No More Open Season

BirdLife International and BirdLife Malta welcomed yesterday’s decision by the European Court of Justice to issue interim measures ordering Malta not to open the 2008 spring hunting season for European Turtle-dove Streptopelia turtur and Common Quail Coturnix coturnix. This Order implies that the Court sees urgent need to prevent irreversible damage to these migratory bird species, while a final ruling on this case is pending and not expected before 2009.

In January 2008, based on a complaint by BirdLife, the European Commission took the Maltese government to Court for having allowed, every spring since the country’s accession to the EU in 2004, hunting and trapping of European Turtle-dove and Common Quail, in direct contravention of the EU Birds Directive. Malta is located on an important bird migration route in the Mediterranean. Hunting during the sensitive breeding and spring migration period is prohibited under EU law, in all Member States.

More info on Birdlife International.

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Step Away From the Trees

Native Forest Council and our 2,000 national members know that public land logging provides short-term financial benefits for industry at the expense of economic and ecological benefits for the rest of the citizenry; it is therefore in the American taxpayers’ best interest to terminate the Federal Timber Sale program. Recreation’s economic benefits alone are worth dozens of times the value of logging, while the publicly-owned asset value of nature and nature’s services is worth hundreds of times more than that.

With the 21st century understanding we have of unlogged forests’ vital roles of attracting, storing and filtering clean drinking water; regulating rainfall and moderating regional climate; storing and sequestering carbon to combat climate change (northeast forests store the 2nd greatest levels of carbon of any forest region in the US); creating fertile topsoil and preventing erosion; ensuring the survival of fish and wildlife, etc., there is no honest justification for further asset stripping and logging in our public forests. If we had not liquidated all but 5% of our nation’s native forests, with over one-third permanently deforested for cities, agriculture, roads and other development, logging might still have had a small role in our public forests today.

But the liquidation of our country’s 1.082 billion acres of native forest over the centuries demonstrates a clear need to place our publicly owned national forests (and many other forest lands) under the strongest protections possible, banning all forms of
resource extraction, as a form of “ecosystem insurance.”

More on the issue here.

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Stop Whole Foods Greenwashing

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Apr 11, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) — The Environmental Affairs Council, acting on behalf of the public interest, filed an action today with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC: 27.74, +0.01, +0.03%) urging the Commission to investigate Whole Foods environmental marketing claims surrounding its paper grocery bags.

“Whole Foods Market, Inc. is up to its old tricks again,” said Steve Hamilton, president of the Environmental Affairs Council. “The company is engaged in a comprehensive marketing scheme involving false, misleading, and unsubstantiated claims about the environmental benefits of the paper grocery bags it distributes to consumers. It is ‘greenwashing’ at its worst. The complaint filed with the FTC speaks for itself, and I encourage others to look into these practices.”

The Environmental Affairs Council contends that Whole Foods “directly and by implication claims, without appropriate scientific support, that shopping at Whole Foods as opposed to other supermarkets is better for the environment, because Whole Foods provides only ‘100% recycled’ paper grocery bags and has phased out plastic bags. This paper vs. plastic debate is a serious, complicated, and unsettled scientific issue undeserving of such simple and deceptive treatment. Whole Foods further compounds and supports this scheme by falsely identifying the recycled content of its paper shopping bags,” said EAC President Steve Hamilton.

“By embarking on its false and unsubstantiated anti-plastic publicity stunt, Whole Foods is seeking to boost its profit margin and enhance its manufactured image as an environmentally friendly corporation. Whole Foods publicity stunt is yet another example of a purportedly environmentally friendly corporation ‘Greenwashing’ the general public by deceiving consumers about the environmental benefits of its products. Whole Foods self-serving marketing scheme is being advanced at the expense of consumers, the environment, and truthful scientific debate,” continued Hamilton.

Whole Foods “faux-enviro” initiative is being supported by paper bag manufacturers such as Duro Bag Manufacturing Co., Whole Foods paper bag manufacturing partner and the largest paper grocery bag manufacturer in the U.S. Paper bag manufacturers such as Duro have a significant financial stake in ensuring that paper bags are promoted at the expense of plastic bags, regardless of whether that result is achieved by deceiving consumers and harming the environment.

A copy of the FTC complaint and supporting documentation is posted on the Environmental Affairs Council website here.

Source: Fox Business

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Watson Challenges Hearn to a Debate

The Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Loyola Hearn is quick to shoot accusations and mis-information from the hip without pausing to think.

But how would he do in a face to face debate with the man he loves to hate.

Captain Paul Watson today issued a challenge to Mr. Hearn. “You defend the seal killers and I’ll defend the seals, face to face, in public.”

“Mr. Hearn described me as ‘gutless’.” said Watson. “It’s easy to call people names but he should demonstrate that he has the ‘guts’ to debate me in public. My bet is he will hide behind some sort of excuse that he won’t dignify me with a debate which means in other words that likes to take his shots from behind.

Captain Watson said he would be willing to debate Newfoundland Premier Danny Williams. “In fact, I’ll even take the two of them on together if they feel the need to support each other.

Captain Watson debated Premier Brian Peckford at Memorial University years ago. “Mr. Peckford defended his position on his home turf quite well I thought,” said Watson and added with a laugh, “but I still think I scored more points in that debate. The point is that Mr. Peckford had the courage to defend his position in a public debate. I don’t think that Hearn or Williams have that kind of integrity, I think they both prefer to take cheap shots behind the skirts of the media.”

Captain Watson will debate Hearn or Williams or the two of them anywhere, anyplace and at anytime.

“I think this debate has the potential to be enlightening, amusing and certainly entertaining.” Said Captain Watson. “Let’s go for it Loyola, Danny, or the both of you. Hey, it could be fun and the public can judge the merits of our arguments much better.

P.S. I received it from a friend but I don’t know the source for this, so if you have any idea where it is taken from, please drop a line to fill it in. Thanks.

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Beauty Brand Tainted by US Animal Testing

Cosmetics on sale in high-street shops were tested on animals years after the practice was banned in the UK.

Several popular beauty products contain an ingredient tested on live pregnant rats and their foetuses in the US.

The ingredient is contained in Olay Regenerist Night moisturiser and Olay Regenerist Eye Derma-Pod, both of which are sold in high-street stores. It is also used in Olay Regenerist Micro-Sculpting Cream, due on sale in Britain in June.

Scientific papers show that Procter and Gamble (P&G), which owns Olay, tested butylparaben in the US in 2004, force-feeding it to pregnant rats. The rats’ unborn offspring were removed by caesarean section and tested for toxic effects. P&G said the tests had been done on behalf of the industry at the request of European Union regulators.

MPs, and scientists developing alternatives to animal testing, said consumers had been duped into thinking all beauty products sold in Britain were “cruelty-free”.

A ban on live animal testing of cosmetics was introduced in 1998 when the government withdrew licences for testing ingredients in make-up and other beauty products. A voluntary agreement was reached with British manufacturers not to test ingredients on animals.

Three popular products, produced under the leading brand Olay, contain a cosmetic preservative, butylparaben, that was tested on animals.

A spokeswoman for the Dr Hadwen Trust, which invests in the development of nonanimal tests, said: “Cruelty-free test methods are
often faster, cheaper and more reliable than experimenting on animals.”

Full story here

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Do Hamburgers Cause Crime?

Most of us who eat meat regularly would still rather not kill an animal with our own hands. So we have, for generations, delegated that work to others.

Jennifer Dillard, at Georgetown Law, authored a new paper looking at what that delegation costs the workers of industrial slaughterhouses. She argues that prolonged work on a kill floor exposes workers to the risk of psychological damage, including post-traumatic stress disorder, and that they should be compensated under O.S.H.A. for any ill effects they suffer.

Giving slaughterhouse workers therapy might also reduce another cost associated with the meat-processing industry: increased crime.

Writing for the American Sociological Association, Amy Fitzgerald finds a spill-over effect from the violent work of the slaughterhouse into the surrounding community. According to her research, U.S. counties that have slaughterhouses consistently have higher rates of violent crime than demographically similar counties that don’t.

via: NY Times

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Gucci stops selling seal fur!

Thank you for taking the time to tell Gucci to stop selling seal fur. After hearing from thousands of PETA activists like you, Gucci has assured PETA that it will not sell any more seal fur—a product of the vicious Canadian seal hunt. This is a great step in the right direction! However, Gucci continues to sell items featuring fur that has been ripped off the backs of other tortured animals. Now is the time to let Gucci know that it can do better!

Your participation in our efforts is a crucial part of our success, as you can see from this exciting victory. Please continue to help animals killed for Gucci’s fur items! Click here to let Gucci know that the time has come to go faux and that no matter where the fur came from, every fur item that Gucci sells represents unimaginable suffering.

Thank you for all you do for animals!
Sincerely,
Peggy Chung
Cruelty-Free Fashion Campaigner
PETA

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