(Time for a quick commercial announcement....) Believe the elections were "stolen/rigged?"? WORK A POLL! Worried about 80 year olds in charge of technological results of voting? BE A POLLWORKER. Now...Onto some last bites of 2007 Environmental News to USE...in 2008.
Environmental issues get unprecedented focus. Gone are the days when Al Gore was the lone political voice talking about global warming and alternative energy. Not only have Gore's fellow Democrats detailed positions on the issue, but Republicans have begun to find their voices as well. Des Moines Register
2007 was year global warming took center stage. Global warming also played a big role in local politics and policy debates, and local scientists' voices were clearly heard. San Diego North County Times
Climate change recognition heads the list for 2007. 2007 was the year in which global warming finally began to be taken seriously. The climate change deniers were in full retreat, and the realization that we face a long and grave crisis was finally dawning on the general public. Salt Lake Tribune
Holding out for a hero: Green leaders for 2008. No doubt about it, the world's top sustainability hero in 2007 was big Al. London Daily Telegraph
Know the new environmental laws? A solar water heater for your home, alternative fuels for your car and toys free from toxic chemicals are among the goals of new environmental laws set to take effect in 2008 and beyond. Stockton Record
Green fatigue' leads to fear of backlash over climate change. British people are now convinced about the dangers of global warming but are either baffled about how to stop it or are ignoring the issue. London Observer
Great Lakes record lows. The Great Lakes are hitting new record low water levels, opening debate about whether this is just part of the historic ups and downs of the Great Lakes, or if it's the effects of global warming. Great Lakes Radio Consortium
Tough mussel pain, no easy remedy. An invasive mussel first detected in California less than a year ago has surged across the state's southern counties, stirring concern that its spread will inflict costly damage to public water systems and fisheries statewide. Los Angeles Times
Mega Fish Farms Coming to US? Right now, fish farming in the U.S. can only be done in inland or near shore waters. The U.S. government is deciding whether to allow fish farms in federal waters, in the zone between three and 200 miles offshore.- Great Lakes Radio Consortium
A greener Oregon landscape in 2008. Oregon enters 2008 with the broadest lineup of new environmental and clean-energy laws in decades. Not since the early 1970s has the state put such environmental -- or in the new-green lexicon "sustainability" -- ambitions on the books. Portland Oregonian
A push to unleash consumer agency. A year of recalls and lead scares in the toy industry is spurring Congress toward the largest overhaul in decades of the nation's product safety watchdog. Chicago Tribune
Why the era of cheap food is over. One trend is that consumers in India and China are eating more meat. The other is that more and more crops – from corn to palm nuts – are being used to make biofuels instead of feeding people. Christian Science Monitor.
Ethanol stirring coastal concerns. Some environmentalists are worried that the shift to ethanol — viewed as a home-grown alternative to foreign oil — could enlarge the northern Gulf's "dead zone," an 8,000-square-mile area so devoid of oxygen that fish, shrimp and other sea life cannot survive. Houston Chronicle
Ethanol fuels rivals’ push for caucuses. Presidential candidate Barack Obama’s visit to Charles City not only symbolises how every vote counts ahead of Iowa’s caucus on Thursday, it also speaks of the political clout of the ethanol industry in the state, the US’s biggest producer of the corn-based alternative fuel. Financial Times
Global warming would eliminate Dominican tourism by 2050. Global warming will eliminate tourism in the Dominican Republic by 2050 under business-as-usual. Santo Domingo Dominican Today
Bahrain running up big green debt. Bahrain's current generation is running up an unsustainable ecological debt that future generations will inherit, according to an environmental protection official. Manama Gulf Daily News
Ethanol debate rages over corn crops. A broad energy law signed by President Bush this month requires a major increase in corn-based ethanol and other biofuels to combat global warming and reduce U.S. dependence on imported oil. But it won't come without a cost. USA Today
Biofuel questions raised. Ethanol got a major boost from Congress this month, but two disparate groups are trying to put on the brakes: clean-air advocates and the makers of motorboats, lawnmowers and other off-road engines. Sioux Falls Argus Leader
Gov't to open doors to biofuel imports by nixing import dues. The government will exempt biofuel from import tariffs in fiscal 2008 as part of its efforts to help prevent global warming, officials said. Mainichi Daily News
Couple create eco-friendly resort. Eco-tourism, which represents about 5% of the American tourism market, is among the travel industry’s fastest-growing sectors. Fort Wayne Journal Gazette
N.C. leads fight to stop tainted food. North Carolina isn't waiting for the next time imported products sicken a child or kill a cat. Raleigh News & Observer
New labels balance nutrition pros and cons, give each food a score. Scientists will introduce a new labeling system that they say will help consumers easily identify the healthiest foods in a grocery store - every product will be rated on a scale of 1 to 100, with 100 going to the most nutritious products. San Francisco Chronicle
U.S. Supreme Court expected to make decision on Teck Cominco case soon. The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide this week if it wants to hear the case of a pollution lawsuit against Teck Cominco Ltd., a case legal experts say could make it easier for U.S. environmentalists to sue other Canadian companies. Canadian Press
Archbishop warns of dangers of waste culture. The Archbishop of Canterbury used his New Year's Eve message to push the environment and said: "God doesn't do waste." London Daily Telegraph
UK ministers urged to recognise farmers' value. A "sea-change" in Government attitudes towards farming is needed in the face of increasingly insecure food supplies and climate change, the National Farmers' Union says. London Daily Telegraph
Will Manitoba's water go south? Manitobans reject the possibility of exporting bulk water to the United States, even though some experts believe this province could make substantial economic gains in such deals, says a new poll done exclusively for the Free Press. Winnipeg Free Press
New Year's Eve ball goes green. The famous New Year's Eve ball will have its lights replaced with more than 9,000 energy efficient bulbs. Morning Edition
Ohio lost more bees to cold winter than to Colony Collapse Disorder. How are honeybees doing after a full season of coping with Colony Collapse Disorder, which caused about half of the bees to abandon their hives and never return? Solon Herald Sun
Wind power in Texas the new 'gold rush'. When it comes to pollution, Texas has a big problem. We breathe some of the dirtiest air in the country. But when it comes to making clean-burning energy, we've come a long way. Texas leads the nation in wind power. Fort Worth WFAA TV
Air worse than Seattle's. On many days, breathing the air in Marysville is comparable to breathing the air on a street corner in downtown Seattle. In the fall and winter, it's worse. Everett Daily Herald
Environment & health 2007. Kern County choked on news that it will take 17 years, possibly more, to reduce smog. Bakersfield Californian,
Community fights 'surprise' power plant. Ladera Ranch, California residents say they saw no public notices about a proposed power plant, but now they're racing to halt construction. Los Angeles Times
Rialto City Council versus perchlorate. Since a dangerous chemical was discovered in its drinking water in 1997, the city has not shied away from a fight to get the water cleaned up. San Bernardino County Sun
Absurdity at the EPA. The Environmental Protection Agency outdid itself this time. Dallas Morning News
Sustainable Living: It's time for America to face the energy facts. Sorry kids, but if Santa were taking a real close look, we all would have received a lump of coal in our stockings this year for being the worst contributors to global warming on the planet. Middletown Times Herald-Record
Amid toy concern, remember lead paint threat in old homes. Toys, to date anyway, aren't the major, documented danger. It's actually homes. Oshkosh Northwestern
The plastic killing fields. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean is a floating garbage patch twice the size of Britain. The water has six times as much plastic as plankton, a soup that is releasing poisons and heading for your dinner table. Sydney Morning Herald
Seattle's state of the waters. Millions have been spent restoring Seattle's streams since the 1990s. So what do we get for that? The most detailed study ever done on the creeks and small lakes in this city--and possibly any other urban area--tells a murky story. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Toiling for scraps in Myanmar's mines. In Myanmar, children toil alongside prospectors for bits of gold and jade -- backbreaking work that exposes them to toxic mercury -- and resentment gleams dully below the surface. Los Angeles Times
Chinese town where old presents go to die. The Chinese town of Guiyu is the graveyard of Christmas past. It is where presents - game consoles, laptops, mobile phones - come to die. London Daily Telegraph
The hazards inside the tube. With U.S. broadcasters slated to switch to all-digital transmissions on Feb. 17, 2009 - and millions of viewers already replacing their older sets with high-definition TVs - American consumers are creating what some critics see as an environmental disaster. Baltimore Sun
Chemical plant measure hailed as victory. New Jersey activists and officials declared victory Thursday in a fight to prevent the federal government from superseding state rules on chemical plant security. Bergen County Record
Alaskans weigh the cost of gold. A proposed Alaskan gold mine would involve building the biggest dam in the world at the headwaters of the world's largest sockeye salmon fishery, which it would risk obliterating with toxic mine waste. Washington Post.
Left high and dry? It wasn’t until the 1970s, after half the wetlands had vanished, that scientists realized their value. Daytona Beach News-Journal
The picture of climate change. Salafaga Talua has a difficult decision on her hands, to either pack her bags and leave Tuvalu for safer territories or stay and watch her country slowly sink under the rising sea levels in the Pacific and hope for the best. Fiji Times
Lack of rain killing firs, experts say. Tree experts on southern Vancouver Island fear climate change is threatening the giant conifer's survival in the wild. Toronto Globe and Mail
Solar energy 'revolution' brings green power closer. The holy grail of renewable energy came a step closer yesterday as thousands of mass-produced wafer-thin solar cells printed on aluminium film rolled off a production line in California. London Guardian
Ocean-wave energy goes commercial. Harnessing energy from ocean waves to produce electricity takes a giant leap forward today as the nation's largest utility announces the first commercial agreement to purchase power generated with this cutting-edge technology. US News & World Report
A new front in the fuel fight. A Republican pollster was surprised to find one issue uniting every segment of the U.S. electorate. All put America's dependence on foreign oil at the top of the political agenda. US News & World Report