Under the title 'Gentle Giants in need' 160 government officials, experts, corporate representatives and conservationists from 20 countries attended a conference in Frankfurt, 9-10 June to mark the UN Year of the Gorilla, a global campaign to help implement the gorilla agreement. In the "Frankfurt Declaration" they highlighted major threats to gorillas and their habitats, as well as the strategies available for the conservation of the second closest relative to humankind.
In the Declaration delegates appeal to governments, the international community and industrial companies to enhance activities to reduce threats to the remaining gorilla populations in the wild, which can contribute to peace-making and prosperity in Central Africa.
Although gorillas are protected by law in every one of the ten African range states, they are hunted for their meat, which is sold at local markets and abroad. Enforcement of wildlife laws is necessary to control the bushmeat trade. 1 million tons of bushmeat is harvested every year in the Congo Basin alone. The Frankfurt Declaration calls upon the international community and national authorities to enforce laws regulating the taking and trading of gorillas, including the wider bushmeat trade.
Diseases are also a major threat to gorillas, in particular the ebola virus. They can be transmitted through close contact with humans. Tourism however needs to be controlled by national park authorities, which control permits issued for gorilla ecotourism.
Natural resource exploitation can be accelerated by armed conflict, especially when affected local people depend on these resources for food, shelter and income. As a result, addressing mining and other exploitation of natural resources such as coltan, uranium and gold as a major cause for armed conflicts, is central to peace keeping missions and development in the region.
Second only to elephants, gorillas by dispersing seeds, play a key role in maintaining the African rainforests and hence the world's climate. Conserving forests does not only contribute to preserving ecosystems but also underpins efforts to mitigate climate change, reduces poverty and ensures a sustainable supply of energy.
Expanding human settlements and commercial exploitation of forests increases the demand for energy resources. Experts are calling for a comprehensive approach to reducing deforestation along the entire value chain of wood for energy, in which the forestry industry should play a pivotal role. The protection of biodiversity and climate change, poverty alleviation as well as sustainable use of natural resources are closely interlinked. Forests inhabited by gorillas provide ecosystem services and livelihoods to local communities.
Given the huge complexity of the interactions, scientists advocate a comprehensive approach to be undertaken by governments, the scientific community and the industrial companies operating in the Congo Basin to protect forests within their management plans.
Ian Redmond, Ambassador of the UN Year of the Gorilla, said: "The Frankfurt Declaration is an important statement of common purpose and good intent. Its success will depend on the signatories to commit to their pledges."
Gorillas and their habitats have the potential to support post-conflict reconstruction efforts and advance long-term regional economic development through ecotourism. A gorilla can generate indirectly US$ 4 million during its life time. In Rwanda and Uganda tourism has developed into the leading contributor to the national economy exceeding the tea and coffee exports.
Serapio Rekundo, Ugandan Minister for Tourism said: "The total revenue of Bwindi and Mgahinga National Parks increased by almost 80% between 2005 and 2008. In addition to providing a boost to the national economy, gorilla tracking can even support wildlife conservation in other Protected Areas."
Robert Hepworth, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat of the Bonn Convention (UNEP/CMS) said: "We must use all the means at our disposal to halt threats to gorillas and preserve forests as carbon sinks. Local communities need our support as guardians of these animals using revenues from gorilla tours. Following the focus on the conservation of mountain gorillas preventing them from extinction, we need to expand this approach to the lowland gorillas and to other migratory animals. "
The conference has been held to mark the UN Year of the Gorilla and the 30th Anniversary of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals. Co-organisers include the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation, the Frankfurt Zoological Society and Frankfurt Zoo.
Notes to Editors
The Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (UNEP / CMS or Bonn Convention) develops inter-governmental agreements and action plans for the protection of endangered migratory animals and ensures its implementation. In June 2008, the international CMS Agreement on the Conservation of Gorillas and their Habitats entered into force. It provides a legal framework that will reinforce and integrate conservation efforts and has been signed by six of the ten gorilla range states so far.
Supporting the implementation of the Gorilla Agreement is the overarching goal of the Year of the Gorilla 2009.Together with its partners, the UNEP / UNESCO Partnership for the survival of great apes (GRASP) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA), the Bonn Convention 2009 at year of the gorilla says.
The Year of the Gorilla (YoG) is a joint initiative of the UNEP-CMS, the UNEP/UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization's Great Ape Survival Partnership (GRASP) and the World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA). CMS has 110 governments supporting as Parties
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Monday, June 15, 2009
Boy or girl? In lizards, egg size matters
Whether baby lizards will turn out to be male or female is a more complicated question than scientists would have ever guessed, according to a new report published online on June 4th in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. The study shows that for at least one lizard species, egg size matters.
"We were astonished," said Richard Shine of the University of Sydney. "Our studies on small alpine lizards have revealed another influence on lizard sex: the size of the egg. Big eggs tend to give girls, and small eggs tend to give boys. And if you remove some of the yolk just after the egg is laid, it's likely to switch to being a boy, even if it has female sex chromosomes; and if you inject a bit of extra yolk, the egg will produce a girl, even if it has male sex chromosomes."
In many animals, the sex of offspring depends on specialized sex chromosomes. In mammals and many reptiles, for instance, males carry one X and one Y chromosome, while females have a pair of X chromosomes. In contrast, animals such as alligators depend on environmental cues like temperature to set the sex of future generations.
The new findings add to evidence that when it comes to genetic versus environmental factors influencing sex determination, it doesn't have to be an either/or proposition. In fact, Shine and his colleagues earlier found in hatchlings of the alpine-dwelling Bassiana duperreyi that extreme nest temperatures can override the genetically determined sex, in some cases producing XX boys and XY girls. His group had also noticed something else: large lizard eggs were more likely to produce daughters and small eggs to produce sons.
Despite the correlation, Shine said he had assumed that the association was indirect. In fact, his colleague Rajkumar Radder conducted studies in which he removed some yolk from larger eggs, more likely to produce daughters, to confirm that assumption.
"We were confident that there would be no effect on hatchling sex whatsoever," Shine said. "When those baby boy lizards started hatching out, we were gob-smacked." Shine thinks there will be much more to discover when it comes to lizard sex determination.
"I suspect that the ecology of a species will determine how it makes boys versus girls, and that our yolk-allocation effect is just the tip of a very large iceberg," he said.
"We were astonished," said Richard Shine of the University of Sydney. "Our studies on small alpine lizards have revealed another influence on lizard sex: the size of the egg. Big eggs tend to give girls, and small eggs tend to give boys. And if you remove some of the yolk just after the egg is laid, it's likely to switch to being a boy, even if it has female sex chromosomes; and if you inject a bit of extra yolk, the egg will produce a girl, even if it has male sex chromosomes."
In many animals, the sex of offspring depends on specialized sex chromosomes. In mammals and many reptiles, for instance, males carry one X and one Y chromosome, while females have a pair of X chromosomes. In contrast, animals such as alligators depend on environmental cues like temperature to set the sex of future generations.
The new findings add to evidence that when it comes to genetic versus environmental factors influencing sex determination, it doesn't have to be an either/or proposition. In fact, Shine and his colleagues earlier found in hatchlings of the alpine-dwelling Bassiana duperreyi that extreme nest temperatures can override the genetically determined sex, in some cases producing XX boys and XY girls. His group had also noticed something else: large lizard eggs were more likely to produce daughters and small eggs to produce sons.
Despite the correlation, Shine said he had assumed that the association was indirect. In fact, his colleague Rajkumar Radder conducted studies in which he removed some yolk from larger eggs, more likely to produce daughters, to confirm that assumption.
"We were confident that there would be no effect on hatchling sex whatsoever," Shine said. "When those baby boy lizards started hatching out, we were gob-smacked." Shine thinks there will be much more to discover when it comes to lizard sex determination.
"I suspect that the ecology of a species will determine how it makes boys versus girls, and that our yolk-allocation effect is just the tip of a very large iceberg," he said.
Studies from Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya have provided new information about environmental monitorin
According to a study from Kalyani, India, "We assessed the potential of fluoride (F) contamination in drinking groundwater of an intensively cultivated district in India as a function of its lithology and agricultural activities. Three hundred and eight groundwater samples were collected at different depths from various types of wells and analyzed for pH, EC, NO3-N load and F content."
"A typical litholog was constructed and database on fertilizer and pesticide uses were also recorded for the district. The water samples were almost neutral in reaction and non-saline in nature with low NO3-N content (0.02 to 4.56 mu g mL(-1)). Fluoride content in water was also low (0.01 to 1.18 mu g mL(-1)) with only 2.27% of them exceeding 1.0 mu g mL(-1) posing a potential threat of fluorosis. On average, its content varied little spatially and along depth of sampling aquifers because of homogeneity in lithology of the district. The F content in these samples showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.12, P = a parts per thousand currency sign0.05) with the amount of phosphatic fertilizer (single super phosphate) used for agriculture but no such relation either with the anthropogenic activities of pesticide use or NO3-N content, pH and EC values of the samples was found," wrote M.C. Kundu and colleagues, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya.
The researchers concluded: "The results suggest that the use of phosphatic fertilizer may have some role to play in F enrichment of groundwater."
"A typical litholog was constructed and database on fertilizer and pesticide uses were also recorded for the district. The water samples were almost neutral in reaction and non-saline in nature with low NO3-N content (0.02 to 4.56 mu g mL(-1)). Fluoride content in water was also low (0.01 to 1.18 mu g mL(-1)) with only 2.27% of them exceeding 1.0 mu g mL(-1) posing a potential threat of fluorosis. On average, its content varied little spatially and along depth of sampling aquifers because of homogeneity in lithology of the district. The F content in these samples showed a significant positive correlation (r = 0.12, P = a parts per thousand currency sign0.05) with the amount of phosphatic fertilizer (single super phosphate) used for agriculture but no such relation either with the anthropogenic activities of pesticide use or NO3-N content, pH and EC values of the samples was found," wrote M.C. Kundu and colleagues, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya.
The researchers concluded: "The results suggest that the use of phosphatic fertilizer may have some role to play in F enrichment of groundwater."
Research from P. Jamwal et al broadens understanding of environmental monitoring
Physical, chemical and microbiological efficiencies of Sewage Treatment Plants (STPs) located in Delhi's watershed in context of different treatment technologies employed in these plants have been determined. There were in all seventeen STPs treating domestic wastewater which were studied over a period of 12 months," scientists in New Delhi, India report.
"These STPs were based on Conventional Activated sludge process (ASP), Extended aeration (Ex. Aeration), physical, chemical and biological removal treatment (BIOFORE) and oxidation pond treatment process. Results suggests that except ''Mehrauli'' STP which was based on Extended aeration process and ''Oxidation pond'', effluents from all other STPs exceeded FC standard of 10(3) MPN/100 ml for unrestricted irrigation criteria set by National river conservation directorate (NRCD). Actual integrated efficiency (IEa) of each STP was evaluated and compared with the standard integrated efficiency (IEs) based upon physical, biological and microbiological removal efficiencies depending upon influent sewage characteristics," wrote P. Jamwal and colleagues.
The researchers concluded: "The best results were obtained for STPs employing extended aeration, BIOFORE and oxidation pond treatment process thus can be safely used for irrigation purposes."
Jamwal and colleagues published their study in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (Efficiency evaluation of sewage treatment plants with different technologies in Delhi (India). Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2009;153(1-4):293-305).
"These STPs were based on Conventional Activated sludge process (ASP), Extended aeration (Ex. Aeration), physical, chemical and biological removal treatment (BIOFORE) and oxidation pond treatment process. Results suggests that except ''Mehrauli'' STP which was based on Extended aeration process and ''Oxidation pond'', effluents from all other STPs exceeded FC standard of 10(3) MPN/100 ml for unrestricted irrigation criteria set by National river conservation directorate (NRCD). Actual integrated efficiency (IEa) of each STP was evaluated and compared with the standard integrated efficiency (IEs) based upon physical, biological and microbiological removal efficiencies depending upon influent sewage characteristics," wrote P. Jamwal and colleagues.
The researchers concluded: "The best results were obtained for STPs employing extended aeration, BIOFORE and oxidation pond treatment process thus can be safely used for irrigation purposes."
Jamwal and colleagues published their study in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (Efficiency evaluation of sewage treatment plants with different technologies in Delhi (India). Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 2009;153(1-4):293-305).
Marine Center sees rise in sick sea animals
recent surge in weakened and malnourished sea lions found along the Northern California coast is mystifying scientists and keeping workers hopping at the newly expanded Marine Mammal Center here.
“We’re way ahead in the numbers this year. We have twice as many animals as we should,” marine veterinarian Bill Van Bonn said after examining Charcoal, a sick harbour seal.
Experts at the non-profit centre, located on wind-swept Marin headlands just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, believe the perplexing spike in malnourished sea lions along several hundred miles (kilometres) of coast could be due to a decline in populations of smaller fish that young seals and sea lions eat while developing.
“It’s likely a problem with the food web, something lower in the food chain that is affected, but we are not sure what it is yet,” said Van Bonn.
For 35 years, the seaside hospital has treated and studied ailing elephant seals and other coastal mammals in bath tubs and makeshift facilities. On Monday, as more and more sick animals are needing attention, a new $32 million building will be unveiled that expands the centre’s capacity and technical ability at a crucial time.
On a recent afternoon, centre staff decked out in rubber boots and yellow slickers busily tended to about 130 marine mammals lolling in the centre’s new pens, which are shaded by solar panels and feature pools with freshly filtered water.
The centre treats an average of 600 marine mammals a year, but last year more than 800 were rescued. In a recent week, staff rescued 10 more sea lions a day than usual.
“It’s concerning,” said Jeff Boehm, the centre’s executive director.
The only bright side, Boehm said, is that the centre is now better equipped to help solve the riddle.
They have “a state of the art lab, a state of the art suite for performing science and doing that pathological work which helps us understand diseases,” Boehm said. The centre also has surgeons to repair broken flippers or remove cataracts.
Elephant seals, harbour seals and California sea lions make up the bulk of the patients, but the centre also is called upon to help untangle whales caught in fishing nets, or to perform necropsies on dead animals that wash ashore.
Only about 50 per cent of the animals rescued make it out alive, but all of them help in the centre’s scientific mission: more than 14,000 genetic and tissue samples have been stored.
The new building allows for more public access, which is free. Visitors can view the animals in their pens, watch a necropsy or attend classes.
The Marine Mammal Center has also sought to have a lighter environmental footprint in its new home: ceiling tiles are made of seaweed and structural beams are composed of partially recycled materials. The solar panels used to shade the pens also provide about 10 per cent of the electricity consumed.
These days, as the ocean’s acidity rises due to climate change, much of the centre’s work will be focused on studying how this changing sea chemistry is affecting the mammals that live within its 600-mile (965-kilometre)-reach. Only about eight per cent of the centre’s patients are injured by hazards like fishing nets, tackle or boats.
On a recent sunny afternoon a group of the malnourished California sea lions barked as two volunteers held one of them down so a feeding tube could be inserted.
The staff force-fed the sea lion, known as Robin, with a yellowish mash of herring, water and salmon oil, hoping to bolster Robin’s strength so she can eventually return to the sea.
“We’re way ahead in the numbers this year. We have twice as many animals as we should,” marine veterinarian Bill Van Bonn said after examining Charcoal, a sick harbour seal.
Experts at the non-profit centre, located on wind-swept Marin headlands just north of the Golden Gate Bridge, believe the perplexing spike in malnourished sea lions along several hundred miles (kilometres) of coast could be due to a decline in populations of smaller fish that young seals and sea lions eat while developing.
“It’s likely a problem with the food web, something lower in the food chain that is affected, but we are not sure what it is yet,” said Van Bonn.
For 35 years, the seaside hospital has treated and studied ailing elephant seals and other coastal mammals in bath tubs and makeshift facilities. On Monday, as more and more sick animals are needing attention, a new $32 million building will be unveiled that expands the centre’s capacity and technical ability at a crucial time.
On a recent afternoon, centre staff decked out in rubber boots and yellow slickers busily tended to about 130 marine mammals lolling in the centre’s new pens, which are shaded by solar panels and feature pools with freshly filtered water.
The centre treats an average of 600 marine mammals a year, but last year more than 800 were rescued. In a recent week, staff rescued 10 more sea lions a day than usual.
“It’s concerning,” said Jeff Boehm, the centre’s executive director.
The only bright side, Boehm said, is that the centre is now better equipped to help solve the riddle.
They have “a state of the art lab, a state of the art suite for performing science and doing that pathological work which helps us understand diseases,” Boehm said. The centre also has surgeons to repair broken flippers or remove cataracts.
Elephant seals, harbour seals and California sea lions make up the bulk of the patients, but the centre also is called upon to help untangle whales caught in fishing nets, or to perform necropsies on dead animals that wash ashore.
Only about 50 per cent of the animals rescued make it out alive, but all of them help in the centre’s scientific mission: more than 14,000 genetic and tissue samples have been stored.
The new building allows for more public access, which is free. Visitors can view the animals in their pens, watch a necropsy or attend classes.
The Marine Mammal Center has also sought to have a lighter environmental footprint in its new home: ceiling tiles are made of seaweed and structural beams are composed of partially recycled materials. The solar panels used to shade the pens also provide about 10 per cent of the electricity consumed.
These days, as the ocean’s acidity rises due to climate change, much of the centre’s work will be focused on studying how this changing sea chemistry is affecting the mammals that live within its 600-mile (965-kilometre)-reach. Only about eight per cent of the centre’s patients are injured by hazards like fishing nets, tackle or boats.
On a recent sunny afternoon a group of the malnourished California sea lions barked as two volunteers held one of them down so a feeding tube could be inserted.
The staff force-fed the sea lion, known as Robin, with a yellowish mash of herring, water and salmon oil, hoping to bolster Robin’s strength so she can eventually return to the sea.
Paul McCartney Calls for Meat-Free Day to Cut Cow Gas
Paul McCartney, the former Beatle and vegetarian pop star, asked fans to go meatless on Mondays to help slow global warming by reducing the amount of gaseous emissions from farm animals.
Cows, pigs and sheep bred for human consumption discharge millions of tons of methane, a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Livestock accounts for about 18 percent of greenhouse gases, more than all the world’s cars, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has said.
“If you want to fight climate change, it’s not only about electricity and coal-fired power plants: Agriculture is a huge contributor too and meat consumption is a big problem,” Jan van Aken, a biologist and agriculture campaigner for the Greenpeace environmental group, said today in a telephone interview from Hamburg. It’s “mainly burps” and animal flatulence, he said.
Supported in his cause by celebrity chefs and Hollywood actors, McCartney said in a statement today that skipping meat a day a week is a “meaningful” change everyone can make to their lifestyles to help the environment. Less consumption may lead to fewer animals reared, and so emissions would fall.
Maureen Strong, who represents the U.K. meat industry, said in an interview that while McCartney’s idea wasn’t bad, his campaign is “unfortunate” because of the wider implication that eating meat is bad for people.
‘Banner of Negativity’
McCartney, who once posed with his fellow Beatles band members and chunks of raw meat for an album cover, became a vegetarian while married to his wife Linda, the founder of a vegetarian food company who died of cancer in 1998. The couple appeared in “The Simpsons” television show in the 1995 episode “Lisa the Vegetarian.”
“It’s misguided in trying to boost the guilt factor for the 97 percent of the population who enjoy red meat as part of their diet,” said Milton Keynes, England-based Strong, nutrition manager for meat services at the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board, which is funded by farmers. “It hangs a banner of negativity over red meat.”
The singer, who will turn 67 this week, is bringing to the U.K. a campaign that started in the U.S. and Australia. Skipping meat on Mondays may encourage people to eat less on other days too, said Greenpeace’s van Aken.
“If you have a meat-free Monday and that can reduce our emissions from cattle by 10 to 20 percent,” van Aken said.
Weekend Excesses
Celebrity backers of the campaign include Hollywood actors Alec Baldwin and Kevin Spacey, the British comedian Ricky Gervais, singers Chris Martin of the band Coldplay and Sheryl Crow, artist Jeff Koons and chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Giorgio Locatelli, the statement said.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last year said altered human lifestyles including giving up meat consumption at least one day a week can contribute to climate change. Greenpeace estimates every kilo (2.2 pounds) of beef eaten represents about the same greenhouse-gas emissions as flying 100 kilometers (62 miles).
“This is something you could do for the environment,” McCartney said in a video on his Web Site. “It’s kind of easy to do. You’ve had too much over the weekend anyway and you’re all running down to the gym to try and work it off so just have a meat-free Monday.”
Cows, pigs and sheep bred for human consumption discharge millions of tons of methane, a more potent greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide. Livestock accounts for about 18 percent of greenhouse gases, more than all the world’s cars, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization has said.
“If you want to fight climate change, it’s not only about electricity and coal-fired power plants: Agriculture is a huge contributor too and meat consumption is a big problem,” Jan van Aken, a biologist and agriculture campaigner for the Greenpeace environmental group, said today in a telephone interview from Hamburg. It’s “mainly burps” and animal flatulence, he said.
Supported in his cause by celebrity chefs and Hollywood actors, McCartney said in a statement today that skipping meat a day a week is a “meaningful” change everyone can make to their lifestyles to help the environment. Less consumption may lead to fewer animals reared, and so emissions would fall.
Maureen Strong, who represents the U.K. meat industry, said in an interview that while McCartney’s idea wasn’t bad, his campaign is “unfortunate” because of the wider implication that eating meat is bad for people.
‘Banner of Negativity’
McCartney, who once posed with his fellow Beatles band members and chunks of raw meat for an album cover, became a vegetarian while married to his wife Linda, the founder of a vegetarian food company who died of cancer in 1998. The couple appeared in “The Simpsons” television show in the 1995 episode “Lisa the Vegetarian.”
“It’s misguided in trying to boost the guilt factor for the 97 percent of the population who enjoy red meat as part of their diet,” said Milton Keynes, England-based Strong, nutrition manager for meat services at the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board, which is funded by farmers. “It hangs a banner of negativity over red meat.”
The singer, who will turn 67 this week, is bringing to the U.K. a campaign that started in the U.S. and Australia. Skipping meat on Mondays may encourage people to eat less on other days too, said Greenpeace’s van Aken.
“If you have a meat-free Monday and that can reduce our emissions from cattle by 10 to 20 percent,” van Aken said.
Weekend Excesses
Celebrity backers of the campaign include Hollywood actors Alec Baldwin and Kevin Spacey, the British comedian Ricky Gervais, singers Chris Martin of the band Coldplay and Sheryl Crow, artist Jeff Koons and chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Giorgio Locatelli, the statement said.
The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change last year said altered human lifestyles including giving up meat consumption at least one day a week can contribute to climate change. Greenpeace estimates every kilo (2.2 pounds) of beef eaten represents about the same greenhouse-gas emissions as flying 100 kilometers (62 miles).
“This is something you could do for the environment,” McCartney said in a video on his Web Site. “It’s kind of easy to do. You’ve had too much over the weekend anyway and you’re all running down to the gym to try and work it off so just have a meat-free Monday.”
Plan targets fallout from mountaintop mining
The Obama administration on Thursday announced steps to reduce the environmental destruction caused in six states by mountaintop coal mining.
The government will seek to eliminate the expedited reviews that have made it easier for mining companies to blast off Appalachian mountaintops and discard the rubble into valleys where streams flow.
The agreement among three federal agencies also includes changes to tighten federal oversight and environmental screening of mountaintop coal mining in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Nancy Sutley, head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers will set clear standards, ensuring that communities in coal-mining regions have clean streams and drinking water.
Mining waste dumped into waterways can diminish water quality for fish and other aquatic organisms, and taint sources of drinking water.
Mountaintop mines in the states where the practice is most used - West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee - produce nearly 130 million tons of coal each year, or about 14 percent of the coal that produces electricity, and employ about 14,000 people.
"The Obama administration has serious concerns about the impacts of mountaintop coal mining on our natural resources and on the health and welfare of Appalachian communities," Sutley said. "Within this plan the Obama administration is doing at all it can under existing laws and regulations to curb the most environmentally destructive impacts of mountaintop coal mining."
Just a handful of permits had been issued for Appalachian mines since a federal court decision in 2007 found that the Corps of Engineers was not doing enough to protect water resources from mountaintop projects. That ruling was reversed earlier this year, and mine operators had hoped it would lead to the approval of long-delayed permits.
Now they are concerned the administration's action will again make it difficult to get permits.
"The whole permitting process has become much more complicated, more uncertain, and it is clearly going to take longer," said Carol Raulston, a spokeswoman for the National Mining Association.
Hours before the announcement, Obama administration officials called regulators in the affected states to deliver a much different message.
DINA CAPPIELLO
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration on Thursday announced steps to reduce the environmental destruction caused in six states by mountaintop coal mining.
The government will seek to eliminate the expedited reviews that have made it easier for mining companies to blast off Appalachian mountaintops and discard the rubble into valleys where streams flow.
The agreement among three federal agencies also includes changes to tighten federal oversight and environmental screening of mountaintop coal mining in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Nancy Sutley, head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers will set clear standards, ensuring that communities in coal-mining regions have clean streams and drinking water.
Mining waste dumped into waterways can diminish water quality for fish and other aquatic organisms, and taint sources of drinking water.
Mountaintop mines in the states where the practice is most used - West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee - produce nearly 130 million tons of coal each year, or about 14 percent of the coal that produces electricity, and employ about 14,000 people.
"The Obama administration has serious concerns about the impacts of mountaintop coal mining on our natural resources and on the health and welfare of Appalachian communities," Sutley said. "Within this plan the Obama administration is doing at all it can under existing laws and regulations to curb the most environmentally destructive impacts of mountaintop coal mining."
Just a handful of permits had been issued for Appalachian mines since a federal court decision in 2007 found that the Corps of Engineers was not doing enough to protect water resources from mountaintop projects. That ruling was reversed earlier this year, and mine operators had hoped it would lead to the approval of long-delayed permits.
Now they are concerned the administration's action will again make it difficult to get permits.
"The whole permitting process has become much more complicated, more uncertain, and it is clearly going to take longer," said Carol Raulston, a spokeswoman for the National Mining Association.
Hours before the announcement, Obama administration officials called regulators in the affected states to deliver a much different message.
"The purposes stated today was to actually make (the permit process) more effective, make it more efficient, make it more transparent. And say yes more quickly and no more quickly," said Len Peters, Kentucky's energy and environmental secretary.
President Barack Obama, as a candidate, expressed concern about the mountaintop mining although he stopped short of calling for an outright ban.
His administration has cast a more critical eye on the process than did the Bush administration, which was accused of granting permits with little scrutiny. In March, the EPA announced it would more take a closer look at about 150 mountaintop mining permits pending before the Army Corps to ensure the projects would not harm streams and wetlands.
The agency objected to some projects, but has said dozens probably would be allowed to go ahead.
In April, the Interior Department asked a federal judge to vacate a Bush rule that makes it easier to dump mining waste near waterways.
The expedited reviews, in place since 1982, allow mining companies proposing similar projects to get a general permit under the Clean Water Act, rather than being evaluated on a case-by-case basis. About 30 percent of mountaintop removal projects are approved under the general permit to discharge waste into streams, according to administration officials.
A federal judge in late March barred the Army Corps of Engineers from granting permits for valley fills in West Virginia using the streamlined permitting process. The Obama administration earlier this week filed a notice to appeal that decision. On Thursday, Sutley described the filing as procedural and said no policy decisions had been made.
Environmentalists pressing to end mountaintop mining said Thursday that little could be done to lessen its environmental toll.
"The administration's current plan is a good first step. ... We would like leaps," said Janet Keating, executive director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.
___
"The purposes stated today was to actually make (the permit process) more effective, make it more efficient, make it more transparent. And say yes more quickly and no more quickly," said Len Peters, Kentucky's energy and environmental secretary.
President Barack Obama, as a candidate, expressed concern about the mountaintop mining although he stopped short of calling for an outright ban.
His administration has cast a more critical eye on the process than did the Bush administration, which was accused of granting permits with little scrutiny. In March, the EPA announced it would more take a closer look at about 150 mountaintop mining permits pending before the Army Corps to ensure the projects would not harm streams and wetlands.
The agency objected to some projects, but has said dozens probably would be allowed to go ahead.
In April, the Interior Department asked a federal judge to vacate a Bush rule that makes it easier to dump mining waste near waterways.
The expedited reviews, in place since 1982, allow mining companies proposing similar projects to get a general permit under the Clean Water Act, rather than being evaluated on a case-by-case basis. About 30 percent of mountaintop removal projects are approved under the general permit to discharge waste into streams, according to administration officials.
A federal judge in late March barred the Army Corps of Engineers from granting permits for valley fills in West Virginia using the streamlined permitting process. The Obama administration earlier this week filed a notice to appeal that decision. On Thursday, Sutley described the filing as procedural and said no policy decisions had been made.
Environmentalists pressing to end mountaintop mining said Thursday that little could be done to lessen its environmental toll.
"The administration's current plan is a good first step. ... We would like leaps," said Janet Keating, executive director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.
The government will seek to eliminate the expedited reviews that have made it easier for mining companies to blast off Appalachian mountaintops and discard the rubble into valleys where streams flow.
The agreement among three federal agencies also includes changes to tighten federal oversight and environmental screening of mountaintop coal mining in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Nancy Sutley, head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers will set clear standards, ensuring that communities in coal-mining regions have clean streams and drinking water.
Mining waste dumped into waterways can diminish water quality for fish and other aquatic organisms, and taint sources of drinking water.
Mountaintop mines in the states where the practice is most used - West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee - produce nearly 130 million tons of coal each year, or about 14 percent of the coal that produces electricity, and employ about 14,000 people.
"The Obama administration has serious concerns about the impacts of mountaintop coal mining on our natural resources and on the health and welfare of Appalachian communities," Sutley said. "Within this plan the Obama administration is doing at all it can under existing laws and regulations to curb the most environmentally destructive impacts of mountaintop coal mining."
Just a handful of permits had been issued for Appalachian mines since a federal court decision in 2007 found that the Corps of Engineers was not doing enough to protect water resources from mountaintop projects. That ruling was reversed earlier this year, and mine operators had hoped it would lead to the approval of long-delayed permits.
Now they are concerned the administration's action will again make it difficult to get permits.
"The whole permitting process has become much more complicated, more uncertain, and it is clearly going to take longer," said Carol Raulston, a spokeswoman for the National Mining Association.
Hours before the announcement, Obama administration officials called regulators in the affected states to deliver a much different message.
DINA CAPPIELLO
Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration on Thursday announced steps to reduce the environmental destruction caused in six states by mountaintop coal mining.
The government will seek to eliminate the expedited reviews that have made it easier for mining companies to blast off Appalachian mountaintops and discard the rubble into valleys where streams flow.
The agreement among three federal agencies also includes changes to tighten federal oversight and environmental screening of mountaintop coal mining in Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Nancy Sutley, head of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, said the Interior Department, the Environmental Protection Agency and the Army Corps of Engineers will set clear standards, ensuring that communities in coal-mining regions have clean streams and drinking water.
Mining waste dumped into waterways can diminish water quality for fish and other aquatic organisms, and taint sources of drinking water.
Mountaintop mines in the states where the practice is most used - West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee - produce nearly 130 million tons of coal each year, or about 14 percent of the coal that produces electricity, and employ about 14,000 people.
"The Obama administration has serious concerns about the impacts of mountaintop coal mining on our natural resources and on the health and welfare of Appalachian communities," Sutley said. "Within this plan the Obama administration is doing at all it can under existing laws and regulations to curb the most environmentally destructive impacts of mountaintop coal mining."
Just a handful of permits had been issued for Appalachian mines since a federal court decision in 2007 found that the Corps of Engineers was not doing enough to protect water resources from mountaintop projects. That ruling was reversed earlier this year, and mine operators had hoped it would lead to the approval of long-delayed permits.
Now they are concerned the administration's action will again make it difficult to get permits.
"The whole permitting process has become much more complicated, more uncertain, and it is clearly going to take longer," said Carol Raulston, a spokeswoman for the National Mining Association.
Hours before the announcement, Obama administration officials called regulators in the affected states to deliver a much different message.
"The purposes stated today was to actually make (the permit process) more effective, make it more efficient, make it more transparent. And say yes more quickly and no more quickly," said Len Peters, Kentucky's energy and environmental secretary.
President Barack Obama, as a candidate, expressed concern about the mountaintop mining although he stopped short of calling for an outright ban.
His administration has cast a more critical eye on the process than did the Bush administration, which was accused of granting permits with little scrutiny. In March, the EPA announced it would more take a closer look at about 150 mountaintop mining permits pending before the Army Corps to ensure the projects would not harm streams and wetlands.
The agency objected to some projects, but has said dozens probably would be allowed to go ahead.
In April, the Interior Department asked a federal judge to vacate a Bush rule that makes it easier to dump mining waste near waterways.
The expedited reviews, in place since 1982, allow mining companies proposing similar projects to get a general permit under the Clean Water Act, rather than being evaluated on a case-by-case basis. About 30 percent of mountaintop removal projects are approved under the general permit to discharge waste into streams, according to administration officials.
A federal judge in late March barred the Army Corps of Engineers from granting permits for valley fills in West Virginia using the streamlined permitting process. The Obama administration earlier this week filed a notice to appeal that decision. On Thursday, Sutley described the filing as procedural and said no policy decisions had been made.
Environmentalists pressing to end mountaintop mining said Thursday that little could be done to lessen its environmental toll.
"The administration's current plan is a good first step. ... We would like leaps," said Janet Keating, executive director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.
___
"The purposes stated today was to actually make (the permit process) more effective, make it more efficient, make it more transparent. And say yes more quickly and no more quickly," said Len Peters, Kentucky's energy and environmental secretary.
President Barack Obama, as a candidate, expressed concern about the mountaintop mining although he stopped short of calling for an outright ban.
His administration has cast a more critical eye on the process than did the Bush administration, which was accused of granting permits with little scrutiny. In March, the EPA announced it would more take a closer look at about 150 mountaintop mining permits pending before the Army Corps to ensure the projects would not harm streams and wetlands.
The agency objected to some projects, but has said dozens probably would be allowed to go ahead.
In April, the Interior Department asked a federal judge to vacate a Bush rule that makes it easier to dump mining waste near waterways.
The expedited reviews, in place since 1982, allow mining companies proposing similar projects to get a general permit under the Clean Water Act, rather than being evaluated on a case-by-case basis. About 30 percent of mountaintop removal projects are approved under the general permit to discharge waste into streams, according to administration officials.
A federal judge in late March barred the Army Corps of Engineers from granting permits for valley fills in West Virginia using the streamlined permitting process. The Obama administration earlier this week filed a notice to appeal that decision. On Thursday, Sutley described the filing as procedural and said no policy decisions had been made.
Environmentalists pressing to end mountaintop mining said Thursday that little could be done to lessen its environmental toll.
"The administration's current plan is a good first step. ... We would like leaps," said Janet Keating, executive director of the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.
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