Prince Charles says GMO crops will be "disaster"

Britain's Prince Charles said on Wednesday the widespread use of genetically modified crops would be the biggest environmental disaster of all time.

The 59-year-old heir to the British throne is well known for supporting organic farming, but his comments published in an interview with the Daily Telegraph were his most outspoken yet on GMO foods.

His views will strike a chord in Britain where biotech crops -- widely grown in North and South America -- have faced significant opposition with concerns centered on food safety and possible environmental impacts.

Charles said multinational food companies, such as Monsanto, were conducting a "gigantic experiment with nature and the whole of humanity which has gone seriously wrong".

If large companies took over the mass production of food, it would hurt small farmers and the environment, while "excessive approaches to modern forms of agriculture" had damaged water supplies in India's Punjab and in Western Australia, he said.

For more on this BBC new story

Pesticide Lawsuit Settled with the Natl. Marine Fisheries Service

Recently, a coalition of fishing and environmental groups settled a law suit with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The settlement requires NMFS to examine the impacts that 37 pesticides commonly used in the Pacific Northwest and California have on the protected salmon and steelhead. NMFS must also design permanent measures to help users minimize harmful pesticide effects.

The settlement requires NMFS to examine the impacts that 37 pesticides commonly used in the Pacific Northwest and California have on the protected salmon and steelhead. NMFS must also design permanent measures to help pesticide users minimize harmful pesticides effects.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined that the 37 toxic pesticides at issue in the settlement may harm protected salmon and steelhead. Most of the pesticides have been detected in major salmon and steelhead rivers in the Pacific Northwest and California.

More than five years ago, a federal court ordered EPA to consult with NMFS on the impacts that certain pesticides have on salmon and steelhead in the Pacific Northwest and California. EPA began submitting the required assessments to NMFS, but NMFS never identified the measures needed to protect salmon and steelhead. The federal Endangered Species Act required NMFS to complete such actions within 90 days of receiving EPA’s assessments. They never did.

July 30, 2008, NMFS finally agreed to complete the overdue assessments over a four-year period. These consultations are expected to culminate in undetermined measures designed to reduce the amount of pesticides that run into salmon-supporting rivers and streams. Success.

Tucson Harvesting Rainwater

everGREEN landscape architects points out the merits of harvesting rainwater to all its clients. Now, the Tucson (Arizona) City Council, along with the help of homebuilders, developers, and environmental groups, has drafted an ordinance that would make rainwater harvesting a requirement. The requirement would only apply to new commercial developments, but the ordinance has a lot of issues that need to be worked out before it becomes official.

In Tucson, the sight of rain is pretty common at this time of the year, and much of it usually makes its way into a wash.

In the harvesting process, rainwater drips down into two collection points and collects in a cistern. Then, that water can be used to do a variety of things, such as watering plants.

There are a few questions people have about rainwater harvesting.
One sticking points is that harvested rainwater would have to supply a minimum of 75% of a development’s landscape water budget. And according to landscaper Richard Underwood, “Cisterns are not real attractive, they look like mini-silos.” Also, some cost about $2,000 to install. Obviously, Richard Underwood hasn't consulted a landscape architect. At everGREEN landscape architects, we have disguished cisterns as focal points - an enormous urn or a boulder, both made of ferrocement. There are also cisterns that fit within a column (think columns over a covered porch). We've even seen a cistern disguised as a boulder among 'real' boulders. You couldn't tell the difference. The possibilities are endless... Talk to a landscape architect.

The Tucason City Council won’t vote on the ordinance until October. If it passes, the plan wouldn’t go into effect until June of 2010.

Renewable-Energy Tax Credits Essential to Building Green Economy

As the unemployment rate reached a four-year high, and after Congress failed this week to extend essential renewable-energy tax credits, the Blue Green Alliance said today that the U.S. is missing an enormous opportunity to create middle-class green jobs that will reinvigorate our economy, increase our energy independence and fight the global-climate crisis.

"The future of our economy depends on investments in renewable-energy sources like wind and solar power," said David Foster, executive director of the Blue Green Alliance.

At everGREEN landscape architects, we hope the election rings in new policies that stimulate business, sustainable ventures, quality of life and our very survival. We'll see...

8 States And Conservation Groups To Sue EPA

A coalition of conservation groups and state attorneys general has filed formal letters warning of impending lawsuits over the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's failure to address global warming pollution from ocean-going ships and aircraft. The conservation groups' notice of 'intent to sue' was filed by Earthjustice on behalf of Oceana, Friends of the Earth and the Center for Biological Diversity.

Additionallly, eight state and local jurisdictions filed similar notices today, formally declaring their intent to sue the EPA for unreasonable delay. The states include California, Connecticut, Oregon, New Jersey, and the California Air Resources Board, South Coast Air Quality Management District, New York City, and the Pennsylvania Dept of Environmental Protection.

"More than 15 months after the Supreme Court's order, EPA continues to ignore its legal -- and moral -- obligation to act quickly to protect the health and welfare of Americans. The Bush administration is wasting precious time with continued foot-dragging -- time that we don't have. We have gone to court to force action by this or the next administration," said Martin Wagner of Earthjustice, who is representing the coalition.

City of Berkeley pays for homeowners to go solar

We at everGREEN landscape architects, couln't be more pleased by this story out of Berkeley, California.

Imagine if buying a cell phone meant paying for 20 years of cell phone service up front. That is essentially the way in which most people purchase solar panels - one pays an expensive up front fee for the promise of little to no electric bills in the future. But imagine if you could pay the same monthly electric bill to have solar panels installed on your roof as you typically pay the power company, and eventually you would have no bill at all!

For more...

Seminary Takes the LEED

As a member of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), everGREEN landscape architects is glad to see the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating catching on. The Associated Mennonite Biblical Seminary (AMBS) campus in Elkhart, Ind. is celebrating 50 years in 2008. AMBS dedicated its new gold rated LEED-certified library and campus center on April 25-26. It is the first theological library in the U.S. registered with the USGBC.

LEED green landscaping elements include:

1. prairie grasses and other native species that require little water and provides wildlife habitat.
2. Permeable concrete allows rainwater to be absorbed on site.
3. There are no gutters or down spouts, but water gardens collect water and negate the need for irrigation installation.
4. Also a minimum number of trees were removed from the site during construction and no new parking areas were added.
5. The library exceeded LEED requirements for use of regional materials and recycled content during renovation.
6. Over 85 percent of construction detritus was recycled.