Building a “network of battery-swap and recharging stations in Hawaii that would make the use of electric cars feasible” is a very practical solution for an island where gas is very expensive. In terms of conducting everyday activities, such as driving back and forth from work, electric vehicles have the ability to provide a great utility for the average American.

When gas prices were flirting around $5 per gallon, the average family’s budget in certain areas of the United States was being devoured by these high fuel prices. The cost of recharging an electric vehicle is far cheaper than paying these high gas prices.

Furthermore, if Obama carries out his plan to foster the renewable energy revolution and implement plans to update our electric power transmission infrastructure to a smart-grid electric power transmission system, then electric vehicles will become even more practical. Electric cars, renewable energy, and smart-grid technology are all no-brainer ideas.  It’s too bad that the Bush Administration never had the political will to advance any of these progressive ideas, and it’s too bad the auto industry has been slow in providing alternative, electric, and fuel-efficient vehicles. From Scientific American:

Better Place plans to build between 50,000 to 100,000 charging stations across the state by early 2012, and run them using renewable power it buys from Hawaiian Electric Co., according to the Associated Press. The plan will help the state cut its fossil fuel use by 70 percent by 2030, Gov. Linda Lingle told the AP.

Hawaii is an attractive test site for Better Place because of its size. Trips on the island are rarely longer then the 100 miles (161 km) electric cars will be designed to make before they need more juice, the Times notes. Renault-Nissan, whose eMegane vehicle would go that distance, is working with Better Place to deploy its e-car prototypes in Israel this winter, Wired Magazine said in an August profile of Agassi. The company is in talks with other automakers about whether e-cars they’re developing could be recharged at its stations.

Several car manufacturers, including Tesla and Chevrolet, are developing electric cars, but none have become widely available. Still, global-warming carbon emissions have given the idea urgency, and Agassi has managed to raise $200 million from investors to implement his plan.

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IMAGE shows some of the 900 oven-ready owls that were seized with thousands of monitor lizards.  The image was photograph by Chris Shepherd/TRAFFIC

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According to TRAFFIC, “Over 7,000 live Clouded Monitor Lizards and almost 900 dead owls plus other protected wildlife species have been seized in two raids in Peninsular Malaysia.” The trade in bushmeat on such a large scale presents a significant setback for conservation efforts, and this particular seizure seems to be especially damaging because of the organization taken to prepare the meat and the numbers of species taken. Certainly, large-scale consumption of wildlife anywhere isn’t sustainable, since Nature can’t keep up with the insatiable demand for bushmeat that is emanating from countries such as China. Some of the species CITES listed appendix 1

Bushmeat, in addition to other wildlife contraband, and trafficking problems are the result of a lack of education, information, and knowledge regarding conservation and environmental problems. Other issues such as poverty and war fuel the bushmeat trade too.

The spread of zoonotic diseases through the consumption of bushmeat is a major problem, and diseases such as HIV and the Ebola virus are thought to have spread due to the consumption of bushmeat in addition to urbanization.

Organizations such as TRAFFIC are working hard to gather information and stop the trade in illegal bushmeat. Donate to TRAFFIC here, and read more about the latest seizures here. From TRAFFIC:

On 4 November, the Department of Wildlife and National Parks (Perhilitan) staff raided a house in Muar, in the state of Johor, and found in a freezer and storage room 796 Barn, 95 Spotted Wood, 14 Buffy Fish, 8 Barred Eagle and 4 Brown Wood Owls, 2 Crested Serpent Eagles, 51 live Clouded Monitor Lizards, 4 live juvenile Wild Pigs, plus parts of one or more Wild Pig, Malayan Porcupine, Reticulated Python, Malayan Pangolin, Sun Bear and Greater Mouse Deer.

A local man was arrested and remanded in custody for three days, but pleaded not guilty and was released on bail of MYR19,000 (USD5,300).

Information obtained during the raid led to a second raid on a storage facility in Segamat, Johor, on 7 November 2008, when 7,093 live Clouded Monitor Lizards were seized, but no arrests made.

“The number of owls and monitor lizards seized is truly staggering,” said Chris R. Shepherd, Senior Programme Officer for TRAFFIC’s Southeast Asia office.

“This is the first time we know of where ‘ready-prepared’ owls have been seized in Malaysia, and it may mark the start of a new trend in wild meat from the region. We will be monitoring developments closely.”

All the animals seized are believed to have originated in Malaysia and were probably bound for China, to be sold in wild meat restaurants.

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As a believer in climate change and keen observer of the world around me, it’s easy for me to conclude that we are not taking care of our planet. Instead of taking care of our planet, we squander our natural resources and pollute almost relentlessly. As a result, there will be costly consequences. However, should President Bush’s inaction on climate change carry over into the Obama Administration, since Bush’s policies have squandered our economy and the credibility of our country, therefore leaving us financially and morally bankrupt? We found political will and money (arguably that we don’t have) for the recent and questionable gigantic financial bailout, so why can’t we find the political will to fight environmental degradation?  Furthermore, should the United States do nothing just because large-scale polluters such as China—a nation lacking political will to tackle climate change—continue to spoil the environment by relying too much on dirty energy sources?

I believe Obama is serious about change, so he will have some type of climate change policy. Certainly, his energy policy could translate into action on climate change, even if his energy policy wasn’t specifically tagged as a climate change initiative. Furthermore, although China relies on coal power, “Beijing takes the threat of global warming seriously and will work with other countries on a new climate change treaty, but insisted developed countries should take the lead.” If the United States becomes a leader in climate change and clean energy policy, along with the European Union and Australia, then the policy and technology blueprints and infrastructure we develop will allow developing countries such as China and India in addition to many others, to follow our lead. The big problem is that the United States has been lacking leadership for the last eight years. As a result, the world has been lacking leadership, and only now have we gained real leadership, so we should use it! Here is a discussion on the issue from Bloggingheads.tv:

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Since sea turtles are ectotherms, they “depend on external sources of heat to determine their body temperature,” so when air and ocean temperatures drop too fast or sea turtles wait too long to migrate into warmer waters, they can suffer from cold shock or even die from being exposed to cold temperatures. As a result, cold-stunned sea turtles are often found on beaches during a time known as stranding season, which occurs from “Halloween until mid-December.” The sea turtles that are found on beaches are sent to rehab centers and later returned to the ocean.

One species of sea turtle that is often found on beaches during stranding season is the Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii). These little sea turtles are critically endangered, because they are hunted for their eggs and meat in Mexico. Egg collecting for consumption is unsustainable, because the Kemp’s Ridley is known to only use a few beaches in Mexico as nesting sites.

If you find a sea turtle, you should contact your local stranding network. More information can be found at the Sea Turtle Stranding and Salvage Network (STSSN), and more contact information can be found at the Northeast Region Marine Mammal and Sea Turtle Stranding & Disentanglement Members’ page.

Currently, cold-stunned sea turtles are being found on beaches from Massachusetts to North Carolina. From Cape Cod Times, MA:

This weekend a rapid drop in air temperatures, combined with offshore waters in the upper 40s, made for an unusual mix that stunned a large number of different types of turtles that would not normally have stranded at the same time, Murley said.

As temperatures fall and the animals’ heart rate and body temperature drops, they become immobile. Floating on the surface to breathe, they are at the mercy of winds that blow them to shore. Once on shore, they can freeze to death.

Sea turtles such as “Dixon” are being found cold-stunned on beaches in North Carolina too. From StarNewsOnline.com, NC:

Dixon washed ashore sometime in the past few days, somewhere north of here, sick and stunned by cold water. Ocean temperatures had dropped quickly in the past few days, giving sea turtles no time to obey their instinctual cues and swim for warmer seas.

The frigid water drags them into a hypothermic stupor. They tuck their flippers in and can’t swim. Sometimes they even drown.

Dixon was lucky. He washed ashore, was discovered and quickly transported to the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center - where the volunteers know a thing or two about sick turtles

Cold weather and poaching aren’t the only threats to sea turtles, since boat collisions can result in mortality. A sea turtle found suffering from “grievous cuts from a boat propeller” was treated with medicine and therapy from Nature—honey. From WRAL.com, NC:

The sticky stuff vets at the Georgia Sea Turtle Center have used to seal Duffy’s wound may have saved her life. It’s a new treatment for injured sea turtles that has roots in ancient Rome — and it’s about as low-tech as medicine gets.

The mystery paste is actually beeswax from a mashed-up honeycomb, generously coated with honey.

Norton says slathering Duffy’s wound with honey seems to help kill bacteria that cause infection while also boosting her immune system. The beeswax packed several inches into the cut keeps out water that bacteria and fungus need to grow.

The healing properties of honey have been known to physicians for thousands of years. It fell by the wayside as a treatment for cuts and sores in the 1940s when antibiotics first went into mass production

Video: Stunned sea turtles at a Massachusetts rehab center:

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The pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti) is so well camouflage that it was only just recently discovered, and “so extreme is this camouflage that the original specimens were only noticed after their host gorgonian had been collected and observed in an aquarium.” These tiny seahorses “are found only on gorgonians (sea fans) of the genus Muricella,” so they are specialists. No doubt, there may be more species of these little sea horses that remain undescribed.

Pygmy seahorses on National Geographic:

See more animal camouflage

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ANIMAL WELFARE: Houston Zoo elephant Mac, 2, dies of viral illness

ARCTIC MELTING: Arctic Ice Melt Sparks Plankton Blooms

AUTO INDUSTRY: Ford Scion Looks Beyond Bailout to Green Agenda

BIOFUELS: US Dept of Energy and Brazil to Commercialize Biofuels

BIOLOGY: Top 10 Useless Limbs (and Other Vestigial Organs)

BIOMASS: New Biomass Plants Called For in Obama’s Green Agenda

CAMPAIGN 2008: Challenged ballots: You be the judge

CHINA: China tells rich polluting nations to change lifestyle

CLIMATE CHANGE: Nike, Starbucks Demand Congress To Act On Climate Change, An historic summit of state and provincial governors from around the world convened this week in California to advance national and worldwide efforts to fight climate change — and The Nature Conservancy played a key role in the summit’s success.

CORAL REEFS: Pacific Shipwrecks Potentially Toxic Timebombs, Scientists try to revive Japan’s biggest coral reef: Scientists are in an unprecedented project to restore Japan’s largest coral reef by planting thousands of baby corals growing on tiny ceramic beds.

DEFORESTATION: 3,000 Person Mob Attacks Govt. Offices to Protest Crackdown on Illegal Amazon Logging

DEREGULATION: Bush Aides Rush to Enact a Safety Rule Obama Opposes

DRILL BABY DRILL: Court Says Shell Can’t Drill Near Alaska: A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked Royal Dutch Shell from drilling oil wells off Alaska’s North Slope after finding that the Interior Department had failed to conduct an environmental study before issuing the company’s drilling permit.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: New electric version of MINI Cooper offers MINI fun with zero emissions.

ENERGY: Phone Makers Monitor Charger Energy Consumption, Dutch homes get warm water from disused coal mine

ENVIRONMENT: Dumb eco-questions you were afraid to ask

EVOLUTION: “Smile” Octopus Spawned Many Species

FAIRTRADE: Starbucks to use Fairtrade coffee in every drink sold in Britain: Starbucks is to use Fairtrade coffee in every drink it sells in Britain, the company has announced.

FAST FOOD: Fast Food Made Up Mostly of Corn

FOOD: Tyson Foods Injects Chickens with Antibiotics Before They Hatch to Claim “Raised without Antibiotics”

FORESTS: Bark Beetles Kill Millions of Acres of Trees in West

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS: Once Thought Invasive, Some Galápagos Plants Can Call the Place Home: For years, conservationists have been concerned about the impact of invasive plant species in the Galápagos Islands. Hundreds of species have been identified as nonnative, introduced through human contact. The idea was to remove these plants to help keep the archipelago ecologically pristine.

GENETICS: Lizards, Birds Have Hair Genes

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY: Raser Technologies Gives Utah a New Geothermal Plant to Power Homes

GLACIAL MELTING: Baby Chimp Rescued From Congo Army

GLOBAL WARMING: New Ice Age Predicted — But Averted by Global Warming?

GREAT APES: Tibetan Glaciers Melting at Stunning Rate

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: Kulongoski lobbies to bring China’s new hybrid car to Oregon, LA 2008: Honda shows off Insight’s Eco Assist dashboard

INVASIVE SPECIES: Beetle Invasion to Dim New England Fall Colors?, More cockroaches expected in Florida

LANDFILLS: Israel Turns 2,000 Acre Trash Dump into One of World’s Largest Parks

MARINE MAMMALS: Why Do Dolphins Rub Flippers?

NASA: Going Out On A Limb With A Tree-Person Ratio: Who knew that NASA, charged with looking deep into space, also looks backward at us? For years, NASA satellites have been snapping photos of our oceans, mountains and forests, and sharing them with ecologists and biologists.

NATURAL GAS: Drill for Natural Gas, Pollute Water: In July a hydrologist dropped a plastic sampling pipe 300 feet down a water well in rural Sublette County, Wy. and pulled up a load of brown oily water with a foul smell. Tests showed it contained benzene, a chemical believed to cause aplastic anemia and leukemia, in a concentration 1,500 times the level safe for people.

NATURE: Debate: Which is the world’s most invaluable species?: Plankton, bats, primates, fungi and bees - which species would have the greatest impact on our planet if it were lost? Five experts set out their case public debate in London next Thursday

NEW SPECIES: Penguin, Now Extinct, Discovered in New Zealand: Researchers studying a rare and endangered species of penguin have uncovered a previously unknown species that disappeared about 500 years ago.

NONRENEWABLE ENERGY: U.S. Moves Ahead on Oil, Gas Leases on Public Land: Decision Could Pose Problem for Obama

PALM OIL: The slippery business of palm oil: Palm oil is used in a third of all groceries. But can it ever be produced without causing environmental devastation as some big companies are promising?

PLASMA GASIFICATION PLANT: Plasma Plants Will Vaporize Trash While Generating Energy

PRIUS: BossDowner’s 2010 Prius Commercial - PriusChat.com, BossDowner’s 2010 Prius Commercial #2 - PriusChat.com

RENEWABLE ENERGY: Ocean currents can power the world, say scientists: A revolutionary device that can harness energy from slow-moving rivers and ocean currents could provide enough power for the entire world, scientists claim., Plumbing the oceans could bring limitless clean energy, Britain’s water mills given role in clean energy generation, EPA Coal Decision Levels Playing Field for Wind, Solar

RECYCLING: Why California Recycled 80% of Glass and the Rest of the U.S. 30%

REDISCOVERED SPECIES: “Extinct” Primate Found in Indonesia

SEA LEVEL RISE: Schwarzenegger Orders California to Prepare for Sea-Level Rise

SMART GRID TECHNOLOGY: Boulder, Colo.: America’s First ‘Smart Grid City’: Some Homes Can Remotely Control All Aspects of Their Energy-Saving Features, Report Calls for Overhaul of Power Grid to Handle Sun and Wind Power

SOLAR: Solar Panels Are Vanishing, Only to Reappear on the Internet, Solar at Sea: Chinese Cargo Ships Will Have Solar Sails, Solar-Powered Plane to Perform Test Flight

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Cuba Gets Green Cred: Cuba is the only country that meets the criteria for sustainable development from the conservation group WWF. But concern persists for once thriving Caribbean marine turtles.

WATER AVAILABILITY: The eco machine that can magic water out of thin air, Cow Sh*t to Clean Water

WHALING: Japanese Whalers Set Sail, Say Witnesses

WILD HORSES: U.S. Won’t Kill Wild Horses — For Now

WIND POWER: Giving Turbines a Boost With Curves, 360 Wind Powered Wal-Mart Stores by April 2009, Mega Wind Farms Could Steer Storms, Offshore Wind Power Could Alter Ocean Currents: “Whether or not this is a good thing is a matter of debate,” Brostrom said. Though he stressed that the goal for any man-made object should be to minimize environmental impact, he added: “I’m an optimist; I think this could be beneficial to local fisheries.”, Don’t Call it a Wind Farm, It’s an EcoPower Centre: Canada’s Largest Wind Project (200 MW) Opens

WTF?: Levelling the lingerie playing field: An online shop in Japan has seen an extraordinary demand for its newest product: bras for men. More than 300 have been snapped up in two weeks

“Environmental News Picks” are made possible with help from Kevin.

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In a way, can the run amuck free market system and American consumption be applied to the tragedy of the commons?  Nonetheless, I believe this is an important quote from Garrett Hardin in his The Tragedy of the Commons:

Therein is the tragedy. Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit in a world that is limited. Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own best interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. Freedom in a commons brings ruin to all….

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This duck seems perfectly happy to ride shotgun with his truck driver owner. From 9NEWS.com:

The view through Joe Mansheim’s side window raises all sorts of questions. What for instance is a duck-hunting truck driver doing with a waterfowl riding shotgun?

“Truckers are like, ‘What the heck is that?’” said Mansheim about the 9-month-old mallard named Frank, propped up on a pillow, head darting from side to side, riding in the passenger seat of his International Truck as he drives through the Twin Cities.

“Goofy duck,” said Mansheim, with the affection a father might show his young son.

The two chat often on the road. Mansheim complains about the traffic; Frank quacks. And driver and duck go about their business delivering construction materials throughout the Twin Cities for Elite Transportation Systems.

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IMAGE: Former President Jimmy Carter with his infamous White House solar panels

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The U.S. military’s consumption of energy makes the U.S. government the largest consumer of energy, so the government can certainly be doing a lot to improve consumption, offset unsustainable consumption, or promote sustainable consumption. Former President Jimmy Carter installed solar panels on the roof of the White House, but Former President Ronald Reagan took them down. Perhaps Obama will once again integrate