· April, 2006

Stories about Environment from April, 2006

Martinique: Gas Ration In Case of Strike

  29 April 2006

Bien Vu laments (FR) rumors of an imminent gas station strike and hopes a new twenty Euro per person ration is not in vain. “You don't want to be driving a 4X4 right now” he says.

Man and anthill (Guyana)

  29 April 2006

Admiring an anthill in the north Rupununi, Guyana, with the Kanuku Mountains hidden by clouds in the distance. Photo by Nicholas Laughlin.

Chernobyl: First Victims

  28 April 2006

Oleksa of My Reflections writes about Chernobyl and its first victims: “However, it is the plight of the 14 firefighters that made the greatest impression on me. They arrived on the station mere minutes after the blast and had to extinguish fire with their bare hands, almost literally, throwing the...

Belarus, Ukraine: Chernobyl Meaning

  28 April 2006

Vilhelm Konnander explains the meaning of Chernobyl for Belarus 20 years later. Tim Newman of White Sun of the Desert disagrees with Sean Guillory's take on the lessons of Chernobyl: “To use Chernobyl as a reason to abandon nuclear power is like using the Titanic as a reason to discontinue...

Trinidad & Tobago: Press statement on aluminum smelter

  28 April 2006

The Rights Action Group T&T blog pulls no punches in the press statement outlining the group's views on the aluminium smelter project proposed for south Trinidad: “What is at stake for Trinidad and Tobago is not only the giving away of our natural gas, which accounts for 20% of our...

Belarus: Charnobylski Shlyakh Arrests

  27 April 2006

Iryna of TOL's Belarus Blog writes about more arrests and detentions in Belarus, following yesterday's protest rally “Charnobylski Shlyakh.” She also quotes Syarhei Kaliakin, an opposition activist: “20 years ago Chernobyl disaster has taken place. 10 years ago a political Chernobyl has happened, when the legally elected parliament was disbanded...

Belarus: Chernobyl and Charnobylski Shlyah

  26 April 2006

br23 blog writes about how he, then a 10-year-old son of two physicist parents, learned about the accident at the Chernobyl power plant 20 years ago. Ivan Lenin writes about today's protest rally in Minsk, and TOL's Belarus Blog links to Radio Liberty's photos from the rally.

Chernobyl: Letters Never Written

  26 April 2006

LJ user wall4 – originally from Lviv, Ukraine, now living in Connecticut – writes about his experience as a soldier forced to serve in Chernobyl 20 years ago (RUS). The piece is accompanied by several black-and-white army pictures. 20 Years Ago. Letters I haven't written. “Mama, I'll never forget how...

China: Red but greening

  26 April 2006

In ‘Is China Going Green, Part VIII?‘, China Law Blog‘s Dan Harris relates a Wall Street Journal story on increasing environmental awareness in the rapidly-developing Asian country to his own experiences there: “We have found the same thing in our China work for foreign companies, particularly in the last few...

Barbados: Future of the wetlands

  26 April 2006

Barbados Free Press posts the first in a proposed three-part series on the future of the Graeme Hall Nature Sanctuary, “the last remaining, healthy mangrove swamp on Barbados”.

Chernobyl: Facts and Myths

  26 April 2006

Vilhelm Konnander writes about the facts and myths of Chernobyl: “The first news of the accident actually reached a western audience. High radioactive levels were registered at Swedish and Finnish nuclear plants already on 26 april. It quickly became apparent that the radioactivity emanated from somewhere within the Soviet Union....

Estonia: Land and People

  26 April 2006

Giustino of Itching for Eestimaa writes about a book about Scandinavia by Joanna Kavenna and his own perception of Estonia and its people: “Kavenna continually points out that Estonians are a simple people who are connected to nature and rocks and lakes. How true. I call my in-laws pakapikud –...

Belarus: Chernobyl Neglect

  26 April 2006

TOL's Belarus Blog notes that when it comes to Chernobyl awareness and aid distribution, Belarus is neglected: “70% of all the radioactive fallout landed in Belarus. And yet, in mass-media world-wide everyone talks only about Ukraine. Belarus is lucky if it’s getting 5-10% of the coverage and 5-10% of the...

USVI: Condo protest

  25 April 2006

Frank Barnako reports that demonstrators protesting condominium development were barred from attending a ceremony marking the opening of the port in St. John, US Virgin Islands.