After Mass Audubon says planned 'mirror houses' at Greylock Glen are bad for birds, developer removes them from campground plan

Sten Spinella | The Berkshire Eagle

"Developer Shared Estates says it is scrapping the “mirror house” cabins from its plan for Greylock Glen after environmental groups took exception. The Massachusetts Audubon Society wrote a letter, obtained by The Eagle, to the Adams Board of Selectmen last week in protest of the house design. Senior Director of Conservation Science at Mass Audubon, Jeffrey Collins, urged developer Shared Estates and the town to abandon the 'mirror house' concept for the campground because it endangers wildlife. [...] 'Mirrored glass presents a severe hazard to birds, [and] there is no evidence that this hazard is mitigated by UV coatings,' Collins wrote. 'Several hundred million birds are killed in the U.S. each year by colliding with windows — one of the top sources of human-related bird deaths. Birds do not perceive reflective glass — standard or mirrored — as a fatal barrier.' [...] Collins writes that birds see trees, or possible places to perch, in their reflection. Birds travel fast enough that if they fly toward the image, they can smack into the windows and be killed. Birds that don’t die are often weakened and become easier targets for predators. Shared Estates disputes that their proposed houses would kill birds, saying that mirrored glass is less dangerous than transparent glass because birds can see their own reflection. 'That is not the case,' Collins writes. 'In fact, a bird seeing its own reflection during the breeding season may lead to another hazard: the bird attacking this "imposter" [its own reflection] by flying repeatedly at the glass, wasting time and energy that should be spent rearing its young.'" Read More

How to Create a Pollinator Garden: A Beginner's Guide

North American Native Plant Society

"New to native plant gardening or know a novice pollinator gardener who could use a little guidance? NANPS' new guidebook, How to Create a Pollinator Garden, is designed to help someone without previous native plant experience to plan, design, solarise, plant, and maintain a successful pollinator garden, from start to finish. NANPS is grateful to TD – Friends of the Environment Foundation for the grant that made this Guide possible and for the partnership of the David Suzuki Foundation." You can download the guide here.

Monarch butterfly presence in Mexican forests drops 22%, report says

CBS News

"The number of Monarch butterflies hibernating in Mexican forests decreased by 22% last year, and the number of trees lost from their favored wintering grounds tripled, according to an annual report from the National Commission of Protected Natural Areas and the WWF-Fundación TELMEX Telcel Alliance. Frost and "extreme temperatures" in the United States may have played a role in the butterfly's decline during the most recent winter season, said Humberto Peña, director of Mexico's nature reserves. [...] Monarchs, which migrate from Mexico and California in the winter to summer breeding grounds in the United States and Canada, have seen their population decrease between 22% and 72% over the past decade, the International Union for Conservation of Nature said last year. [...] Monarchs east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada overwinter in the fir forests of the western state of Michoacan, west of Mexico City. The total area they occupied this past winter dropped to 5.4 acres (2.21 hectares), from 7 acres (2.84 hectares) last year. Gloria Tavera, conservation director of Mexico's Commission for National Protected Areas, said the area of forest cover appropriate for the butterflies that was lost rose to 145 acres (58.7 hectares), from 46.2 acres (18.8 hectares) last year." Read More

Why Your "Recycled" Grocery Bag Might Not Be

Ian Morse | Mother Jones

"To jumpstart a paltry market for recycled plastic, governments across the globe are pushing companies to include recycled materials in their products. Last year, the United Kingdom introduced a tax on manufacturers that produce or import plastic packaging containing less than 30 percent recycled plastic. In 2024, New Jersey will begin enforcing similar rules, albeit with lower targets. California now requires that beverage containers be made of 15 percent recycled materials, and Washington will enact a similar requirement later this year. The European Commission, Canada, and Mexico are all considering comparable moves. [...] But regulators may need a better way to verify that the new laws are working. While companies can enlist a third-party to certify their use of recycled content, most certifiers take a bird’s-eye view, tracking the materials across a range of products and factories. As a result, an item with a 'recycled content' label might be completely devoid of recycled content. This current approach, called mass balance, poses additional challenges for those seeking to verify recycled content. To work well, mass balance requires trustworthy and accurate data, which are not always available across a convoluted supply chain. Experts warn mass balance may also lead to inflated estimates of recycled content. Researchers in the UK have developed a novel method to measure this recycled content that adds fluorescent dyes to recycled plastics at the beginning of manufacturing. By measuring the change in color, the team can determine the amount of recycled content in each individual plastic product. Through the nonprofit ReCon2, the team is running pilot tests in real-world conditions and says this approach can help prevent fraud, keep costs low, and improve consumer trust." Read More

Oyster mushrooms expected to break down cigarette butts in new trial

Henry Belot | Grist

"Up to 1.2 million cigarette butts could be consumed by oyster mushrooms that break down toxins and microplastics as part of a trial funded by the Victorian government. Up to 9 billion plastic cigarette butts are discarded in Australia each year, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, seeping harmful microplastics and chemicals such as arsenic into waterways and soil. Sustainability Victoria will fund a program that diverts butts from landfill to a laboratory, where fungi will consume the plastic and chemicals. Studies will then determine if the byproduct produced can be transformed into a polystyrene replacement. The program will be run by Melbourne-based Fungi Solutions, which has spent years training mushrooms to consume cigarette butts, mimicking a process that occurs naturally in the wild." Read More.

Watch for amphibians on the road

MA Division of Fisheries and Wildlife

"For many Massachusetts residents, spring rain is a reminder of the changing seasons. For smaller Massachusetts natives, like amphibians, spring rains signal it’s time to emerge from winter retreats and migrate to breeding sites or disperse to new areas. Unfortunately, many of those animals will face the daunting task of having to cross roads to reach their destinations. Spotted salamanders, wood frogs, blue-spotted salamanders, Jefferson salamanders, American toads, spring peepers, four-toed salamanders, northern leopard frogs, and eastern red-backed salamanders are frequently encountered on roads during early spring rains. With little to no snow cover and the ground thawed in many areas, we expect migrations in milder, lower-elevation parts of Massachusetts to commence with the next warm, rainy night. These animals can be difficult to see, as they are generally small-bodied and move under the cover of dark. This spring, please be mindful of our amphibians and our natural heritage. How you can help: [...] •Whenever possible over the next 2 months, please consider not driving on rainy nights when air temperatures are 40°F or higher. If you must travel during such conditions, delaying beyond the first 2 hours after sunset is recommended. •Travel on larger highways rather than small, wooded roads if possible. Plan routes that minimize the number of wetlands or vernal pools passed. [...] •If assisting amphibians across roadways or handling them for other reasons, be sure your hands are free of lotions, bug repellent, or other chemicals. •Report high levels of amphibian activity or mortality to the Linking Landscapes for Massachusetts Wildlife initiative, which compiles data to reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions on problem roadways." Read More

Virtual Open House – Bard Graduate Programs in Sustainability

"The final application deadline for fall 2023 enrollment is April 15th for Bard's Graduate Programs in Sustainability. We are hosting an a Virtual Open House next week for interested students. Read on for scholarship opportunities as well!  

Virtual Open House – Wednesday, March 22 at 7pm - Register Here

Attendees will hear from faculty and alumni from each program and have the opportunity to engage in small breakout sessions." Read More

Biden Approves ConocoPhillips' Willow Project to Drill Oil in the Alaskan Arctic

Nicholas Kusnetz | Inside Climate New

"The Biden administration gave final approval Monday to a major Arctic oil project, marking one of its most significant and controversial decisions on climate change and energy. The drilling project had become an important symbol for both environmentalists and the oil industry over the last year as each camp fought to bend the decision in its favor. The administration paired the approval with an announcement that it would seek to expand or strengthen protections across 16 million acres in the Alaskan Arctic, both onshore and in coastal waters, restricting or prohibiting oil and gas drilling in those areas. The Willow Project was proposed five years ago by ConocoPhillips and would be the largest oil development to proceed under the Biden administration. Over 30 years of production, it would pump about 576 million barrels of oil from a federally-managed reserve on Alaska’s North Slope. The site lies about 30 miles west of a village of 500 residents, most of whom are Alaska Natives, and partially within a protected area that is home to millions of migratory birds and a caribou herd that is a subsistence food source for the village. [...] Christy Goldfuss, chief policy impact officer at the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a statement that the approval 'is a grievous mistake. It green-lights a carbon bomb, sets back the climate fight and emboldens an industry hell-bent on destroying the planet. It’s wrong on climate and wrong for the country.' For Biden, it was a politically fraught decision. Environmental groups fought hard to block Willow’s approval, and in the process motivated millions of young Americans to join a viral social media campaign to oppose the project. A petition on the website Change.org had drawn more than 3.2 million signatures as of Monday afternoon. [...] The final decision moderately limited the scope of Willow from what ConocoPhillips had proposed. As approved, the project could include up to 199 wells from three drilling sites, down from the five proposed by ConocoPhillips. The Interior Department, which manages the petroleum reserve, said the change would significantly reduce the water use and surface impacts of drilling. It would also reduce total oil production by about 8 percent, the decision said. [...] Supporters of the project have argued that, had the administration rejected Willow, other oil-producing countries would have made up the difference, pumping much or all of the petroleum that would have come from Willow. As a result, they argued, a rejection would not have a major impact on climate emissions. [...] One of the new drilling sites would be within the Teshekpuk Lake Special Area, a protected wilderness that surrounds the largest lake in Arctic Alaska. The area is a critical habitat for migratory birds, caribou and other animals. More than a dozen species of vulnerable birds nest, molt or rest near the lake each year, including tens of thousands of white-fronted and Brant geese, according to the Audubon Society. In a statement on Monday, the Interior Department said it would propose a new rule that 'will consider additional protections for the more than 13 million acres designated as Special Areas,' including Teshekpuk Lake, 'in recognition of their importance to wildlife and subsistence uses.' The statement also said the administration would protect about 2.8 million acres of the Arctic Ocean, banning oil and gas drilling indefinitely. Paired with steps taken by the Obama administration, that would remove all federally-managed waters in the Arctic Ocean from possible drilling." Read More

UN warns against 'vampiric' global water use

Marita Moloney | BBC News

"A United Nations report has warned of a looming global water crisis and an "imminent risk" of shortages due to overconsumption and climate change. The world is 'blindly travelling a dangerous path' of 'vampiric overconsumption and overdevelopment', the report says. Its publication comes before the first major UN water summit since 1977. Thousands of delegates will attend the three-day gathering in New York which begins on Wednesday. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres says water, 'humanity's lifeblood', is being drained by 'unsustainable water use, pollution and unchecked global warming' The report, published by UN Water and Unesco, warns that "scarcity is becoming endemic" because of overconsumption and pollution, while global warming will increase seasonal water shortages in both areas with abundant water and those already strained. Richard Connor, the lead author of the report, said that about 10% of the global population 'currently lives in areas that are high or critical water stress'. In our report, we say that up to 3.5 billion people live under conditions of water stress at least one month a year,' he told the BBC. According to the most recent UN climate report, published Monday by the IPCC expert panel, 'roughly half of the world's population currently experience severe water scarcity for at least part of the year'." Read More