U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Seeks to Protect Coqui

A Puerto Rican frog about the size of a toenail could receive protection from U.S. environmental officials, who announced Tuesday they would like to list it as an endangered species.

The coqui llanero is the island's smallest tree frog and has a call with such a high-pitched frequency that it can barely be heard is barely heard, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The agency said it is proposing to designate more than 600 acres (240 hectares) of wetlands in northern Puerto Rico as the species' critical habitat. The majority of that property is managed by the U.S. Department of Defense and has been tagged for residential development. The remaining land is managed by the local government. The area is close to Toa Babja and Sabana Seca.

The coqui llanero is found only in the wetlands, and if the designation is awarded, the Puerto Rico government and U.S. Defense Department would have to consult with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before any development is approved, the agency said.

An endangered species status would make it illegal to kill, harm or capture the frog, which was discovered in 2005 and is one of 17 coqui species. Its eggs have been found only on the bulltongue arrowhead plant.

Agency spokeswoman Lilibeth Serrano said scientists do not have even a rough estimate of how many coqui llaneros exist in the wild.

The agency is accepting comments on its proposal through mid-December.

Puerto Rico's government has already listed the frog as critically endangered and designated more than 1,500 acres (600 hectares) as its critical habitat.

Find more information at the San Francisco Examiner.

Puerto Rico Convention Center Goes Green

Following the recent pledge by Puerto Rico's government to convert several of its public properties into "green" buildings, the Puerto Rico Convention Center and the Coliseum of Puerto Rico are to become the first properties on the island to be modified into eco-friendly buildings.

With an investment of $250,000, the Puerto Rico Convention Center and other developments within the 113-acre District will decrease the use of water by 30 percent and the use of electricity by 50 percent, for ongoing savings of $450,000 per year once the project is completed.

After completely incorporating these initiatives, the buildings hope to receive the US Green Building Council's 'Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED)' Certification, considered the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

Key elements of the Puerto Rico Convention Center “green project” include:

• The installation and use of automated control systems for air-conditioning and lighting of the facility, as well as the incorporation of natural lighting to reduce overall energy consumption.
• Providing preferential parking spaces around the facility for hybrid cars, as well as enhancing and encouraging the use of public transportation to the District.
• Replacing conventional lamps throughout the facility and District with lighting materials that consume less energy.
• Landscaping the District with native plants and other flora that require less maintenance and require less water, as well as utilizing an automated watering system to conserve the use of water.
• Implementing already-established eco-friendly policies and green standards for the Center. This includes utilizing green products such as recycled paper products and eco-friendly cleaning supplies in the use and maintenance of the facility, as well as requiring contractors to apply and adhere to green standards and practices in their work with the facility and District.
• Maintaining already-established waste reduction and recycling programs.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: Oquendo

Gore Issues Challenge: 100% Clean Energy in 10 Years

Would you agree with this statement offered by Vice President Gore: "We are borrowing money from China to buy oil from the Persian Gulf to burn it in ways that destroy the planet. Every bit of that's got to change." If so, then maybe you'd be interested in joining his challenge.

In an unprecedented proposal, Vice President Gore urges us to reset the way we think about the energy future and the climate crisis. His challenge: that 100 percent of our electricity production come from sources with zero carbon emissions within 10 years. Want to learn more?

First, here's the video:


Second, you can visit the new we can solve the climate crisis web site. The web site is the product of the We Campaign; a project of The Alliance for Climate Protection -- a nonprofit, nonpartisan effort founded by Nobel laureate and former Vice President Al Gore. Their ultimate aim is to halt global warming. Specifically they are educating people in the US and around the world that the climate crisis is both urgent and solvable.

Third, if you're on Facebook, they have a great application that will help inform and motivate you and your friends. Check out the new Climate Champions Facebook application. By taking action to help solve the climate crisis, you can earn points that directly translate into dollars donated to the We Campaign. You can even challenge your friends to beat your Climate Champion score!

Finally, are you wondering how we can meet this challenge? Gore describes the following as components of meeting this challenge:

• The growing wind and solar sectors need to be expanded through continued investment and innovation.
  
• Other renewables should be added to the mix -- geothermal and solar thermal with storage capability -- and we should start planning for that now.
  
• The greatest gains can be made in energy efficiency. For instance, existing technologies can raise household efficiency by 30 percent.
  
• America must invest in a Unified National Grid that would link every household and move cost-effective renewable electricity from places where the supply is vast to where the power is needed most.
• We should retain the existing fossil fuel-free energy production from nuclear and hydroelectric power.
• We must learn to safely store and capture carbon from coal and gas. Until then, these fossil fuels cannot be "clean."

Did you know? Puerto Rico Energy Trivia

Here are a few shocking facts that are shared in the "Coge Pon por al Ambiente" campaign:

• Puerto Rico has more automobiles than people with a license to drive:
  
  • 3.3 million vehicles registered
  • 2.3 million people with a license to drive
  
  Source: Departamento de Transportacioón y Obras Publicas (DTOP)
  
  
• Puerto Rico consumes a thousand million gallons of gasoline per year. This represents 8% of our total energy demand, when the average gasoline consumption around the world is 2%.
  
  Source: Agencia Federal de Protección Ambiental
  
  
• In urban areas, the automobile is the most contaminating mode of transportation.
  
  Source: Agencia Federal de Protección Ambiental
  
  
• The contribution of each Puerto Rican to global warming and climate change is 230% more than the average per person throughout the world.
  
  Source: Consejo para el Avance en Puerto Rico de la Innovación y la Investigación Cientifica (CAPRI)

Flickr Creative Commons Contributor: NARA/EPA via pingnews

Which company is leading the way?

I finally just got fed-up with throwing them away. When our local recycling program rejected plastic shopping bags, I really had no other option. Either I continued to save them, or I had to start throwing them away. Since I was running out of places to save the bags, that's when I started throwing them away. But I felt so bad, I started saying no to plastic bags.

When I had to buy milk, I would have to tell the clerk that I didn't want a bag, often to very confused and startled faces. You wouldn't believe how adamant I had to be to get some clerks to accept that I didn't want a bag. But after a while they begin to know me as the crazy gringo who doesn't want bags, some would even joke with me about it.

About that same time I started taking my own cloth bags to the supermarket to carry my groceries. Oh and what fun that was! The shocked look on faces of clerks and baggers often made me feel like I was shoplifting or something. I even had one bagger ask for his supervisor to make sure that it was acceptable for him to use my bags instead of the store's plastic bags. The supervisor was like, whatever, but the clerk just couldn't believe what was happening.

Of course, now many supermarkets and stores are starting to promote re-usable bags. So hopefully, the strange looks will start to diminish as more people beside Don Dees start using reusable bags.

Kudos, Wal-Mart of Puerto Rico

So I was ecstatic recently when I heard that Wal-Mart, as part of its commitment to protecting the environment, announced a program to introduce plastic bags made of 15% recyclable materials and to provide recycling containers in all its Puerto Rico stores for customers to return their plastic bags for recycling.

In addition, Wal-Mart also announced the introduction of reusable bags for packing goods. The cloth bags will be available at all Wal-Mart at affordable prices for the convenience of consumers who want to develop sustainable lifestyles. Using this type of bag contributes to saving energy and raw materials used in the preparation of disposable materials, while helping to reduce the amount of material reaching landfills. (By the way, I just used cloth bags I had from conferences, conventions, and other give-aways. I fold them up and put them in one mega bag and carry them with me when I go to the supermarket.)

Finally, the company has a comprehensive plan to gradually replace all its plastic bags with alternatives made made from 100% recyclable material. Wal-Mart will implement a pilot program in the Fajardo store, with a view to expand to the other 13 units around the island.

Did you know?

The plastic bags that are traditionally used for packing goods in department stores and supermarkets around the world are petroleum products (another dependence on foreign oil) which do not decompose. They are part of the thousands of tons of needless waste reaching landfills each year.

Flower Show at the UPR Botanical Garden

I love nature. I love the smell of it, with its seemingly infinite details and variations; colors, textures, shapes, and patterns. I think this affinity comes from spending a lot of time outdoors as a kid. Today with our "advanced" society, where we are surrounded by concrete; incarcerated inside our air conditioned living rooms playing video games. We are hypnotized by the television, numbing ourselves against the vicious strain of life; we have become disconnected from our past.

We have forgotten that not too long ago we were all directly connected to nature, for our ancestors depended upon their knowledge and appreciation of nature for their very survival; an ability to work the land and produce enough food to live on was critical, even to the point of life or death. By forgetting our shared past we have come to take for granted our fragile dependence upon nature for our continued survival; and like anything that is taken for granted we abuse, misuse, and disrespect. In short, we don't appreciate the value of nature, we litter, we don't conserve, we don't recycle, we exploit, and we destroy.

Perhaps the way to promote conservation of the planet is by re-introducing ourselves to nature. If we can once again treasure the immense beauty of nature, then we wouldn't be as careless and we would reduce our overwhelming impact on the planet. Just a think about it, that's all I'm saying.

Enjoying Nature

"One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon--instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today." Dale Carnegie

If you'd like to begin your "rehabilitation," then next Saturday, June 21, 2008, make it a point to visit the Zingiberales Society of Puerto Rico Fifth Annual Flower Festival. The Festival will be held at the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) Botanical Garden (Jardin Botanico), and, best of all, admission is free to the both the Botanical Garden and the Festival.

The festival, which will be open from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, will include discussions and educational sessions about heliconias, gingers, bananas, tropical trees, garden design, bromileads and much more. The sessions are scheduled throughout the day on the hour and half-hour. The more popular sessions will be held more than once. In addition, there will be many types of potted plants on display and for sale.

Many thanks to the folks at Puerto Rico Day Trips for the news of this interesting festival.

Flickr Creative Commons Contributors: Randy Read & tanakawho