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New English International MA Program in Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University

Karen Chernick
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New English International MA Program in Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University

"tel aviv university green"The Tel Aviv University campus is about to get a little greener.

Tel Aviv University is greener because of the activity of the campus’s Porter School of Environmental Studies, which is always starting some new eco initiative.  Whether it is the construction of the greenest building in Israel, or the cultivation of a community garden, chances are that the Porter School is behind it.  Now the school is hoping to get the international community more green as well, by offering a new English-language International MA Program in Environmental Studies, to be launched in fall 2011.

For the first time, the Porter School program will be offered in English and geared towards students from overseas.

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Fighting ‘Ecocide’: Interview With Environmental Lawyer Polly Higgins

Arwa Aburawa
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Fighting ‘Ecocide’: Interview With Environmental Lawyer Polly Higgins

polly-higgins-ecocideArwa speaks to environmental lawyer Polly Higgins about ‘Ecocide’, corporate eco-destruction, water scarcity and why we shouldn’t give up on climate summits just yet

Polly Higgins is a lawyer on a mission to bring serious environmental destruction to an end. Whilst this may seem ambitious, she insists that using the legal system to outlaw environmental crimes can make a real difference.

Voted by the Ecologist as one of the ‘World’s Top 10 Visionary Thinkers’, she has submitted a proposal to the United Nations to make the crime of ‘Ecocide’- or extensive environmental destruction- the 5th Crime Against Peace alongside genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression.

I spoke to Polly, who recently published her book ‘Eradicating Ecocide’, to find out more.

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Green Prophet On “Dubai Eye” Radio With Siobhan Leyden

Tafline Laylin
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Green Prophet On “Dubai Eye” Radio With Siobhan Leyden

siobhan-dubai-eyeThe voice behind the words: one of Green Prophet’s many contributors talked to Siobhan on her weekly Green Team show. LISTEN HERE

Today yours truly was on the Dubai Eye show, gushing about Green Prophet and the Middle East’s most pressing environmental concerns.

In the first half of the show (listen to me talking about Middle East green), Siobhan interviewed Robert Ferry of Studied Impact and the Land Art Generator Initiative, one of the region’s most innovative design houses that focuses on making power generation and distribution beautiful.

In the second half, I rattled on about how I became interested in Middle Eastern environmental issues, and how Green Prophet aspires to provide a community for eco-minded Middle Easterners while simultaneously drawing the international arena’s attention to projects in our region.

We identified water, energy, and fossil fuels as pressing concerns, as well as plastics, and then oooed and aaahed over Studied Impact and the Japanese technology that converts plastics back to oil. And then, Siobhan asked me to identify a buzzword for 2011. I chose “interconnectedness,” the realization of which was on my Christmas wish.

Dubai Eye broadcasts “The Green Team” environment show every Wednesday at 13h00 local time. The show’s host (whose Gaelic name is pronounced Shevaun) is a ten year veteran from Northern England who has her finger firmly positioned on Dubai’s hopping pulse. Tune in today’s Green Team show and stay tuned.

INTERVIEW WITH GREEN PROPHET PART I

INTERVIEW WITH GREEN PROPHET PART II (click here and scroll down)

A few stories covered on the today’s Dubai Eye program:
READ: Lagi’s Guide To Making Renewable Energy Beautiful
Abu Dhabi Builds Aquifer To Hide Desalinated Water
New Machine Converts Plastics Back To Oil

Israel Cleantech Intelligence: Clean Air and 6 More Headlines

Lisa Damast
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Israel Cleantech Intelligence: Clean Air and 6 More Headlines

Biofuel investments in Israel is expected to rise 2011

Virent energy, Israel’s green police, renewable energy sources and more headlines related to Israeli cleantech and the environment.

Collaboration between Israel and Virginia is set to grow with Virginia’s plans to meet with and provide financial assistance to some Israeli cleantech companies. Israel’s Clean Air Act that was signed in 2008 finally went into effect and Israeli biofuel and energy efficiency companies are likely to see a rise in investment this year. For these stories and the rest of this week’s headlines, see below.

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Tel Aviv’s “Fast Lane” For Traffic Safety and the Environment

Maurice Picow
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Tel Aviv’s “Fast Lane” For Traffic Safety and the Environment

Commuters will ride for free. But will the toll-run “fast lane” help solve Tel Aviv’s increasing traffic nightmare?

Looking for a faster way to get to Tel Aviv from Jerusalem every day? Instead of being stuck in the daily traffic jam, a daily routine for drivers coming from both Israel’s capital and the bedroom communities of Modiin and Beit Shemesh, why not try the fast lane?

It’s now possible to take the new “fast lane” which will enable those traveling on it to reach the main traffic artery of Tel Aviv, the Ayalon Freeway, in only 11 minutes instead of commuter times of up to two hours. The new 13 km stretch will actually be a toll road to cars with less than 4 passengers. Busses and cars with at least four passengers will get to use it for free.

According to estimates in the Marker, between 1,600 to 2,000 cars an hour are forecast to use the lane during busy times. The toll is expected to be between NIS 17 and NIS 20 during rush hour. When the measured speed will drop to below 70p km per hour, the toll cost will increase, due to more cars using the lane. How will this impact the environment?

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10 Israeli Cities Celebrating Environmental Achievements in 2010

Karen Chernick
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10 Israeli Cities Celebrating Environmental Achievements in 2010

"carmel fire israel"Was 2010 good or bad for the environment?

Depending on whether you’re a glass half full or glass half empty kind of person, you could reflect upon the year 2010 and see it in either a positive or negative green light.  There were some environmental catastrophes, such as the Carmel fire – the worst fire in Israeli national history, but there were also some positive strides.  Green Course, an Israeli student-run environmental NGO, has chosen to look at the glass as being half full, and recapped 10 Israeli cities celebrating environmental achievements in 2010.

Here’s what Gil Yaacov, Executive Director of Green Course, had to say about the past year:

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Grapes In Moisturiser Are Sweet For Skin, Not Sour

Tafline Laylin
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1
Grapes In Moisturiser Are Sweet For Skin, Not Sour

Esdor’s beauty products contain healthy, antioxidant-rich extracts from grape skins, of which Israel has aplenty, and none of the bad stuff.

Israel is well-known for its wines that were popular among Romans. The industry really took off in 1989 when Baron Edmond James Rothschild started the Bordeau estate Château Lafite-Rothschild. Ironic, then, that the Elah Valley wine industry today  is threatened by oil shale ambitions supported by Lord Jacob Rothschild.

There are many ugly beauty products on the market that are full of chemicals better off used in an industrial zone. These don’t get my money. A Spanish firm has patented a product that is infinitely healthier and that, as a bonus, uses grape skins that might otherwise go to waste.

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Segway “Police” Achieve Fame For UAE Corniche Cleanup

Tafline Laylin
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234
Segway “Police” Achieve Fame For UAE Corniche Cleanup

corniche-cousins-on-segwaysKnown as the “Corniche Police,” these cousins have transformed Ras al Khaimah’s urban park.

Despite their numerous environmental faux-pas, like the RAK global warming park, the UAE must be credited with its moments of genius. The latest campaign in Ras al Khaimah to clean up the Corniche is one such example. A popular park among tourists and locals alike, in recent years it has acted like a giant trash dump.

In anticipation of increased traffic, and therefore increased rubbish, the Department of Public Works imported four segways from the United States on which employees patrol the park. They were delivered last month, and have revolutionized how the public perceive their treasured green space.

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Ethical Foraging Saves Native Flora

Miriam Kresh
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Ethical Foraging Saves Native Flora

image-nettles
Care for wild edibles as if you’d grown them yourself, and they’ll come back year after year.

The Jewish springtime Tu B’Shvat festival is just around the corner on Wednesday night, the 19th of this month. The flowering of the almond trees on that day also signals new green growth on Israel’s dry soil. It’s tempting to go out, field guide in hand, and fill a backpack up with lots of edible wild greens.

But over-enthusiastic foraging can backfire. When plants aren’t allowed to re-seed, or if most in an area get uprooted, there won’t a new crop for next year.The forager will have to search farther afield to find the healthy, tasty wild plants that once grew close to home, while the plants slowly recede and disappear from the landscape.

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Sharjah Launches ‘Environment Awareness Award’

Zaufishan
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Sharjah Launched the ‘Environment Awareness Award’ with aims to increase students’ environmental awareness and encourage them to actively participate in environmental activities at school.

Bee’ah, an innovative education initiative from the Bee’ah School of Environment, along with the Sharjah Education Zone (SEZ) and Sharjah City for Humanitarian Services (SCHS) launched the Sharjah Environment Awareness Award.

With over AED100,000 in total prize money to be given away in different categories, the award programme aims to increase environmental awareness among students from kindergarten through to Grade 12, and encourage the youth to actively participate in environmental activities within their schools.

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United Arab Emirates To Be Plastic-Free By 2013

Zaufishan
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0
Sony makes plastic bio

The UAE is well on its way to rid the country of plastic bags by 2013, Dr Rashid Ahmed bin Fahd, Minister of Environment and Water, said on Saturday 9th January.

“The UAE and the GCC are on the forefront of countries preserving the environment when it comes to producing plastics. The UAE will be free of plastic bags in 2013. The national plastics and petrochemicals companies are adhering to the environmental measures […] to enhance the environment friendly approach of the UAE as part of their corporate social responsibility towards the community. Their adherence to environment measures also enhances their global competitive edge,” he said during the inauguration of ArabPlast and Tekno/Tube Arabia 2011, a trade platform for rubber, plastics and plastic processing in the Middle East.

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The Surprising Impact Of Dust On Climate Change

Tafline Laylin
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0
The Surprising Impact Of Dust On Climate Change

dust-stormDust in the atmosphere can mitigate the heating effect of trapped greenhouse gases.

If climate science were simple, perhaps we could design a quick fix that would suck out the carbon trapped in the atmosphere, and restore weather to it’s pre-freaky ways. Unfortunately, that’s not how nature works.

To further add to the complexity, The Economist has released a report that in addition to providing nutrients to oceans and forests, dust has cooling qualities. Even that is not simple. Sometimes dust is a good thing, and there is more of it than previously, but then sometimes it can set off an unhappy chain of reactions.

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“Spy Vulture” Cleared Of Espionage Charges

Tafline Laylin
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0
“Spy Vulture” Cleared Of Espionage Charges

tagged-israeli-vultureThe vulture (which may actually be a bald eagle) captured in rural Saudi Arabia will be released.

Following widespread (and embarrassing) news coverage, the vulture captured in Saudi Arabia and reportedly “arrested” on charges of espionage will be released. Israelis told Sky News that associating the migrating vulture with Mossad – one of Israel’s intelligence agencies – was a product of an “overactive imagination.”

Emirates 24/7 meanwhile quotes Prince Bandar bin Saud Al Saud, who acknowledged that the GPS bracelet fitted to what is actually a bald eagle is legitimate, and not “Israeli spy systems arsenal.” He accused local media of sensationalizing the story without checking the facts.

This story received additional attention on the heels of accusations late last year that Mossad had planted rogue sharks in the Red Sea off Sinai, which proceeded to wreck havoc on Egypt’s tourism after a spate of attacks. One woman was killed by an oceanic white tip shark.

More bird news in the Middle East:

Birds Help Israel, Jordan and Palestine Flock Together

Iran and Qatar Make Bio-Lateral Ties for Birds?

Where Abu Dhabi’s Flamingoes Roam

image via dobac

Fossil Fuels Skyrocket In The Middle East

Zaufishan
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0

CM Capture 15
The Middle East has so much oil, but energy use is increasing. Applied Oil Technology and others could make oil use more efficient.

Until recently, much of the attention regarding amplified energy use has been directed towards China and India, but new data from GE indicates the Middle East is experiencing greater energy demands than any other nation. Why is this? As has been expected, global fossil fuel use continues to rise as a result of huge economic expansion, population growth environmental development. And the failure of alternative energies in developed nations to reduce sky-rocketing green house gases emissions, has allowed these gases to become more of a threat than ever.

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Environmental Oxymoron: A ‘Green’ Filling Station In UAE

Zaufishan
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1

ENOC Dubai's 'Green' Petrol StationHow green can a gas station be? Dubai’s Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) launches the first “green station” in the UAE.

We reported on the green gas station in the UAE last week. Featuring solar-powered lights, a waterless car wash system, eco-friendly products, and the vapor recovery system, a new technology that reduces carbon emission and fuel wastage.

It does sound like an environmental oxymoron: an ‘eco-friendly’ petrol station? But officials at the Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) last week showcased its first green station, with environmental upgrades worth about Dh3.6 million. ENOC has an aim to reduce the ecological footprint of the station’s consumers, so they are literally pumping eco-sensibility.

The World’s First Green Petrol Station

The new station is located in The Meadows, part of Dubai’s Emirates Living residential area, and is fitted with noise reduction barriers and a system that collects the harmful vapours released from fuels, as well as solar lights, water recycling and other “green” features. ENOC’s ‘green’ station is the first of its kind in the region to generate half of its energy requirements from renewable sources.

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Monitoring farmers’ tillage patterns from space

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