Tierramerica

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Call for Replacing Inefficient Lightbulbs

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The environmental watchdog Greenpeace has called on the Argentine government to replace incandescent lightbulbs with low-energy bulbs in all public buildings in Buenos Aires, Rosario and Córdoba, the country’s three largest cities.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Minister Replaced After Pressure from Mining Companies

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Honduran Environment Minister Mayra Mejía was removed from her post following heavy pressure from sectors of the mining industry, in the wake of the Ministry’s decision against issuing new environmental licenses for mining exploration and open pit mining operations.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Solar Energy Heats Up

By IPS Correspondents and - -
This year the use of solar energy will intensify in Brazil, the result of a municipal law in Sao Paulo which requires the installation of solar water heaters in all new buildings, and which is being expanded to other cities – and while there is a construction boom in the country.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Genetically Modified Corn Grows Here

By IPS Correspondents and - -
It is highly likely that unregulated genetically modified corn is being planted in Mexico, warns Greenpeace, after denouncing that it found traces of GM crops, banned by law in the states of Puebla, Tamaulipas, Chihuahua and in rural areas of the capital district.
Open pit mining by Barrick Gold in Kalgoorlie, western Australia. - Photo Stock

Pascua Lama Mining Project On Hold

By Daniela Estrada and - -
Differing tax rules in Argentina and Chile, lawsuits and other obstacles have created uncertainty for the launch of the controversial gold mining project in Pascua Lama, high in the Andes Mountains, by Barrick Gold Corporation.
Melting polar ice has created a tourism craze among the rich. - Charly W. Karl

Tourism at the End of the World

By Stephen Leahy and - -
So-called “climate tourism” is a mix of legitimate interest in protecting nature, the desire to see rare wildlife on the verge of extinction, and, of course, the search for profit.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Bamboo for Green Construction

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A Cuban program to expand bamboo plantations to an rea of 30,000 hectares will have a strong environmental impact in capturing climate changing gases and recuperating degraded soils, say experts.
Red tide could play a role in the deaths of the southern right whale. - Michael Catanzariti

Mystery of the Dead Whales

By Marcela Valente and - -
Poisoning from the red tide may have been the cause of the high rates of death among southern right whales along Argentina’s Atlantic coast.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Paying for Not Using Water

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Chilean government’s Directorate General for Water (DGA) this year will charge 28 million dollars to companies and individuals who do not utilize their consumptive and non-consumptive rights to water.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Biodiesel Mixing Begins

By IPS Correspondents and - -
As of Jan. 1 it is obligatory in Brazil to mix two percent biodiesel into gasoline derived from petroleum.
Rapeseed growing in Bavaria, southern Germany. - Photo Stock

German Biodiesel Forced to Compete

By Julio Godoy, IPS, and - -
The imminent elimination of government subsidies for German biofuels threatens an industry that was just beginning to take off.

Ecobreves – ARGENTINA: Climate Worries in Mercosur

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Environmental organizations in Argentina have called on the countries of Mercosur (Southern Common Market) to consider the implications of climate change as a priority in the bloc's summit meetings.

Ecobreves – MEXICO: Monarch Butterflies Under Threat

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Dozens of peasant farmers and police are keeping an eye on the forests of the sanctuaries for the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) in Mexico, but logging continues under the veil of corruption and fed by the poverty of area inhabitants.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Ruling Against Selective Imports of Used Tires

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Brazil must once again import retreaded tires from Europe or close its market to everyone, including its partners in Mercosur (South America's trade bloc), according to a decision by the World Trade Organization.
Honduran peasants in reforestation efforts. - Courtesy of Movimiento Ambientalista de Campamento

Carbon Market Heads to the Forests

By Marwaan Macan-Markar and - -
While the business of trading carbon emission rights includes "avoided deforestation", there are doubts about that approach for fighting climate change.
Guatemalan coffee growers in full harvest. - Courtesy of Anacafé

The Awakening of a Better Coffee

By Inés Benítez, IPS, and - -
A project in two languages, Café and Caffé, has built a bridge between the most demanding Italian consumers and the poorest of Guatemala's coffee growers.

Ecobreves – CUBA: Biogas – With Vietnam's Help

By IPS Correspondents and - -
A biogas plant with a capacity of 80 cubic meters is being built on a poultry farm in Cuba, one more to add to the 65 medium and large plants already operating in the livestock province of Las Tunas.

Ecobreves – VENEZUELA: Moss Under Threat from Christmas

By IPS Correspondents and - -
Bags of moss sell for a dollar per half-kilo on the sidewalks of downtown Caracas and in other Venezuelan cities, often with the officials looking the other way. It is against the law, but the moss is used in Nativity scenes and other Christmas holiday decorations.

Ecobreves – HONDURAS: Sylvester Stallone's Company Fined for Harming Corals

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Honduran Secretariat of Environment handed down a 42,000-dollar fine to a hotel for having contaminated the coral reefs in an untouched area of Guanaja Island, in the Caribbean Sea.

Ecobreves – BRAZIL: Opposition to Amazon Dam

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The Brazilian hydroelectric dam Santo António, on the Madeira River in the Amazon, will continue under attacks from environmental and social movements, although its construction between 2008-2012 was sealed in bidding on Dec. 10, with a consortium headed by the Odebrecht firm coming out on top.

Ecobreves – CHILE: Peasant Farmers Consider Community Forestation

By IPS Correspondents and - -
The experience of eight forestry projects carried out between March 2005 and December 2006 by indigenous peoples and small farmers in southern Chile has been systematized in a book by the Forestry Engineers for Native Forest Association (AIFBN).
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