The union Forest and Environment ministry is rejected the World Banks aid for tiger conversation program, this decision is taken at a meeting held by National Tiger Conservation Authority.

Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh Who is also chairman for National Tiger Conservation Authority, said he wants to accept this offer but conservationists were opposed this move. He refused to give more details on this.

He said to reporters “Personally, I was very keen that the World Bank provide us with funds, at least for ensuring livelihood for villagers living on the fringes of the tiger reserves, so that they do not try to return to their original habitat. But because of the reservations of wildlife experts and officials, I have shunned the plans. In a nutshell, no aid from the World Bank.”

Some of the officials at Forest and Environment ministry said this offer from World Bank came with lot of pre conditions and failed to motivate the confidence of the conservation specialists.

The French Constitutional Council has rejected a tax on carbon emissions strongly backed by President Nicolas Sarkozy that was to take effect Friday. But his ruling conservative party said the measure would be redrafted so it could be passed into law next year.

The council, which evaluates the constitutionality of proposed laws, ruled late Tuesday that the bill contained too many exemptions for polluters, broke with past practices and threatened to make tax collection unfair. Sarkozy could make the tax more, er, simple, but “it remains unclear how the bill could be modified to meet the demands of the council without fierce objections from French industry.”

By making a ‘climate deal’ in Copenhagen last week, Obama has made it clear that he is going to put up more concern for comprehensive climate legislation in the Senate next year. White House spokesman Ben LaBolt said the fact that “countries like China and India set carbon-intensity targets for the first time in history” should bolster the administration’s legislative effort.

Although many senators, especially key Republicans, have shown little appetite for backing yet another ambitious bill in the aftermath of the polarizing health-care debate, it is clear that enacting legislation to cap the U.S. carbon dioxide output and allow polluters to trade emission permits is essential to delivering on the pledges that Obama made to other world leaders.

In the meantime, according to Ned Helme, president of the Center for Clean Air Policy, senators will be watching to see whether the promises China and others made in Copenhagen get translated “into something real.”

“CLIMATE INJUSTICE”

After a long muddled arguments of politicians and country leaders, a deal was finally reached on Saturday (December 19), but it turned out that it does not solve everyone’s big question: ‘Is it that bad?’ From a conference that was originally intended to produce a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, those gentlemen end up with an agreement among the world’s largest economies to take steps to curb greenhouse gas emissions, but no formal consensus on the part of the 193 nations present — and no prescription for what comes next in the global negotiating process that is nearly 20 years old.

Nations joining the accord will, by Jan. 31, list their pledges for long-term emissions control. Developed nations will declare cuts, fast-developing nations will sign up for reductions as a share of their overall economy. That surely will affect all countries’ market consideration, along with their economic stability. “A market is an engine,” said Peter Goldmark, who directs the climate and air program for the Environmental Defense Fund. “A treaty — or, more broadly, public policy, decisions and rules made in the public space — [is] the rails.”

“It seems there are too few politicians in this world capable of looking beyond the horizon of their own narrow self-interest, let alone caring much for the millions of people who are facing down the threat of climate change,” he said.

“It is now evident that beating global warming will require a radically different model of politics than the one on display here in Copenhagen.”

Mr Ban told delegates there was still an “enormous amount of work to be done” if a deal was to be achieved. “No-one will get everything they want; but if we work together, then everyone will get what they need.”

Elsewhere in the conference, discussions continued – mainly behind closed doors – on some of the issues that continue to divide governments two years after the process towards a new global climate deal started and just three days before it is due to conclude.

This surge of nutrients may give you an initial boost to crop growth. But if not taken immediately by plants, these nutrients will leach into groundwater or outgas to the air.

Meantime, the life cycles of many beneficial soil organisms are disrupted. It will take them quite some time to rebuild their population. If the next tillage happens before they can recover, the health and diversity of the soil is degrading.

Excess tillage also exposes the soil to too much oxygen, which oxidizes carbon content and leads to the loss of soil carbon to the air as carbon dioxide. This not only impairs the fertility of the soil, but also contributes to the increase of  greenhouse gas in the atmosphere.

To reverse carbon dioxide emission and to increase soil fertility with increased carbon content, try to reduce heavy tillage of the soil and add organic matter to it.

Sometimes, green steps are easier than what we might think. Today, 1000 Green Steps is going to tell you on how much easy you could actually improve your green steps frequency. You can start it by initiating a carpool with your friends. Sharing a ride will reduce carbon dioxide emissions AND save you a whole lot of fuel cost and money. This definitely is going to be an exquisite idea for both your wallet and your our earth.

Besides, do you really prefer having a crowded traffic all by yourself rather than having someone around to kill the time with? C’mon, reduce the traffic starting from your very own decision!

~Happy Green Living!~

Switzerland

In case you wonder what the greenest country in the world is, you don’t have to worry now. 1000 Green Steps is here to tell you the top 3 greenest countries.  This list is generated through Environment Performance Index (EPI) calculation.

1. Switzerland
Switzerland is a country synonymous with scenic Alps, posh pocketknives, fine chocolate, world-class watches, and of course, a clean environment. The country’s achievements and measures in environmental protection can be seen in people’s daily lives.

2. Norway
Through the action plan, the Government wishes to ensure that sustainable development is given a permanent place on the political agenda. The Government considers it important to link the sustainable development effort to central political processes and economic policy documents.

3. Sweden
Finnish national sustainable development policy is a wide-reaching participation of various societal actors both in the definition of the contents and implementation of the measures. The approach is already referred to as the “Finnish model”, in which broad-based, multi-stakeholder participation is combined with high-level political leadership.

Happy Green Living!

Environmental Traffic Light

There are environmental phenomena that are far from the experience and knowledge of people. For instance, when we speak of temperature and give it a value of 25 degrees Celsius, we easily have an idea of what it means, but when we talk about 2.1ppm CO2 it is not the case. The same occurs with phenomena such as humidity, air pressure, etc. which also cannot be perceived easily with our senses. For people to understand these phenomena they need to become familiar with them. It is necessary to start thinking about information systems, data visualization and the interaction with them that encourage understanding and contribute to disseminating this knowledge. Urban planning has provided rules for issues such as insulation, height, usage etc., but equally important facts like the various interactions of the ecosystems in which we are immersed are often ignored and neglected.

Just as there are traffic lights that help us regulate traffic vehicular and pedestrian, why not to talk about environmental signals that support decision making on environmental issues? They could give us information – not only phenomena but also the environmental state of our ecosystems. We can imagine these lights in different parts of the city, in parks – in contaminated or abandoned contexts.

The environmental traffic light consists of a series of units for independent phenomena; each has sensors displays that provide visual information to the public about the measurement on site. The collected data is sent over the network and stored for further analysis.

Happy Green Living!