by David Burn | May 20, 2006 | Film, The Environment
Do animals merely mate? Or do they also love? This question (and the answer) is at the center of Academy Award wining documentary, March of the Penguins, a moving portrayal that makes the story seem much larger than “a nature film.”
Prior to watching this film, I had never given much thought to the habits of Emperor Penguins in Antarctica. Now that I know something of their lives, I’m astounded by what they go through. For instance, after the females lay their egg, the males then guard it non-stop from the frigid cold, while the exhausted females walk for days over the ice to the open ocean to feed. By the time, the mother returns to care for the newborn penguin, the father hasn’t eaten in close to four months.
Emperor Penguins are noble creatures, often human-like in their upright stance, walking and behavior. It was good to learn about them.
by David Burn | Apr 28, 2006 | Architecture, The Environment
Abercorn Commons is the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified shopping mall to open in the U.S., and it’s located nearby in Savannah.
According to Savannah Morning News, Melaver Inc.–the site’s developer–is incorporating water, energy and materials conservation techniques to meet these standards. The elements include a cistern that harvests rainwater for irrigation; waterless urinals; energy efficient heating and air-conditioning systems; and a white roof coating to reflect heat.
The commercial real estate project is also home to the first ever LEED certified McDonald’s. The McDonald’s features large windows that allow daylight to reach 75 percent of the interior of the restaurant, reducing lighting costs. The restaurant also boasts bike racks, preferred parking for hybrid vehicles, porous pavement and a white roof.
by David Burn | Apr 22, 2006 | Lowcountry, The Environment
A few days ago, Pat Conroy, one of the Lowcountry’s more notable characters spoke out against unchecked development. He said, “I think southern Beaufort County is both lost and ruined.” Pretty tough words. For sure, the area is radically changed from Conroy’s youth, as is the rest of America. But for the newcomers fleeing a cold, gray, North, Hilton Head and Bluffton are the embodiment of that paradisical vision Conroy so longs for.
And it appears the place still has some fight in her. The Town of Hilton head is in battle with the Adventure Inn, over that property’s desire to build fire pits, bathrooms and other structures (look, tiki bars!) on the extreme beachside line of their land. I’m for the town in this. Stay the hell back from the dunes.
According to the Island Packet story, the inn’s owners say the town is incorrectly identifying the property as dunes and that environmental officials have said there are no dunes on the property.
Original redevelopment plans the inn submitted in January called for a building and other construction right up to the state setback line, which could have made the inn the closest development toward the ocean on that part of the island. That plan showed dunes in the area, a description the inn’s owners later said was made in error.
How’s that for some outside the Beltway spin?
I can actually sympathize with the property owners here, but only to a degree. They want to provide the ultimate island experience for their guests. No one can argue that’s not their right as operators, but I will argue that a different vision can be shared with visitors. The hotel could turn their negative into a positive by educating guests on the hotel’s sound design principals and embrace of ecotourism. Be proud of the fact that development is kept respectfully back, in honor of common sense and the stunning magnitude and power of the sea.
by David Burn | Apr 8, 2006 | The Environment
A 73-year old Savannah man survived nine days on an uninhabited coastal island, after his 16-foot jon boat was blown out of his reach by a strong wind while he was collecting oysters.
George Hamilton, who was born on Hilton Head Island, ate oysters, mushrooms and cactus to stay alive during the ordeal. He used Marsh grass to construct a makeshift shelter, keeping him warm at night and shaded from the sun during the day. To stay hydrated, Hamilton gathered moisture from the Marsh grasses. He also found a bottle of gin and drank all of it.
After a boater spotted him and he was rescued, Hamilton told the Savannah Morning News his faith and a lifetime of fishing the coastal waterways helped him survive. “A man can survive if you do it right,” he said.
“There’s one thing about going fishing: You don’t get nothing for free. You pay for everything you take out of the sea. And if you don’t, one of these days the sea is going to take something from you.”
by David Burn | Mar 31, 2006 | Lowcountry, The Environment
For the past several days on my way home from work, I’ve taken notice of three wild turkey hens walking alongside ever busy Highway 278. They don’t seem to mind the traffic, even though I do.
The wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) became South Carolina’s official State Wild Game Bird in 1976. According to the National Wild Turkey Federation there are over 5 million Eastern Subspecies turkeys roaming our hardwood forests.
by David Burn | Mar 30, 2006 | The Environment
From We-Make-Money-Not-Art:
A man has been banned from hunting for 20 years after shooting a robotic moose.
Robert Lee McLaren is the first person in Nova Scotia to be found guilty of the crime after shooting Bullwinkle, a full-sized moose decoy used by the Natural Resources Department to help combat the poaching of mainland moose. The animals became an endangered species in 2003.
Eight Guysborough County residents also charged with shooting the decoy will go to court later this spring.
by David Burn | Mar 6, 2006 | Place, The Environment
We took a day trip to Cumberland Island National Seashore yesterday.
Cumberland is located off the southernmost part of the Georgia coast, and can be reached by boat only. Two ferry trips a day are conducted from St. Mary’s. The roundtrip is $15, plus a $4 entry free in to the National Park.
One of the largest undeveloped barrier islands in the world, Cumberland is home to about 250 wild horses–brought to the island by the Spanish in the 1550s.
In preparation for this post, I clicked through several Google links, and found City of Dust to be a remarkable source for historical information. Most visitors know about the Carnegie family’s presence in the late 19th and early 20th century, as the Dungeness ruins are one of the island’s attractions. What I did not know was Charles Fraser’s role in acquiring 3000 acres of Cumberland Island property for development in the 1960s, an act that precipitated a battle with legendary environmental activist, David Brower of The Sierra Club.
Given that we know all too well what Fraser achieved 110 miles to the north, it’s a relief to know things didn’t go his way on Cumberland.
According to Wilderness Society, there’s still plenty of preservation work to be done on the island. When it comes to protecting our last great places from developers, it seems the work is never done.
by David Burn | Feb 8, 2006 | The Environment
Guardian Unlimited: Sweden is to take the biggest energy step of any advanced western economy by trying to wean itself off oil completely within 15 years – without building a new generation of nuclear power stations.
The attempt by the country of 9 million people to become the world’s first practically oil-free economy is being planned by a committee of industrialists, academics, farmers, car makers, civil servants and others, who will report to parliament in several months.
The intention, the Swedish government said yesterday, is to replace all fossil fuels with renewables before climate change destroys economies and growing oil scarcity leads to huge new price rises.
“Our dependency on oil should be broken by 2020,” said Mona Sahlin, minister of sustainable development. “There shall always be better alternatives to oil, which means no house should need oil for heating, and no driver should need to turn solely to gasoline.”
Ms Sahlin has described oil dependency as one of the greatest problems facing the world. “A Sweden free of fossil fuels would give us enormous advantages, not least by reducing the impact from fluctuations in oil prices,” she said. “The price of oil has tripled since 1996.”
by David Burn | Jan 27, 2006 | The Environment
New Scientist: Development giants China and India “hold the world in balance”, says a new report by a US environmental think tank.
“The choices these two countries make in the next few years will lead the world either towards growing ecological and political instability — or down a development path based on efficiency and better stewardship of resources,” says a report from the Worldwatch Institute in Washington DC, US.
One in every two tonnes of cement poured today will be in China — such is the country’s breakneck pace of economic development. The country also uses one-quarter of all the world’s steel, eats one-third of the world’s rice, and is the world’s largest importer of tropical timber and second largest importer of oil.
Veteran US ecologist and China-watcher Lester Brown last week warned that if China’s economy continues to grow at the present rate, average Chinese incomes will reach current US levels by 2031. At that point “China would consume two-thirds of the world’s current grain harvest and twice the world’s current paper production”.
However, the think tank warns against assuming that economic growth is an environmental problem only in poor countries. “Record-shattering consumption levels in the US and Europe” are equally to blame, stresses Christopher Flavin, president of Worldwatch. In the past decade alone, the ecological footprint of the average American has grown by the same amount as the total footprint of a Chinese person today.
But Flavin says countries like China and India have the chance to develop in a more benign way than already industrialised nations. “[By] leapfrogging today’s industrial powers, they can become world leaders in sustainable energy and agriculture within a decade,” he says.
This is not unrealistic. China recently announced plans for the world’s first “eco-city” on marshes outside Shanghai. India has the world’s fourth largest wind-power industry and plans to generate one-quarter of its energy from renewables.
by David Burn | Jan 20, 2006 | The Environment
Marin Independent Journal: This hilltop site in Corte Madera was once home to the late rock impresario Bill Graham.
Today it holds what its designer says is probably the largest “green” – ecologically correct – house in America.
Designed by Inverness architect Sim Van der Ryn and under construction for more than five years, the 15,000-square-foot house was built for owner Michael Klein, a passionate environmentalist and board member of the Rain Forest Action Network. It replaces the Graham house, which has been razed.
It will be open to the public for the first time on Jan. 21 when a Marin committee of grassroots political activists hosts a fund-raiser for Vermont Rep. Bernie Sanders, an independent candidate for the Senate seat to be vacated by Sen. Jim Jeffords, also an independent.
The house has an assessed value of $17.8 million, according to the Marin County assessor’s office.
