The president may declare that we’re “addicted to oil,” but the Bush Administration proved again that they aren’t planning to do anything to wean the country from its deadly habit. Reporter Matthew L. Wald of the New York Times covered the Transportation Department’s March 29th announcement that manufacturers have another four years–till 2011–to improve the fuel economy of cars, trucks and SUVs sold in the U.S. by a measly 8%.
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy summarized the public testimony from the six regional forums in 2005. The conservancy will incorporate these comments into the strategic plan it is now developing. Comments are sorted into five major topics, and grouped by region, and are available for download as PDFs.
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What can you buy for $16 million in the Sierra Nevadas?
The state Resource Agency will find out May 12, 2006, when proposals are due for the “acquisition of land and water rights to protect water quality in lakes, reservoirs, rivers, streams and wetlands in the Sierra Nevada-Cascade Mountain Region.”
The Board of the Sierra Nevada Conservancy voted at its February 23 meeting to set up shop in Auburn. By law, the conservancy was required to establish its headquaters in the Sierra Nevada range “in order to effectively carry out its mission.”
The federal government has created a comprehensive website to track the latest information about the avian flu:
PandemicFlu.gov | U.S. information on pandemic flu and avian influenza.
While U.S. operators shy away from “eco-tourism,” the World Bank takes this market niche seriously. The International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is affiliated with the World Bank, launched its Environmental Business Finance Program in 2004, to spur the development of small businesses that are both environmentally and economically sustainable.
Architect Sim Van der Ryn and scientist Stuart Cowan develop the concept of ecological design, design that “minimizes environmentally destructive impacts by integrating itself with natural processes.” The authors acknowledge that “sustainability has become a kind of mantra of the 1990s,” used to “justify a wide variety of connventional large-scale development schemes.” As an alternative, they posit “ecological sustainability” that involves conservation, regeneration and stweardship.
As I perused the e-newsletters cluttering my inbox, I noticed over half a dozen conferences variously titled eco-tourism, sustainable tourism, green travel. None of them take place in California.
One of the e-pubs, The Sustainable Travel International, mentions three events:
In February, there was also the International Conference on Tourism and Environmental Certifications in Portugal, and the Responsible Travel Forum in Baltimore, Maryland.
Here we get California Travel Industry Association’s Conference on Tourism at Disneyland’s Magical Kingdom in Anaheim, and more than our share of adventure travel expos. That’s not to say nothing is happening in California, but given the state’s “green” reputation, its embarassing the state’s travel and hospitality industry has failed to register what has become the most important niche in the business.
While the state’s travel industry seems to be ignoring eco-tourism, green travel is on the agenda for advocates of “smart growth.” There are some hopeful signs that local businesseses and communities, in partnership with the public sector, are exploring eco-tourism as a driver for sustainable economic development and environmental preservation.
For more information, check out: