Podcast: Download (Duration: 7:46 — 8.9MB)

The Headlines:

Earth Day like Christmas to 25 communities
“Spring Creep” sets in
Amazon dam moves forward
Bolivia demands compensation for melting glaciers
Isabella Rossellini confuses and arouses us

The Details:

Earth Day like Christmas to 25 communities

Earth Day was a wonderful celebration of the planet, and for 25 lucky places in the U.S., it was just like Christmas!

Vice President Joe Biden has allotted $452 million from the Recovery Act to retrofit energy-efficient building into 25 communities. The 25 projects, which will begin in fall 2010, will also gain an estimated $2.8 billion from other sources over the next three years, which will go toward retrofitting hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses in the U.S.

Some of the lucky places include Camden, New Jersey, Philadephia, PA, Seattle, Washington, Portland, Oregon, and LA County, California.

“Spring Creep” sets in

It’s getting warmer earlier this year and we have global warming to thank. Reuters reports that Spring has sprung 10 days earlier this year than it has in the past two decades. It might seem like a welcome surprise, but it has downsides.

The phenomenon known as “spring creep” has put various species of U.S. wildlife out of balance with their traditional habitats. “The losers tend to be our native plant species,” said Charles Davis of Harvard University. “Climate change is not affecting species uniformly,” Davis said. “Certain groups are hit harder than others, and those species that are not able to respond to climate change … are being hit the hardest.”

Amazon dam moves forward

One of the world’s largest hydroelectric dams is moving forward in Brazil, even with the dissent of environmentalists, native Brazilians, and even James Cameron. The $11 billion, 11,000-megawatt dam, to be constructed on the Xingu River feeding the Amazon, would be the world’s third-largest hydroelectric energy producer.

Movie director James Cameron has lobbied to stop the project, visiting Brazil’s Indians and even comparing their struggle against the dam to the plot of “Avatar.”

Cameron and environmentalists claim the dam would cause serious social and environmental damages. The Brazilian government has dismissed these claims.

Bolivia demands compensation for melting glaciers

Bolivian civilizations including the Incas have long depended on the glaciers surrounding the Andes mountains for crop and drinking water. But now, the glaciers are retreating due to global warming, leaving the Andeans scrounging for water.

“We don’t know how to calculate the compensation because we are not professionals, we are simply farmers. But we would like assistance, and then to receive some money and, with that money, to build dykes to store the water, improve the water canals,” said Alivio Aruquipa, a community leader from one of the Andean villages.

As retribution for this problem, the affected communities are calling for an international court of environmental justice, an idea that is being pushed by Evo Morales, Bolivia’s president. The idea is to present a draft proposal to the next climate change meeting, COP16, that will be held in Mexico late this year.

Isabella Rossellini confuses and arouses us

Some of you may remember the world famous actress Isabella Rossellini. She’s been in movies like Blue Velvet and Death Becomes Her, and more recently she played Jack Donaghy’s jealous wife in 30 Rock. Well not everyone knows, but Miss Rossellini also had her own show on the Sundance Channel called “Green Porno“, where she showed silly costumed reenactments of insect passion.

It was a really goofy but more importantly informative show, and now she’s back with a new show called “Seduce Me“. It’s a new series of 5 mini-episodes exploring the unconventional seduction rituals of ducks, snakes, cuttlefish, and more. Also on the Sundance Channel as well as online, this show is a unique way to get people talking about the environment and the animals that share the planet with us.