Passed in the summer of 2008, Israel’s Clean Air Act went into effect this month. As with its neighboring Middle Eastern countries, things can be slow moving in Israel sometimes. Maybe its a regional thing. But better later than never. While it would have been great if Israel’s Clean Air Act went into effect back […]
Who’s responsible for this Tel Aviv tree? The local Tel Aviv environmental committee. Some of the red tape preventing local environmental issues from being resolved has to do with the fact that national government has too much on its plate. Even in a small country like Israel, local issues can often be seemingly ignored by […]
The extension of Section 1603 cash grants for large-scale solar developments in the US – tucked into the tax bill – were dealt a blow on Saturday. This could affect R&D developments. In a rare weekend session, US Senate Democrats tried to bring up for a vote whether to reduce Bush era tax cuts, due […]
The newly formed Green Party of Lebanon (GPL) is planning its debut with the May 2010 municipal elections. The Daily Star reports that the GPL is a secular, environmental, human-rights oriented party bent on slashing corruption and recovering burnt forests. GPL President Philippe Skaff (left) told the Star that focusing only on the immediate political crises […]
After the recent Jerusalem elections Green Prophet hailed the new Mayor Barkat for placing an environmentalist so prominently on his list. Jerusalem Mayor Barkat not long ago presented his master plan for the city for the next two decades, and top on his list is to green the city. His plan focuses on environmentally friendly construction […]
Naomi Tsur The city of Jerusalem is steeped in history, stretching back to before the Bible’s King David ruled the city. Today it is a major center for the three major monotheistic religions — Judaism, Islam and Christianity, who all hold Jerusalem near and dear. But whether you are on a spiritual quest, pilgrimage, or […]
Israel has a new government, and this also means a new environment minister. The new one, Gilad Erdan actually sounds like he’s learned something about the environment before taking on the post. The hot news is that he has applied to Israel’s Acting Government Secretary to convene an emergency government session to discuss his demand […]
Little publicity appears to have been made in Israel regarding a proposed joint project between Jordan and Syria to construct a dam across the Yarmouk River. The dam, known as the Wihdeh Dam, will be built on that part of the Yarmouk that is shared by the two countries before it reaches an area now […]
Other announcements made at the conference include the Timna Renewable Energy Park, which will be a center for R&D, and the AORA Solar Thermal Module at Kibbutz Samar, the world's first commercial hybrid solar gas-turbine power plant that is already nearing completion. Solel Solar Systems announced it was beginning construction of a 50 MW solar field in Lebrija, Spain, and Brightsource Energy made a pre-conference announcement that it had inked the world's largest solar deal to date with Southern California Edison (SCE).
Eight months ago, Israeli environmental veterans founded Tnua Yeruka, or the Green Movement. Led by Eran Ben-Yemini, the founder of the student environmental movement Megama Yeruka, and by veteran Israeli environmentalist Alon Tal, Tnua Yeruka aims to marry the values of the green worldview with those of traditional left-wing parties, such as reducing the gaps […]
The battle for the Jerusalem Municipality may be over (secular candidate Nir Barkat victorious over haredi rival Meir Porush or, in my view at least, a choice between dumb and dumber), but the struggle for the city’s environment is just beginning. Last week Green Prophet told you that Naomi Tsur, former head of Society of […]
Israel Environmental Protection Minister Gideon Ezra and his Korean counterpart Environment Minister Lee Maanee signed a memorandum of understanding on bilateral environmental cooperation on November 12, 2008. Under the agreement, the two countries will enhance cooperation on air pollution, climate change, biological diversity and sewage disposal and will promote exchanges between environmental experts. Among the […]
No. 3 on Mayor-elect Nir Barkat’s winning list, Naomi Tsur is going to be spearheading any changes the city makes to beautify the city in the near future. Formal head of SPNI’s Jerusalem office and founder of the Sustainable Jerusalem, a coalition of 60 environmental groups is now going to tackle those same issues but […]
We’ve been following the recent green politics and parties in Israel (see our Re-evaluating Green Parties, Must They Be Liberal Left Wing?). And tomorrow the brand new environmental political party The Green Movement (HaTnuah Hayeruka) is holding a general meeting of members tomorrow morning, Friday, Nov. 14 at 9 a.m. at the Seminar Kibbutzim in […]
In the leadup to this week’s municipal elections in Israel, Tzafrir Rinat, the respected environmental correspondent of the daily newspaper Haaretz, discussed the local environmental political parties in his article “The Green Party – mostly bluster“. Since the other player in the field, “the Israel Green Movement” is brand new, Rinat evaluated the 10 year […]