600 Endangered Species Condoms Sent to U.S. Senators in Honor of World Population Day
U.S. senators returning from their holiday break Monday received a package of Endangered Species Condoms to mark World Population Day, July 11, and to urge them to protect reproductive rights and family planning programs. The delivery is part of the Center for Biological Diversity's project to raise awareness about human population growth and its effects on wildlife. In all, 600 condoms were sent to the Senate.
Every senator received a package of the brightly colored condom boxes featuring images of species threatened by human population growth and slogans like "Wrap with care, save the polar bear" and "Fumbling in the dark? Think of the monarch." The senators also received a letter with the condoms either thanking them for their support of reproductive healthcare and access to contraception or criticizing them for prioritizing tax cuts for the rich over women's rights and the environment.
"Access to reproductive healthcare is a right all women should have. It's also an essential tool in curbing human population growth so we can save room for the wildlife who share the planet with us," said Leigh Moyer, the Center for Biological Diversity's population organizer. "We need to draw the connection between human population growth and the wildlife extinction crisis, but that's not enough. We also need to protect straightforward solutions like universal access to contraception for everyone on Earth, starting right here in the United States."
Human population continues to grow at a rate of about 227,000 people per day, driving habitat loss and forcing competition for natural resources. Wild plants and animals are going extinct at rates 1,000 to 10,000 times the natural background rate due to habitat loss, pollution, climate change and other human-caused problems. The UN recently updated population projections to 9.8 billion people by 2050, an increase of 100 million from the prediction made two years ago.
"We're at a pivotal moment in history. As Congress works to address American healthcare, we have the opportunity to put the pieces of the puzzle together," said Moyer. "We can't afford for our senators to miss this opportunity and vote against the American people and against the environment."
World Population Day was designated by the United Nations in 1989 to raise awareness about global population issues. There are more than 7.5 billion people on the planet, with the U.S. ranked as the third-most populous country. And with 45 percent of all pregnancies unplanned, the U.S. also boasts the highest rate of unintended pregnancies of any developed nation.
The Center for Biological Diversity's population and sustainability program advocates for rights-based, common-sense solutions, including universal access to contraception, reproductive healthcare and family planning services, education and equality for women and girls, and reducing our environmental footprint.
Massive Fracking Plan Near Yellowstone National Park Threatens Wildlife, Air Quality, Climate
The Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club lodged formal comments with the federal government Monday opposing a massive gas fracking project that spans 220 square miles of public land in Wyoming south of Yellowstone National Park.
The Normally Pressured Lance gas field would destroy wildlife habitat and worsen ozone pollution, a major cause of childhood asthma, in areas already suffering from extreme air pollution.
20 Greenest Colleges and Universities in America
Sierra magazine, the national magazine of the Sierra Club, released on Tuesday its eleventh annual "Cool Schools" ranking of North America's greenest colleges and universities.
Sierra received complete surveys from a record-breaking 227 schools—in 36 states, the District of Columbia, and for the first time ever, Canada.
Hundreds of Protesters Occupy Shell Plant in Nigeria, 11 Days and Counting
By Andy Rowell
The decades-long struggle for social and environmental justice in the Niger Delta continues, largely unseen by the wider world.
On Aug. 11, hundreds of people from the Niger Delta stormed the Belema flow station gas plant owned by Shell in the Rivers State region of the Delta. The plant transports crude oil to the Bonny Light export terminal, from where it is shipped overseas.
Trump Kills Mountaintop Removal Health Impact Study
The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine said in a statement the Interior Department has directed it to cease its study on the potential health risks for people living near surface coal mines in Central Appalachia.
The Interior Department, which committed more than $1 million to the study last year, has begun an agency-wide review of grants over $100,000 because of the "Department's changing budget situation."
Power Grid Passes Test During Solar Eclipse, Big Win for Renewables
California and North Carolina's electricity grids faced no disruptions during Monday's solar eclipse, which many saw as a test for the future when solar power will command a greater share of the energy mix.
"It bodes well for renewable energy on the grid during an event like this," said Eric Schmitt, a vice-president at California Independent System Operator that delivers most of the state's electricity.
Carl Pope: Why Donald Trump Is Going After Our National Monuments
By Thursday the Trump administration's project of dismantling the public domain will burst into full bloom when Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke announces a wholesale reversal of more than a century of public lands protection through presidential designation of national monuments under Antiquities Act of 1908.
WATCH LIVE: The Great American Solar Eclipse
Are you ready to watch the Great American Eclipse of 2017? Will you be in the path of totality? Do you have your safety glasses ready?
Well, however you decide to watch the solar eclipse today, NASA TV will be showing the "Eclipse Across America" with live video of the celestial event. The feed is already live with lots of handy information about today's unprecedented eclipse. So be sure to watch above.
Enjoy!
John Oliver Explains America's Terrifying Nuclear Waste Problem
"One out of three Americans lives within 50 miles of high-level nuclear waste, some of which, like Plutonium, is lethally dangerous and will be around for an incredible longtime," John Oliver explained last night on Last Week Tonight.
According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, there is more than 71,000 tons of nuclear waste stranded at 104 reactors. "It was a problem we should have solved in the 1980s," Oliver said, "much like a Rubik's Cube."
Despite years of using nuclear energy, the country still doesn't have a permanent facility for its storage, the comedian said. Oliver proposed what the U.S. really needs is some kind of "nuclear toilet."
Watch above.
