Good environmental news from B.C.

It's good to look at the problems, but I think we need to hear good news from time to time as well! Here is an excerpt from a recent government of B.C. press release. Not chemically related , but the collaboration is particularly interesting, I think - it shows what can be done.

VANCOUVER – Provincial land use decisions for the Central Coast and the North Coast will preserve some of the most spectacular, ecologically diverse regions in the world, including critical Spirit Bear habitat, Premier Gordon Campbell announced today.

The combined Central Coast and North Coast Land and Resource Management Plan (LRMP) areas are approximately 6.4 million hectares, or more than twice the size of Belgium. The total combined protected areas for these regions are approximately 1.8 million hectares, or more than three times the size of Prince Edward Island.

“The agreement reached on these areas represents an unprecedented collaboration between First Nations, industry, environmentalists, local governments and many other stakeholders in how we manage the vast richness of B.C.’s coast for the benefit of all British Columbians,” said Campbell. “The result is a strong marriage that balances the needs of the environment with the need for sustainable jobs and a strong economic future for coastal communities"....

For the full report, see the Province of British Columbia news release for Feb. 7, 2006.

Erin Brockovich Revisited

I don't quite know what to make of this, but if it's true, it wouldn't surprise me.

Comments welcome.

ELMO

EPA Set to Close Library Network and Electronic Catalog

From Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility

BUSH AXING LIBRARIES WHILE PUSHING FOR MORE RESEARCH — EPA Set to Close Library Network and Electronic Catalog

Washington, DC — Under President Bush’s proposed budget, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is slated to shut down its network of libraries that serve its own scientists as well as the public, according to internal agency documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). In addition to the libraries, the agency will pull the plug on its electronic catalog which tracks tens of thousands of unique documents and research studies that are available nowhere else.

Thanks to OMB Watch via the SPARC Open Access Forum.