How unenvironmental of you Sen. Obama!

In this week's US Magazine, Senator/Presidential hopeful/supposed environmental advocate Barack Obama gleefully accepts non-biodegradable plastic grocery bags from an Iowa grocery. The League of Conservation Voters claim he has a 90+ lifetime environmental record based on his time as an elected leader... if only his personal habits on the campaign trail were as good. You would think that such an environmental guy who even has campaign advisors would at least be able to find a reusable canvas bag somewhere. And if you look closely - these bags are barely full - he could have at least only used one... Here's a bag you could have used Senator Obama:

As for Senator Hillary Clinton's campaign's environmentalness, hers is carbon-neutral.

Look at the full slideshow: Barack Obama: he's just like US!

British surfers clean up ocean sewage

Paul Massey produced a compelling short video for Current Television on a group of British surfers who created a group called Surfers Against Sewage. Surfing is a sport that many people travel all over the world for, but surfing a pristine clean ocean is not something that is as common. These surfers were actually getting physically sick from pollution and litter in the ocean while ironically doing their sport that is supposed to be one-with-nature. Watch the report below:

I'm ready for Hillary to be President....Are you?

Ecotravel news is endorsing Senator Hillary Clinton as the Democratic nominee for President. Read the myspace ad below to learn about her issues and how to support and contribute to her campaign.



America is ready for change, and Hillary Clinton is ready to lead. She's a doer. She's traveled to every corner of the planet, into the most war-torn regions where few other leaders (especially the current President) have gone, and she knows in her bones that the world is crumbling...and so is America.

And when all is said and done, this woman leads already. I will vote for Hillary, because she's tough as nails and willing to lead us. I love the fact that I can vote for a woman for president who's ready to walk through the fires of hell for me.

I am ready for change
I am ready to see the end of this Iraq War
I am ready for Universal Healthcare
I am ready to improve our schools
I am ready for our country to be energy independent
I am ready for a strong woman in the White House
I am ready for a leader
I am ready for Hillary Clinton

Let's show Hillary that we have her back -- make an online contribution today.

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Dark side of carbon offsets

Travelers concerned about carbon emissions from their plane trips have been led to believe that by simply buying carbon offsets they will erase their carbon footprints. Popular offsetting programs plant trees in developing countries; the notion being that young trees absorb lots of carbon, will balance out emissions and help the developing country too. But what doesn't get talked about is what actually goes into getting the trees planted. First-worlders who assume that the third-world will benefit from new trees don't really know what happens after they buy their carbon offsets. Plenty Magazine reports on Ugandan villagers who were brutally forced out of their villages all in the name of planting carbon offset trees:

"Early one morning in 1993, Wilson Turinawe woke up to the crack of gunfire in Uganda’s Kibale National Park. Paramilitary park rangers were attacking his village. His thatched hut was set on fire. His wife grabbed their infant child and ran... Turinawe is one of 30,000 villagers who have been kicked out of their homes in Uganda’s Kibale National Park to make way for a massive, 86,000-acre tree-planting project. The trouble, Turinawe says, actually started 4,000 miles away in Europe, where businesses have been giving money to the Forest Absorbing Carbon Dioxide Emission (FACE) Foundation, a Dutch nonprofit that pays the Ugandan government to plant trees that will one day offset carbon emissions."

Read the full story: The carbon offset trade is booming. But how fare is the trade?

No worries in Alaska's ANWR

The Washington Post reports on an epic-ish trip to "one of North America's last remaining wild expanses" - aka - Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). A trip that author Paula Stone worried about ahead of time incessantly and needlessly since the trip turned out to have beautiful weather. Dangers and annoyances like huge mosquitoes and bears were dealt with humor and awe respectively. And the experience and vistas were worth it:

"No amount of reading could have prepared me for the beauty of this treeless place. I kept kneeling on the tundra to inspect gorgeous wildflowers, grasses clinging to fragile soils, swelling berries and tiny spiders, while [my husband] clambered on the rocks. Overhead, chattering birds -- most of which had migrated thousands of miles to breed here -- raced the clock to raise their young during the short summer season. The vistas were enormous, stunning: a distant mountainside was awash in pink; another bloomed wispy white. We walked along ancient animal trails, over spongy tussocks, across shivery streams, in the wake of bear, wolf and caribou tracks. A rainbow halo encircled the sun."

Read the full story: No roads, no regrets

Scottish town's environmental Trump problem

Short film makers posted a thought-provoking video on Current Television's website about the problem of large developers and environmental damage. Billionaire real estate and resort developer Donald Trump won a highly protested bid to build a golf course that will partially destroy nationally protected sand dunes in Scotland. Golf courses use pesticides and irrigation techniques that are potentially damaging to water sources. Golf courses also bring tourists which can help enrich communities that lack other tourist infrastructure.