Industrial scale palm oil production is coming to Africa and it’s bad news for the rainforest of Cameroon.

Palm oil is the world’s cheapest edible oil and global demand is booming. That’s why a U.S. corporation called Herakles Farms is pushing ahead with plans to plow down an area of primate rainforest ten times larger than Manhattan to create a palm oil plantation in Cameroon.

https://secure3.convio.net/gpeace/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&page=UserAction&id=1287&autologin=true&JServSessionIdr004=vmr4cgmcb5.app333a

Fracking Our Farms: A Tale
of Five Farming Families

Their names are Carol, Steve & Jackie, Susan, Marilyn & Robert, and Christine. They share a bond. Two bonds, actually: They all own, or owned, farms. And those farms, along with their own health and the health of their farm animals, have all been ruined by fracking.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_27073.cfm

PEW Trusts: The Future of US Clean Energy -


Pew believes that advanced clean energy technologies can strengthen America’s economic and environmental future as well as its security. Pew’s research in recent years indicates that clean energy helps create employment, manufacturing, and export opportunities while reducing the pollution and risks associated with current energy patterns and technologies. To reclaim a leadership position in the worldwide competition, the public and private sectors in the United States must work together to strengthen the clean energy industry. Our infographic shows where the U.S. can harness new opportunities in order to create a strong strategy for future energy policy.






Follow the link to view some great charts outlining the various energy usages throughout the US:


http://www.pewenvironment.org/news-room/data-visualizations/policy-matters-the-future-of-us-clean-energy-85899450414?utm_source=TheLatest&utm_medium=Newsletter&utm_campaign=clen

Keystone XL Pipeline News

We were going to send you an inspiring video of last weekend’s Forward on Climate rally, but breaking news just intervened:

Reporters this morning uncovered the fact that while 40,000 or more people were outside the White House asking for his attention about Keystone XL, President Obama was playing golf with oil and pipeline executives in Florida.

His staff didn't allow any pictures at the outing -- likely because it’s an embarrassing spectacle for a President who promised to “end business as usual in Washington” and “respond to the threat of climate change, knowing that failure to do so would betray our children and future generations.”

We need to show the White House they can't get away with doing special favors for Big Oil. It’s fine to take a day off every now and then, but it’s just plain wrong to play footsie with the oil industry. Please click here to read and share the whole story, and make a call to the President: act.350.org/call/obama-golf/

Farmer's Fight With Monsanto Reaches The Supreme Court

This week, the Supreme Court will take up a classic David-and-Goliath case. On one side, there's a 75-year-old farmer in Indiana named Vernon Hugh Bowman; on the other, the agribusiness giant Monsanto.

The farmer is fighting the long reach of Monsanto's patents on seeds — but he's up against more than just Monsanto. The biotech and computer software industries are taking Monsanto's side.

Bowman also is battling a historic shift that's transformed the nation's seed business over the past 20 years.

To see the entire article, follow this link to NPR:


http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/02/18/171896311/farmers-fight-with-monsanto-reaches-the-supreme-court

Cool pix showing urban development...pretty patterns - for the overall good, or bad?



http://www.shft.com/reading/alex-maclean-dwelling/

Some help for the early garden planners:

Two charts below: One for how many days to germinate vs. temperature and the other for seed starting vs. temperature.


http://www.knowledgeweighsnothing.com/when-to-plant-vegetable-seeds-2-excellent-printable-charts/

Tar Sands Protest Arrests

February 13, 2013

Contacts:
Eddie Scher, Sierra Club, 415-815-7027
Maggie Kao, Sierra Club, 202-675-2384
Daniel Kessler, 350.org, 510-501-1779

JULIAN BOND, BILL MCKIBBEN, MICHAEL BRUNE, AND OTHERS ARRESTED IN FRONT OF WHITE HOUSE IN CALL FOR ACTION ON CLIMATE

WASHINGTON, D.C. — This morning, 48 environmental, civil rights, and community leaders from across the country joined together for a historic display of civil disobedience at the White House where they demanded that President Obama deny the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and address the climate crisis.

http://www.tarsandsaction.org/

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation invites everyone to the Wild and Scenic Film Festival - 

13 February 2013
in Camp Hill, PA


The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay's Wild & Scenic Film Festival!
This year, the Alliance is partnering with the Goddard Symposium to bring the largest environmental film festival in North America to Central Pennsylvania!

With a growing public awareness for the environment, the Wild & Scenic Film Festival aims to find common ground with a diverse audience through inspiring and educational films which motivate people to go out and become involved in local groups.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation is just one of the many groups who will be there. Stop by our table in between film screenings to learn more about our Save the Bay efforts, and how you can get involved!

This year's films include Chasing Water, which follows Pete McBride as he travels down the Colorado to see where his family's ranch water goes. To see this and other great films in their entirety, come to the Wild & Scenic Film Festival on February 13th. Details below.

PURCHASE TICKETS HERE: https://allianceforthebay.org/2012/12/wild-scenic-film-festival-2013/

5 Ways to Avoid GMOs in Your Food

From the Green Philly Blog:

http://www.greenphillyblog.com/green-living/5-ways-to-avoid-gmos-in-your-food/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GreenPhillyBlog+%28Green+Philly+Blog%29