living Planet Index, which tracks trends in populations of more than a thousand species, shows that half of all populations of freshwater species have disappeared between 1970 and 2000, and populations of terrestrial and marine species have dropped by 30 percent. Continue reading WWF: Human Ecological Debt Now Too Great to Repay

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, seeks to reinstate a 1982 rule that required the Forest Service to ensure that “viable populations” were maintained of wildlife species that are not endangered, such as elk, Appalachian brook trout and river otters. Continue reading Environmentalist Sue Over Changes