Author: Fono

North American Governments Agree to Protect Wilderness

- Fono

With so many reports of Canada and the US flouting international agreements on environmental reform, it’s nice to see that we care about something. Canada, America and Mexico have just drafted a memorandum of understanding on protecting wilderness areas in the three countries.

The three nations have long cooperated on wilderness management – programs have straddle the U.S.-Canadian border since 1910 and the U.S.-Mexican border since the 1930s. Yet the memorandum of understanding is the first multinational agreement on wilderness protection, according to Vance Martin, president of the Wild Foundation.

“It’s not very easy to do anything internationally, even when the countries are neighbors,” Martin said.

With the agreement, wildlife officials said, ecological monitoring efforts such as migratory species tracking, air and water quality tests, and staff training will be better managed across the seven agencies responsible for such tasks in North America.

Read more at Worldchanging

Try Living Without Oil Before You Have To

- Fono

Peak oil is coming, probably soon than you think. We sort of all know this, but we never really talk about it. What are we going to do when it actually happens? Will we be caught totally unawares?

A new alternate reality game (read: online story-driven community-based game) aims to make people think about this unthinkable topic. World Without Oil is being funded by a number of media companies and being produced by a team of experienced game makers. Their goal? To simulate a global oil shock, applying “collective intelligence” to the problem in advance, and create a record that can help people anticipate the future. The means to accomplish all this is player-contributed blogs, videos, etc.

Tell us your story. Fuel prices are sky high and the ripple effects are pulling at the seams of our society. Everyone’s life has taken a hit – but how much of a hit are you taking? How much pain are you in? No one will know if you don’t add your voice to the collective shout. And who knows? If enough people speak up, maybe the force of collective truth will help prevent this crisis from ever happening again.

For more information, start at the official homepage.

Whistler Buses Go Hydro

- Fono

The government of BC (the Canadian province, not the era) is planning to outfit mountain city Whistler with a whole scad of hydro-powered buses. Diesel vehicles are the current norm, but the new buses will run entirely on fuel cells, which produce no harmful emissions.

Small numbers of fuel-cell- powered buses have been used in demonstration projects in cities in Europe and the United States over the past decade.

But the Whistler project, which is forecast to have 20 of the city’s 30 or so buses running on hydrogen power, will be the largest fuel-cell-powered fleet in the world and the first project to make such vehicles the backbone of a public transit system.

Gitmo a No-Go With Supreme Court-o

- Fono 1 Comment

Today the U.S. Supreme Court released their decision on the constitutional validity of military tribunals held for prisoners in Guantanamo Bay. The challenge was put forth specifically with respect to the case of one detainee, Salim Hamdan, but the court’s ruling has widespread implications for how similar cases will be handled in the future. From the article:

“We conclude that the military commission convened to try (Salim Ahmed) Hamdan lacks power to proceed because its structure and procedures violate” the international agreement that covers treatment of prisoners of war, as well as U.S. military laws, Justice John Paul Stevens wrote for the court majority in the 5-3 decision.

Earlier this month, Bush said that he wants to get rid of the Gitmo, but Washington bigwigs were reportedly waiting to see the outcome of this case. Now that it’s here, is it possible that we might begin to see some positive reform? Stay tuned.

Taxes Don’t Need to be Taxing

- Fono

Taxes stink, right?

Not according to a new Finnish organization: the Happy Taxpayers’ Association. The purpose of the organization is to help taxpayers to focus on all the good that their dollars are doing, rather than the obvious negatives. This doesn’t mean that they’re blithe about it; in an interview on CBC Radio, the founder stated that the group strives to be “happy and critical, rather than happy and stupid.”

Remember, taxes pay for things like roads, health care, public art, and my salary. Do you like these things? I think you do.

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