Jonathan Kaplan: Reduce Your Carbon Footprint By Eating Sweeter, More Flavorful Strawberries

And help NRDC find next year's Growing Green Award winners by December 9.

NRDC Growing Green Award winner Jim Cochran grows organic strawberries on the California coast. Those who have tasted them will confirm that Jim's berries are among the sweetest, most flavorful strawberries you'll ever try.

Why? When Jim won an NRDC Growing Green Award this spring, he explained that this is because he uses less nitrogen. More nitrogen fertilizer would increase his yields, but he grows for flavor instead of size. His organic growing practices help, because organic nitrogen sources release the nutrient more slowly to the plant. A California Farmer article about Jim asserted that his rich, organically farmed soil also contributes to efficient nutrient use and more complex flavors.

For most farming operations, nitrogen turns out to the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions. Nitrous oxide, a gas that is often formed when nitrogen is applied to soil, has about 300 times more global warming potential that CO2 (and synthetic fertilizer, used in conventional agriculture systems, also requires large quantities of energy to produce). For many farms, nitrogen use will be a larger source of green house gasses than all other emissions combined. Farmers who use nitrogen more efficiently will lose less to the environment.

So although we don't have a detailed analysis to prove the point, I am quite prepared to believe that my efforts to choose the sweetest, most flavorful organic strawberries is one way I can help the planet.

I reminisce about how Jim is making a difference in our food system now because NRDC is currently searching for next year's Growing Green Award winners. Please help us find the innovators who are reinventing our food system. You can nominate yourself and your favorite sustainable food leaders at www.nrdc.org/growinggreen. Categories for 2012 are: Food Producer, Business Leader, Young Food Leader and Food Justice Leader. Once again, we are joined by a distinguished panel of sustainable food experts who will select the final winners. Visit online to read about them and the previous winners who inspire us.

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jonathan-kaplan/reduce-your-carbon-footpr_1_b_1126466.html

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Will the new Newt Gingrich have staying power? (reuters)

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Leaders at Americas talks: world economy top worry

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez smiles during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez smiles during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez is seen on a large TV screen, flanked by paintings of Latin America Independence heros Simon Bolivar, left, and Antonio Jose de Sucre, while speaking at the second working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Bolivia's President Evo Morales gestures during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011.(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Uruguay's President Jose Mujica looks on during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011.(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Trinidad and Tobago's Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar speaks during a working session of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States, CELAC, summit in Caracas, Venezuela, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011.(AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) ? Leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean pledged closer ties to safeguard their economies from the world financial crisis as they formed a new bloc on Saturday including every nation in the hemisphere except the U.S. and Canada.

Several presidents stressed during the two-day summit that they hope to ride out turbulent times by boosting local industries and increasing trade within the region.

"It seems it's a terminal, structural crisis of capitalism," Bolivian President Evo Morales said in a speech Saturday. "I feel we're meeting at a good moment to debate ... the great unity of the countries of America, without the United States."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and some of his closest allies called the new regional bloc a tool for standing up to U.S. influence. But other leaders focused more on economic concerns and on working together to confront issues such as drug trafficking and the effects of climate change.

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said that if the nations are to keep thriving they will need to look more to their neighbors.

"The economic, financial crisis should be at the center of our concerns," Rousseff said Friday night. She said Latin America should "realize that to guarantee its current cycle of development despite the international economic turbulence, it means that every politician must be aware that each one needs the others."

The region has so far weathered the economic woes better than the U.S. or Europe, achieving economic growth of more than 5 percent last year.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said the region has immense potential while "there's a hurricane that's hitting the so-called industrialized economies hard." He said Colombia's current trade with Brazil, for instance, is minimal and could grow significantly.

Chavez read aloud a letter from Chinese President Hu Jintao congratulating the leaders on forming a new 33-nation regional bloc, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States. Hu pledged to deepen cooperation with the new group.

The U.S. remains the top trading partner of many countries in the region, with exceptions including Brazil and Chile, where China has recently taken the place of the U.S. as the biggest trading partner.

The leaders formally launched the new bloc, known by its Spanish initials CELAC, by approving a declaration of shared principles as well as a clause dealing with democratic norms. Chavez said leaders had not agreed on whether to make decisions by consensus or by vote, and as a result would reach decisions by consensus for the time being and take up the matter again later.

Chavez pounded a gavel on his desk as he read out several statements approved by the leaders, including one opposing the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba.

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera, a conservative who took over the new group's rotating presidency, touted it a forum to build regional cooperation in spite of political differences. Pinera said the group would hold its next summit in Santiago in 2012.

Venezuela's government celebrated the gathering at a Caracas military base with bursts of fireworks that could be heard from the session. Other events included an orchestral performance led by Venezuelan conductor Gustavo Dudamel and a post-summit concert headlined by Puerto Rican hip-hop duo Calle 13.

Both Chavez and Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa said they hope the bloc eventually overshadows the importance of the Washington-based Organization of American States. Unlike the OAS, the new group will have Cuba as a full member and exclude the U.S. and Canada.

"We need a new inter-American system and, more specifically, a new system to guarantee human rights," Correa said Friday, referring to the Washington-based Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which has received complaints from Ecuadorean newspapers and television channels that accuse his government of trying to silence critics.

Chavez called the OAS "obsolete." Bolivia's Morales strongly criticized the International Monetary Fund, saying "they've just pillaged us and led us to poverty."

Several other presidents said they see CELAC as a forum to resolve conflicts and build closer ties, but not as an alternative to existing bodies such as the OAS.

On other issues, Morales appealed for strong steps at this month's climate change conference in South Africa, saying it's critical that developed nations renew pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.

"If they kill the protocol, they kill the planet," Morales said.

Trinidad and Tobago's prime minister, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, also expressed concerns about changing weather patterns and said nations should work together to better plan for disasters.

Several leaders called for closer cooperation to fight criminals and drug trafficking.

Colombia's Santos said the new bloc could help in re-examining whether current counter-drug efforts are the right approach.

Chavez criticized past U.S. interventions in Latin America, and said the region must "demand respect."

He recalled shaking President Barack Obama's hand at a 2009 summit and giving him a copy of the book "Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent" by Eduardo Galeano.

"I think President Obama hasn't had time to read that book," said Chavez, whose relations with Washington have been tense for much of his nearly 13-year-old presidency.

Caribbean leaders including Haitian President Michel Martelly thanked Chavez for selling their nations oil on preferential terms including long-term, low interest loans.

"The people of Haiti love you with all their hearts," Martelly told Chavez during his speech, saying "south-south cooperation" is key to the future of his impoverished country.

Chavez assured leaders he will survive cancer, reiterating that he underwent recent tests in Cuba after finishing chemotherapy and they found no "malignant cells in any part of my body, thanks to God."

Trinidad's prime minister gave Chavez a little bottle of what she described as holy water, and Chavez thanked her saying: "Soon we will have a summit of those of us who've beaten cancer."

___

Associated Press writer Christopher Toothaker contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-12-03-LT-Venezuela-Summit/id-4d9d593c764242008d20478d334eca92

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S.Africa: Funds raised to fight rhino poaching (AP)

JOHANNESBURG ? A fundraising campaign aimed at putting rhino poachers in jail was welcomed Friday by South African conservationists.

Michael Knight, head of park planning and development for South Africa's national parks department, said money raised by the Florida-based International Rhino Federation would be used to support such efforts as teaching park employees how to safeguard evidence at crime scenes.

More South African rhinos were poached ? 341 ? in the first 10 months of 2011 than in all of 2010, which was a record poaching year with 333 animals lost. The International Rhino Federation project is for parks in South Africa and neighboring Zimbabwe, which also has seen increased poaching.

An Asian economic boom in recent years is believed to be behind the spike in poaching, with a growing middle class in countries like China and Vietnam able to afford exotic purported remedies like powdered rhino horn.

"We're losing animals like crazy," Knight, who also chairs the rhino specialist group of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, said in an interview. "But the prosecutions are falling way behind."

Knight said police in isolated areas of South Africa are not always experienced in investigating environmental crime. He said rangers and others would be trained to support police and prosecutors.

In court, he said, "You need to have the most up-to-date information, you need to have the most convincing arguments."

Morne du Plessis, chief executive of the South African arm of the World Wildlife Fund, said his organization has for several months been involved in a similar project that includes training for prosecutors and judges and creating a team of expert witnesses. He welcomed help from the International Rhino Federation.

"It's work that's absolutely essential," du Plessis said. "In South Africa, we have a particularly poor record of conviction in rhino crime."

He said other, more straightforward crimes compete for the attention of police, prosecutors and judges. He also said law enforcement officials might feel sympathy for the often impoverished locals employed by international syndicates as poachers.

"These are very complex realities of a developing country like South Africa," du Plessis said.

The International Rhino Federation launched its fundraising this week. Donations will fund training in collecting evidence and information. The federation also plans to distribute basic crime scene kits containing cameras, fingerprinting materials and evidence bags.

In an interview, federation director Susie Ellis said that an anonymous donor kicked off the fund with $25,000. She said she spoke with South African security officials in March about how best to use the money.

"It's a small project that we hope will have a big impact," she said, adding the first training session is set for early February in South Africa.

____

Online:

http://www.rhinos-irf.org

____

Donna Bryson can be reached on http://twitter.com/dbrysonAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/environment/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111202/ap_on_re_af/af_south_africa_rhino_poaching

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Condor biologist killed in Big Sur windstorm

By Amy Larson, KSBW.com

BIG SUR, Calif. -- A wildlife biologist in Big Sur was killed by a tree during a wild windstorm that wreaked havoc in many areas of the Central Coast.

Michael Tyner, 35, of Big Sur, was working for the Ventana Wildlife Society in one of Big Sur's redwood forests when he was struck by tree that toppled over at 2:50 p.m Wednesday.

Wednesday's 40-60 mph gusts caused the tree to uproot and slam to the ground near North Coast Road at mile marker 16.

Read the original story at KSBW.com

"Tyner died instantly from his injuries," the Monterey County sheriff's coroner detective Diana Schumacher said. "A forensic examination confirmed his death was a result of blunt force head injuries."

Tyner's death was the first caused by this week's wind storm, which left a path of destruction across California and Utah.

Tyner was a highly respected field supervisor for the Ventana Wildlife Society's California Condor Recovery Program, based in Monterey.

"It was truly an honor to work alongside Mike," his close friend and co-worker Joe Burnett said.

"He was truly an exceptional biologist, a great friend, and staunch protector of all natural things," Burnett said. "Mike will be dearly missed and his positive impacts on Big Sur?s natural beauty will live on through the condors. I?m almost sure he?s up there soaring with them now."

An avid birder, Tyner graduated from California Polytechnic State University San Luis Obispo and began studying songbirds along the Carmel River with the society in 2002.

Winds howl across LA-area for second night

Wind gusts finally eased up on Friday afternoon, blowing at a mere 1 mph in Santa Cruz and 3 mph in Monterey.

This was a big change from Wednesday night, when sustained winds howled at 40 mph and gusts hit 70 mph in Santa Cruz.

At least four homes in Santa Cruz County were destroyed by tumbling trees during the storm. A two-story house in Scotts Valley on Baja Sol Drive had a giant redwood tree slice well into its roof Thursday night. Everyone in the house escaped without injuries.

Several other Scotts Valley residents reported that their cars and trucks were smashed by tumbling trees.

PG&E used a helicopter Friday while attempting to repair power supplies for thousands of Scotts Valley residents and business owners who are sitting in the dark.

Customers in Boulder Creek, Bonny Doon, Watsonville, Corralitos and Freedom are also without power.

Nearly two dozen fires erupted Thursday in Northern California but most were confined to a few acres of land. Low humidity and high winds were blamed for fanning the fires.

KSBW.com is the website for the NBC affiliate in Salinas, Calif.

Most Popular Stories at KSBW

Source: http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/12/02/9176139-condor-biologist-killed-in-big-sur-windstorm

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Cesar Sanchez, Escaped Inmate, Found By Police In Illinois Port-A-Potty (VIDEO)

An inmate who jumped from a moving van while being taken back to prison Friday afternoon was found by police six hours after making his bold escape -- in an Illinois port-a-potty.

Cesar Sanchez, 37, was on his way to the Stateville Correctional Center in Crest Hill, Ill. following a court appearance when he somehow jumped from the prisoner transport van in southwest suburban Lockport, the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Illinois Department of Corrections spokeswoman Sharyn Elman told the Chicago Tribune that authorities were investigating whether Sanchez, who was handcuffed and in a prison jumpsuit, kicked open the van door before jumping out.

After making his escape, Sanchez reportedly hitched a ride on a delivery truck to Rockdale, near Joliet, NBC Chicago reports. He was ultimately tracked to Waste Management facility in the area which contained several hundred portable toilets.

"As you can imagine, looking through 300 port-a-potties was going to be quite a job," Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas told NBC Chicago.

Police did not have to open every door, however. Authorities used "infrared, heat-sensing technology attached to a helicopter" and dogs to narrow the search, the Sun-Times reports. They found the inmate inside one of the portable toilets about 8:15 p.m.

?He was in the doo-doo,? Kaupas told CBS Chicago.

Sanchez is serving a 7-year-sentence for burglary. His previous convictions include shoplifting, robbery, aggravated battery, motor vehicle theft and unlawful use of a credit card

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/03/cesar-sanchez-escaped-inm_n_1126853.html

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Wash. farm town dreads high-profile murder retrial

FILE -- In this July 10, 2006, file photo, Evan Savoie enters a Grant County Superior Courtroom in Ephrata, Wash. Savoie was sentenced to more than 26 years in prison for beating and stabbing Craig Sorger, 13, to death three years earlier. Savoie is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, for a retrial. Savoie was 12 years old at the time of Sorger's slaying on Feb. 15, 2003. (AP Photo/The Wenatchee World, Don Seabrook, File)

FILE -- In this July 10, 2006, file photo, Evan Savoie enters a Grant County Superior Courtroom in Ephrata, Wash. Savoie was sentenced to more than 26 years in prison for beating and stabbing Craig Sorger, 13, to death three years earlier. Savoie is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, for a retrial. Savoie was 12 years old at the time of Sorger's slaying on Feb. 15, 2003. (AP Photo/The Wenatchee World, Don Seabrook, File)

EPHRATA, Wash. (AP) ? Nearly eight years have passed since police found the battered body of 13-year-old Craig Sorger in a central Washington park, the victim of a beating and stabbing so brutal the tip of a knife was left in his skull.

His alleged assailants: two 12-year-old playmates, who proclaimed their innocence for months before one agreed to testify against his friend in a plea deal.

The 2003 murder painfully divided this Eastern Washington farm community settled between fields of dry sagebrush and irrigated alfalfa. Prosecutors doggedly pursued the case for three years amid national media attention and fighting between three families, until a jury convicted one boy and a judge sentenced him to 26 years.

Now the Washington state Court of Appeals has thrown out the conviction on a judge's error and ordered a new trial, to the dismay of the victim's family, prosecutors and community leaders who fear the emotional upheaval of another exhausting, expensive trial.

There won't be any teenagers in court this time around, said Grant County Deputy Prosecutor Ed Owens, who helped try the case the first time. But there's sure to be plenty of sorrow for a community still divided and still healing from "heavy wounds."

"It's the family, it's the victims, it's the whole community," Owens said. "This case was hard on everyone, and to have to go through it again is just sad."

Ephrata, population 7,700, sits about 125 miles east of Seattle surrounded by developed farm land and sagebrush. Railroad tracks run parallel to the main street in town, ferrying grain and other crops from silos and warehouses to the West Coast for export.

Residents endured a tough year in 2003 with a police shooting, a toddler's death following repeated abuse and the drowning of an 11-year-old boy in the city pool. Hundreds of people in the nearby town of Entiat signed a Christmas card to boost the community's spirits.

Then there was Craig Sorger's killing Feb. 15 at a recreational vehicle park.

Sorger was last seen playing with two 12-year-olds, Jake Eakin and Evan Savoie, and his mother reported him missing when he didn't return home. Police found his body in a mix of brush and leaves.

A medical examiner determined he had been beaten and stabbed 34 times.

Police said there were discrepancies in the playmates' stories and blood on their clothing. They proclaimed their innocence for two years, even appearing on national television, but Eakin ultimately led police to the murder weapon ? a knife that matched the missing tip ? and agreed to testify against Savoie in a plea deal.

Prosecutors tried Savoie as an adult, one of the youngest such defendants in state history, and a jury convicted him of first-degree murder.

The case ultimately cost the county and the state, which pitched in to help pay for the high-profile trial, more than $1 million.

Through it all, the three boys' families ran into each other at the gas station and in grocery stores, and residents picked sides of the arguments. Defense attorneys alleged family members might have killed Sorger, a special education student who struggled socially, sparking outrage from his parents.

When the family's medical records were inadvertently released, the trial judge appointed an attorney to represent their interests ? a point the appeals court faulted in its ruling.

The court ultimately overturned the guilty verdict and ordered a new trial on grounds that the judge also violated Savoie's right to a public trial by closing the courtroom to hear arguments on a motion.

Undoubtedly, new residents to town aren't familiar with the case, but plenty of people still remember the horror of such a random act, city administrator Wes Crago said.

And they're frustrated with a retrial, he said.

"This is a fairly small community. You've got basketball games, you're sitting next to each other in church, running into one another at the grocery store," he said. "It's tough."

Prosecutor D. Angus Lee, who was elected to office in 2009, received calls from concerned citizens with no ties to the case after the order for a retrial.

"This case is very important to a lot of people in this community on an emotional level," he said. "I can't control what was done five years ago by the court. All I can do is make sure we do our job and get a conviction."

He noted that the appeals court didn't rule on the validity of the evidence. He also said he doesn't expect the case to cost as much the second time, in part because the investigative work is already done.

However, the county will have to pay travel expenses for a judge from a neighboring county to handle the case, because none of the Grant County judges can hear it: One judge tried the case when he was prosecutor, and the other two were recused after defense attorneys raised affidavits of prejudice against them during the first trial.

Monty Hormel, who has represented Savoie since he was charged in juvenile court, also asked to be assigned for the upcoming trial ? at no charge.

"I didn't feel he got a fair shake the first time, and I want to make damn sure he does this time around," he said, putting his arm around his wife and choking up as he speaks about his client.

"We have spent a good portion of our life trying to protect this young man," he said. "I have a lot of faith in him."

The victim's mother, Lisa Sorger, declined to comment on the case. She and her younger son, now a U.S. Marine, will likely to be called to testify again.

Theresa Wallace, 43, a longtime Ephrata resident, doesn't know the Sorger family but said she and many other residents want to see justice for Craig, a skinny, blonde boy who liked Hot Wheels and catching turtles.

"For such a small community, learning that something so gruesome could happen, and they're just kids..." her voice trailed off as she recalled hearing about the murder. "It's just very sad, eight years later, to go through it again."

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2011-12-03-Teen's%20Slaying/id-3be9fc72c9ea497c8efc2d401054026e

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