Environmental Sciences Information

Marydee Ojala. Information Today. Medford: Jul/Aug 2007. Vol. 24, Iss. 7; pg. 13, 1 pgs

To read all of her article, click here.

Mike Flynn, deputy director of the Office of Information Analysis & Access at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), was a guest at SLAs Public Policy Update session at the SLAAnnual Conference in June in Denver.

The following excerpt expresses a concern about the “accessibility”/”findability” of the EPA documents archived online: “It’s a key strategy of the EPA, said Flynn, to put more documents relevant to the topic online. Will Google be able to find EPA-archived documents, or will they be protected by a robots. txt file? Flynn gamely admitted his ignorance about robots.txt files and thought Google could find EPA documents, but knowledgeable librarians in the audience were skeptical. Is EPA a closed system? Are there opportunities to work with U.N. initiatives to open up EPA information to the world? Flynn’s answers weren’t the epitome of clarity, although he opted for openness.” - Marydee Ojala

Source: www.infotodayblog.com

EPA LIBRARY CLOSURES HAMPERING AGENCY WORK, ARBITRATOR FINDS EPA Guilty of Bad Faith and Unfair Labor Practice in Shutting Agency Libraries

Washington, DC - A federal arbitrator has found the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency guilty of unfair labor practices and acting in bad faith in its national series of library closures, according to a ruling posted today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). EPA is ordered to bargain with affected public employee unions before making any further changes in its library network. During the past two years, EPA has closed or reduced access to much of its network of libraries which serve both its own specialists and the public. Altogether, access to EPA libraries in 23 states has been completely lost, and several specialized collections have been shuttered, including its headquarters library.

Date: Thu, 28 Feb 2008 17:45:19 -0500 From: Lynne E. Bradley lbradley@alawash.org From: Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER)

For Immediate Release: Thursday, February 28, 2008 Contact: Carol Goldberg (202) 265-7337

The EPA National Library Network Report to Congress has been released.

It is dated March 26, 2008.

http://www.epa.gov/natlibra/documents/LibraryReportto_Congress.pdf

In the report it states that the EPA will receive S1 million to reopen the following libraries, which it hopes to do by September 30, 2008: EPA Libraries in Regions 5, 6 & 7, Chicago, Dallas, & Kansas City respectively, and the EPA Headquarters Repository and Chemical Library in Washington, D.C.

Shana Weber, the University’s Sustainability Manager, spoke at a Lunch ‘n Learn on Wednesday, March 12th, on “The Greening of Technology: Sustainability Initiatives at Princeton” Highlights of it are on OIT’s blog: “IT’s Academic” Four from OIT were also on the panel: Leila Shahbender, Charles Kruger, Curt Hillegas, and John Shorey. They spoke about what OIT has instituted as practical applications and ideas to reduce the University’s carbon footprint. A podcast is available, as well as the presentations (powerpoint) from both links above.

From The Scout Report, March 7, 2008 — A little out of scope, but food for thought:

Ecology, Art, and Technology [Macromedia Flash Player, iTunes, Quick Time] http://www.ecoarttech.net/

“The intersection between ecology, art, and technology is a complex one, and one that provides the inspiration for the EcoArtTech organization. The organization was created in 2005 and they are primarily interested in “working with digital, networked, and sustainable technologies and contemporary environments to create art about the environmentality of modern life.” Their work is funded by Colgate University, the Turbulence Commission, and the Pine Lake Environmental Campus of Hartwick College. From the homepage, visitors can learn about some recent projects, view video podcasts of installations, and learn more about upcoming events and exhibits. The projects include “Frontier Mythology” which is a mobile, solar-powered environmental digital video and FM radio installation made of recycled shipping pallets. Visitors can watch the Quick Time documentary that profiles this installation, and they may want to mention it to friends and colleagues. Overall, it’s a fine site and one that is quite thought provoking.” [KMG]

Earth Day 2008 April 22 marks the 38th anniversary of Earth Day, a day of celebration and activism intended to raise awareness of environmental issues. In 1970 a nationwide “Environmental Teach-In,” led by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson and Denis Hayes, helped organize around 20 million demonstrators to show support for a policy agenda focused on these concerns. FULL STORY

Source: the National Academies “WHATSNEWLIST”, Aoril 18, 2008

“ISO 14001 is the internationally recognised standard for the environmental management of businesses. It prescribes controls for those activities that have an effect on the environment. These include the use of natural resources, handling and treatment of waste and energy consumption.” For more details click here.

Article and Video: This Green House (~6 min.) from the New York Times, May 26, 2008

A day with the environmentally conscious students living in the ‘sustainability house’ at Oberlin College.

Finally released, after four years, and even now only after threat of a court order — from the National Science and Technology Council, Scientific Assessment of the Effects of Global Change on the United States

Source: CHEMICAL INFORMATION SOURCES DISCUSSION LIST on behalf of Robert Michaelson

“USDA to stop collecting data on pesticide use The National Agricultural Statistics Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), has announced that it will stop collecting data about the amount of pesticide applied to various crops. The program has been the public’s only source of reliable data on pesticide and fertilizer use for much of the United States. These data showed that pesticide use in engineered corn, soybeans, and cotton was higher than in conventional varieties, even though the biotech industry claimed that engineered crops would need less pesticide. Without the USDA’s data, UCS and other groups will have no way to track this trend into the future and evaluate the biotechnology industry’s claims. The Environmental Protection Agency also relies on the data to determine which chemicals should be regulated. In response to the announcement, 44 scientific, environmental, and sustainable farming groups including UCS have asked the USDA’s Secretary to reverse the decision. Read the letter, or read more from the Associated Press”.

Source: The FEED newsletter from Union of Concerned Scientists, June 2008. FEED is the Food and Environment Electronic Digest.

Shirl Kennedy has written in the Resource Shelf this week about resources for keeping tabs on the global food crisis.

Barbie E. Keiser, a resources management consultant in Washington, D.C., has written a review of the EPA libraries experience of attempting to close several libraries in the wake of a declining budget, but in the face of greater demand. She also writes about recommendations for best practices concerning its “second life”. She says that the website has improved. The article can be found at www.epa.gov/libraries One will be able to access the full article soon from Online Information Review, vo. 32(5): 25-29, Sep.-Oct. 2008. “EPA Libraries’ Roller Coaster Ride”

“…today [Jimmy] Wales and others at Wikia, Inc. announced the launch of a new eco-focused project, which they’re calling Wikia Green. The goal is to create a flexible, dynamic community wiki that covers anything and everything in the environmental and sustainable universe.” From an interview reported in The Daily Green 9/9/08: “Wikia Green Launches as a “Wikipedia” for Enviros”

On their homepage is stated: 681 articles since March 2008

• Abrupt Climate Change: Will It Happen this Century? -

Read the conclusions drawn from an assessment of the scientific literature. There is also a link to the full report.