Are Human Beings Hard-Wired to Ignore the Threat of Catastrophic Climate Change?

———————————————————–
“‘Many climate scientists find the response to global warming completely
baffling,’ says Elke Weber, a Columbia University psychologist and the
chair of the Global Roundtable on Climate Change’s Public
Attitudes/Ethical Issues Working Group.”

“The truly disconcerting thing about this work is that it shows how
difficult it is to change people’s views and behaviors with factual
information.”
—————————————-

AlterNet  November 14, 2008

Are Human Beings Hard-Wired to Ignore the Threat
of Catastrophic Climate Change?
http://www.alternet.org/story/106982/

By Lisa Bennett

Three years ago, I became obsessed with global
warming. Practically overnight, my worries about
its potential effects outstripped my worries
about so many other national and global issues,
even personal ones.

Indeed, as the mother of two young boys, I began
to think it a bit crazy that I attended to every
bump and scrape on my children’s little bodies
and budding egos, but largely ignored the threat
likely to put sizeable areas of the world,
including parts of the coastal city where we
live, underwater within their lifetime.

Continue reading

US Fish and Wildlife Service Releases Flawed New Wilderness Policy for Wildlife Refuge System

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 14, 2008  1:39 PM

CONTACT: The Wilderness Society
Maribeth Oakes, 202-429-2674, Maribeth_Oakes@tws.org
Kathy Westra, 202-429-2642, Kathy_Westra@tws.org

US Fish and Wildlife Service Releases Flawed New Wilderness Policy for Wildlife Refuge System
Policy Ignores Global Warming, Exempts Alaska Refuges from Wilderness Review Process

WASHINGTON-November 14. The Wilderness Society (TWS) today criticized the Bush Administration for its hasty release of a flawed new U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service wilderness stewardship policy for the National Wildlife Refuge System. Major deficiencies of the new policy, issued yesterday, are that it fails to take into account the issue of climate change in managing the 21 million acres of designated Wilderness within the nation’s 540 wildlife refuges, and that it exempts all refuge lands in Alaska from requirements for wilderness reviews. In addition, the policy was released without any opportunity for public comment-a serious problem given the document’s other shortcomings.

Continue reading

Natural-Gas Drilling Endangers Groundwater Supplies

——————————–
“Halliburton (HAL) and other gas-service giants
are fighting to keep secret the potentially
hazardous chemicals they use …”

“Halliburton threatened to cease natural-gas
operations in Colorado if regulators there
persisted in demanding the chemical recipe …”

” … regulators have only lately sought to learn more …”
—————————————-

Business Week
November 11, 2008

Does Natural-Gas Drilling Endanger Water Supplies?
A debate is heating up over whether the
fracturing technique used in natural-gas drilling
could result in chemicals contaminating drinking
water

By Abrahm Lustgarten

Continue reading

New Report Highlights Need to Act Now to Protect Wildlife From Global Warming

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 13, 2008 5:26 PM

CONTACT: Defenders of Wildlife-Erin McCallum, (202)772-3217

New Report Highlights Need to Act Now to Protect Wildlife From Global Warming
Defenders of Wildlife releases “Beyond Cutting Emissions: Protecting Wildlife and Ecosystems in a Warming World.”

WASHINGTON – November 13 – The new administration of President-elect Barack Obama heralds a new era for U.S. action to address the threat of global warming, and the effects that climate change is already having on America’s wildlife and natural places. A report released today by Defenders of Wildlife provides a roadmap for how the next administration can help America’s wildlife and ecosystems survive the impacts of global warming.

Continue reading