Better Place EVs are looking less and less like a good idea for Israel
Haaretz writer Dan Rabinowitz claims that the Better Place pricing structure for its electric vehicles in Israel shows nothing but contempt for the consumer. Not only does he believe the vehicles will be less eco-friendly and cost effective as marketing schemes have depicted them, but he also claims that the vehicles are just a foil for a better financial incentive: a monopoly on the country’s future charging stations.
Anti-nuclear campaigners in Jordan have staged another protest against the nation’s plans to build a nuclear reactor
Around a month ago, Jordanians held a protest in Amman against the government’s plans to build a nuclear station which they remarked posed more risks than potential positive impacts. Now, they have stepped up their protests with support from Greenpeace Jordan which is urging the country to reconsider renewable energy resources as an alternative to nuclear power.
Wearing gasmasks and surrounded with mocked-up radioactive nuclear waste barrels, the campaigners insisted that nuclear power was dirty, unsafe and a security threat. The nuclear plans are part of Jordan’s effort to become more self-sufficient at providing its own energy.
Sheikh Abdul Aziz introduces ECOFFEE founder Norman Cescut, who describes three “amazing” days spent with the man we call “The Green Sheikh.”
Through social media, ECOFFEE Founder Norman Cescut was following my various ecological trips worldwide, and soon asked me if I was interested in doing sustainable business with him.
I told him: “it is not as easy as you think. You should know me first, meet me, and see inside me, because as a title Sheikh, it is not about investment or material wealth; it is about ethics and morals, and I wish for you to understand this.”
Norman decided to take the risk to visit me in Ajman. We agreed on 3 day visit to experience and discover our journey to live, to know, to reflect and to be inspired more in actions. Nothing personal, but to engage how we practice our faith, culture, business, and how we network and socialize with local and international people.
Norman experienced most of my daily life: family, business, charity, and faith. The experience really touched him deeply. He agreed we are all human beings with many similarities, but with different choices and tastes. My friend Norman expressed his impressions of my small world with the following story.
The Black Sea province of Rize is synonymous with tea production in Turkey. After the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown, the Turkish government tried to avoid testing the area for radioactivity, and encouraged Turks to continue drinking Rize tea.
As the news from Japan gets worse and worse — only one month ago it was announced that three of the nuclear reactors at Fukushima had melted down — attention is turning to parts of the world that have already undergone nuclear disasters. In a recent interview, renowned pediatrician and nuclear energy expert Dr. Helen Caldicott compared the Fukushima disaster to the Chernobyl nuclear meltdown of 1986, noting that Chernobyl was directly responsible for at least 20,000 cancer cases and blighted crops for hundreds of kilometres around.
In Turkey, particularly regions around the Black Sea coast, at least two years of crops were completely ruined. The government’s efforts to hide the truth from Turks, however, were equally insidious, according to Alidost Numan of Greenpeace Mediterranean.
Last month the Rothschild Foundation moved into a renovated dairy building situated on the Estate at Windmill Hill, in Aylesbury, England.
The Rothschilds feature prominently on this news site, mostly because the family’s green superstar is involved in a host of environmentally-positive programs. We recently featured an interview with David de Rothschild, and reviewed Plastiki, an inspiring book that David wrote following his epic journey across the Pacific in a boat made from Plastic.
Lord Jacob Rothschild has a less green record given his support of IEI’s designs on Israel’s oil shale reserves. But the recent emphasis on greening an old dairy farm that now houses the Rothschild Foundation and the Waddesdon Archives demonstrates that overall, this family is committed to environmental and other important issues.
McDonalds is poised to recycle all of its vegetable oil from UAE branches into 100% biodiesel.
In conjunction with Dubai-based Neutral Fuels, LLC, McDonalds UAE has committed to converting all of its used vegetable oil into a biofuel. Neutral Fuels LLC is the first commercial producer of 100 per cent biodiesel in the Middle East.
On the heels of Arwa’s excoriation of environmental groups that accept funds from major corporations, McDonalds continues its support of various conservation initiatives. Also affiliated with the Emirates Wildlife Society (EWS), McDonalds uses more than 5,000 gallons of vegetable oil in its 90 branches throughout the UAE, which will be recycled to produce a fuel that is significantly less harmful to the environment than regular diesel.
There are good reasons not to eat apricots and hazelnuts from Turkey (after Chernobyl). Japan’s reactor is much worse. Brace for future horrors says expert Dr. Helen Caldicott.
Although several months have passed since the devastating earthquake and tsunami occurred in Japan, the resulting nuclear power plant crisis, and the effect on the world environment is still far from over. The health risks caused by the meltdown of nuclear fuel rods in at least three reactors actually melting down will be felt for hundreds of years to come.
The sting operation “Weeds in the Underbrush” uncovered a cartel of tree-trimmers in Israel.
It’s really quite common to see the entire tops of trees lobbed off, and sitting by the side of the road in Tel Aviv, and other cities in Israel. It makes one sad, especially since it’s often done in the summer time, when the foliage is perfect for providing much needed shade. I always thought it was a throwback from the settlement days, when people lived in the Kibbutz and were eager to get back to nature by pruning it. Perhaps over enthusiastically. Turns out there is a very good reason for the tree-trimming madness in Israel, and it’s about money: Bribes, scandals, the Jewish National Fund, and the tree-trimming mobsters are in it together.
My Berber guide Mohammed on our return journey from Mt. Toubkal, North Africa’s highest point.
“You should know that I haven’t hiked in a while,” I told Mohammed, my Berber guide for a two day trek to the highest point in North Africa. He nodded and grinned, understanding nary a word. I allowed myself to feel reassured knowing full well that he should have said, “lady – go hike a few smaller trails and then come back.” Instead, we set out at 9am the following morning for our 14 mile, 7, 826 foot climb from Imlil, a small village in the nook of the Atlas Mountains south of Marrakech, to Mt. Toubkal – the top of the range.
Beginning as a meeting once upon a time in Mexico, Trees Give Life is the co-effort of Arif Malik and performing artist Mohammed Yahya. Green Prophet talks to the organisation founders about why they are planting trees for religion. Less than a year old, the Trees Give Life campaign began with a trip to Latin America, one of the latest parts of the underprivileged world to embrace the Muslim faith. Founder of the campaign, Arif Malik was inspired by Islam’s environmental principles to reach out and make a difference.
Third act of sabotage in 5 months may spell the end of Egyptian natural gas shipments of both Israel and Jordan.
Egypt’s natural gas pipeline to both Israel and Jordan suffered still another setback during the night when a third act of sabotage caused an explosion. This is three attacks since the beginning of the popular uprising in Egypt in February this year. The most recent, said by Egyptian security authorities to have been caused by men armed with machine guns caused the ill fated pipeline to blow apart again with “an explosive boom” that frightened people living in the vicinity and resulted in a “plume of fire” after the saboteurs, who had arrived in a small truck, forced security forces to leave and then planted explosive charges. Not being able to prevent this kind of attack doesn’t bode well for anyone who thinks about investing in Egypt’s future, even in renewables like solar energy.
Holy water: the Zam Zam well in Makkah will be bottled and distributed in 42 outlets
Officials in Madinah released a statement on plans to install a new Zam Zam water project. Historically preserved as a sacred life source in neighbouring city Makkah, the Zam Zam water well was recently under scientific investigation for arsenic contamination.
A BBC report found the water to be “unsafe for human consumption”, stating that large amounts and regular intakes could pose a serious health risk – including cancer.
It’s not just excess calories anymore. It could be that environmental chemicals are ordering your body to put on the pounds.
We live surrounded by synthetic chemical substances. They’re in our food, our soaps, in hundreds of thousands of things we handle daily. Like parabens, a preservative found in moisturizers and bath products. Exposure to toxic chemicals is associated with a long and dismal list of ailments. An article in onearth magazine now shows us that toxic chemicals have a real link to obesity too.
How you can travel lightly and simply, with baby.
I just returned from a 9 day trip in Morocco. Besides attending a conference, my mission was to pack lightly, and return home lightly, without piles of tourist junk I would quickly throw away. I hiked in the Atlas Mountains, took a bus from Fez to Rabat, a train from Casablanca to Marrakesh, endless bus trips from Rabat to Mehdiah for a 3 day conference, along with some taxi rides. It was a planes, trains, and automobiles sort of trip, energized by the local atmosphere. I did this all with a 10 month old baby on my back, and one small carry-on handbag with wheels. I had no need for a local StorageMart, and if I needed something while on the road I knew I could easily buy it.
After traveling on several international flights, I noticed that the richer the travelers (people on business class), the less luggage they hauled on the plane with them. Less luggage equals less fuel usage, and certainly less hassles and haggling when on the road. And how many of us have gone on backpacking trips, only to return home with much of what we’ve packed unused? I wanted to have a “richer” experience, and by that I mean one which was easier on me, the person who’d be hauling around stuff with a baby.
Want to travel lighter this summer? I’ve compiled some tips for you, should you decide to go traveling, in the lightest possible way, with baby, or without.
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