Health & Lifestyle

“Development” or destruction of the planet? The value of a standing forest could be more than the value of a forest burned and logged in the name of development. How many more trees would be cut, forests burned down in the name of development in days not far behind us, and time ahead?

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RIO DE JANEIRO — Twenty years ago, a Brazilian environmental activist and rubber tapper was shot to death at his home in Acre State by ranchers opposed to his efforts to save the Amazon rain forest. After his death at age 44, Francisco Alves Mendes, better known as Chico, became a martyr for a concept that is only now gaining mainstream support here: that the value of a standing forest could be more than the value of a forest burned and logged in the name of development.

This month, Brazil took what environmentalists hope will be a big step forward in realizing Mr. Mendes’s vision. The government of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva introduced ambitious targets for reducing deforestation and carbon dioxide emissions in a nation that is one of the world’s top emitters of this heat-trapping gas.

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Zurich, Switzerland
Mercer score: 108
GDP: $300.9 billion (2007 est.)
Population: 7,581,520 (total country); 347,517 (total city)
Life expectancy: 80.74 years

Vienna, Austria
Mercer score: 107.9
GDP: $319.7 billion (2007 est.)
Population: 8,205,533 (total country); 1,825,287 (total city)
Life expectancy: 79.36 years

Vancouver, Canada
Mercer score: 107.6
GDP: $1.274 trillion (2007 est.)
Population: 33,212,696 (total country); 560,000 (total city)
Life expectancy: 81.16 years

Auckland, New Zealand
Mercer score: 107.3
GDP: $112.6 billion (2007 est.)
Population: 4,173,460 (total country); 1.18 million (total city)
Life expectancy: 80.24 years

Munich, Germany
Mercer score: 107
GDP: $2.833 trillion (2007 est.)
Population: 82,369,548 (total country); 1,332,650 (total city)
Life expectancy: 79.1 years

Sydney, Australia
Mercer score: 106.3
GDP: $766.8 billion (2007 est.)
Population: 20,600,856 (total country); 4,297,100 (total city)  read more »

Images courtesy of John Klossner, Mike Peters / Dayton Daily News / King Features Syndicate, P.C. Vey, humor-in-photos-and-pictures.blogspot.com, Nick Anderson / Houston Chronicle, Hajo / CWS, and Riber / Cagle Cartoons

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12 December 2008

FedEx Express has ordered 10 Modec electric commercial vehicles for use in the United Kingdom. The zero tailpipe emission vehicles will be the first such to join the FedEx fleet in the UK and will operate in the greater London metropolitan area. The vehicles feature a large, removable battery pack and can travel up to 70 miles on one overnight charge.

The new vehicles are part of a growing fleet of more than 170 hybrid electric vehicles in the FedEx fleet worldwide - the largest hybrid fleet in the transportation industry—and support the company’s commitment to improve the fuel efficiency of its vehicle fleet by 20% by 2020. FedEx has also committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions from its aircraft fleet by 20% per available ton mile by 2020.

Photos courtesy of greencarcongress.com and roadtransport.com

Original Source: Green Car Congress

Related Articles: FedEx Hybrid-Electric Fleet Passes Two Million Miles and FedEx Express and Iveco in joint diesel-electric hybrid Daily van trials. There's 'Green' says Biglorryblog

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10 Questions for Ted Turner

Time: “What did you think of the $700 billion bailout plan?”

Turner: “When I was running CNN we never had any money and I never asked for a bailout. Where does it end? AIG, you know, they need $40 billion more and we only gave them a hundred billion last week, didn't we? It's just ridiculous. And now General Motors. They said we're going to give them $25 billion to retool. Retool what? They'll run through that money so fast they'll be back wanting more. We can't keep every loser alive.”

Wall Street sputters on weak data, bailout doubts  read more »

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We were in Asturias, a sliver of northern Spain that rests on the Bay of Biscay, and I had been drawn there by the region’s tagline: “The Land of Cheese.”

My pilgrimage had led me to the bat cave last September where I was following Raquel Viejo, a local woman whose family has lived in Asturias for generations. The specialty of the region — and what was stored on those shelves — is Cabrales, a blue cow’s cheese named after the town in Asturias where it was first made.

There are thousands of caves hidden in the hills here, and for centuries residents have been using them to age cheese. The specifics of each brand of cheese in various regions of Spain are regulated by a denomination of origin, or D.O., and Cabrales’s says it must be stored in cavelike conditions for at least two months so the good bacteria can kill off the bad.  read more »

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About a month ago in Bali, Indonesia, the inaugural 2008 Asian Beach Games came to its conclusion. Intended to promote sports and culture, the games (held every two years) encourage tourism, support local economies and allow host countries like Indonesia to present a more global face to the world. The 2008 games brought 6,000 athletes to compete in 71 events in 19 sports. Sports included well-known games like beach volleyball and triathlon, and some sports better known to asians, like sepak takraw, kabaddi and pencak silat. The next Asian Beach Games are scheduled to be hosted by Oman in the year 2010.

Dragon Boats sit at the docks before the start of the Dragon Boat Races on day two of the 2008 Asian Beach Games at West Suwung on October 19, 2008 in Bali, Indonesia.

The Indonesian team in action against Myanmar during the men's beach sepaktakraw on day six of the Asian Beach Games at Sanur Beach on October 23, 2008 in Bali, Indonesia.

Balinese dancers perform during the Opening ceremony of the first Asian Beach Games at culture in park Garuda Wisnu Kencana in Bali, Indonesia, Saturday , Oct. 18, 2008.

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