The Last Frost

A wind farm has recently gone into service on the Hawaiian island of Maui. Consisting to 20 turbines, the farm produces roughly 9% of the islands power needs. This means the island which is reliant on pretty much everything being shipped in, now has to import roughly a quarter million barrels less oil every year. It's also the first wind farm in the nation to go into service with a habitat protection plan that's been approved by the Federal Government. The plan involves taking extra precautions to protect several species of animals living in the area.

Shell Oil is planning a separate wind farm on the island and is now in the process of assessing the amount of wind on their potential site. If their farm is built, 1/5th of the island's energy needs will be supplied by the wind.

Maui's first wind farm goes into service » [The Honolulu Advertiser]

Bush did a good thing, he has declared the Northwestern Hawaiian islands a national monument. This will be the largest national monument in the world. Over 140,000 square miles, bigger than 46 of our 50 states. This is great news for the wildlife that calls this stretch of land home. 

Here comes the cynicism.

The only problems with Bush's declaration is that for one, it's clearly a publicity stunt to put some polish on his otherwise appalling environmental record. But we can overlook that, the end result is still good, the real problem is that Bush has trouble admiting global warming is a real problem. He just doesn't believe it's happening, or at least he isn't willing to admit it. The problem is that just a little over a week ago scientists have concluded that this same sancuary may be submerged by 2100 due to rising sea levels from global warming. 

So Mr. Bush, if you're so concerned about this swatch of land, why don't you address the concerns of global warming so that you can really protect it? Oh wait, they will be submerged after 2008, guess he doesn't need to worry about it then. 

Global warming is effecting animals in some interesting ways. One animal now hibernates about 5 1/2 weeks less than it did two decades ago. Some animals are loosing weight as well as they struggle to adapt to changing climates. 

Just look at the baby Aye Aye in the photo here. The Aye Aye was not one of the animals mentioned in the article, but look at the thing; it looks like it hasn't slept in weeks!

Animal's lose sleep over the environment » [ANSA.it]