Isla Earth Radio

If we gave our coastlines an environmental report card, what grade should they get? Surprise! There IS a report, and it gives our coasts about a grade "C."

It's called the National Coastal Condition Report, and it's the third in a series started by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2001.

It's the first truly national assessment of all our coastlines' ecological health, including the Great Lakes, Alaska and Hawaii.

Surprisingly, some areas scored better than before. The Northeast and the West have improved since the last report; while the Southeast and the Gulf of Mexico rank lower. Overall, our coastlines earned a down-the-middle "Fair," when it comes to water quality, sediment quality, habitat, contaminants in fish tissue and conditions for bottom-dwelling critters.

But while "Fair" might sound as stinging as a bad grade in math class, it actually holds promise. Comparisons with the 2005 report card show slight improvements due, possibly, to positive effects from environmental laws passed in the 1970s.

If you think our coasts could do better, you're right and you can help by cleaning litter off a beach and eating sustainably farmed seafood. Small changes, maybe. But they make the grade: Coast to coast.

Script by Gail Davis

What's a significant threat to the survival of captive gorillas? Surprisingly it's heart disease.

It's ironic. In the wild, gorillas inch closer to extinction daily from habitat loss and poaching. Because of this troubling outlook for wild gorillas, zookeepers especially want to maintain captive gorillas in good health.

Yet male gorillas in zoos and preserves have significant rates of chronic heart disease. So high that veterinarian Pam Dennis of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo describes heart disease as "a major threat to gorilla health."

Are genetics a factor? Or diet, or exercise, or a virus? To find answers, researchers have formed the Gorilla Health Project, a collaboration of zoos across North America. They are pooling information to form a database about gorilla heart disease and other conditions affecting captive gorillas.

At the Cleveland zoo, recent heart exams of two males in their twenties revealed signs of minor heart disease in one and advanced heart disease in the other.

Just like humans, they're now taking beta blockers and/or ACE inhibitors, to hopefully stem their disease progression. And now thanks to the database, how they fare may help other gorillas.

Script by Bob Rhein

It's no news flash that, over the years, one of the dirtiest sources of energy has been coal; in fact, it's among the top contributors to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

The challenge, according to the U.S. government's Energy Information Administration, is that coal accounts for about fifty percent of all the energy produced in the U.S.

Luckily, new technologies already in use are making coal a cleaner-burning fuel.

Coal gasification is based on a technology that's been around since the 1850s. Rather than burning coal directly, it's exposed to steam and oxygen under high temperatures and pressures. The chemical reaction produces gases.

So, how "green" is it? Well, the byproduct from coal gasification, hydrogen, is considered one of the cleanest burning fuels on earth. Yet, there is still the environmental impact of mining coal and transporting it. And, the process itself has a few glitches, like it still has carbon as part of the mix.

While scientists continue looking for ways to capture and get rid of carbon for good, like burying it underground, reducing your own energy needs will help. After all, one bright idea deserves another!

Script by Bob Rhein

It's good to know that tomorrow's scientists are solving environmental problems today.

Meet Daniel Burd from Waterloo, Canada. Daniel's interested in science and recycling. As a 16 year old, he was annoyed by the avalanche of polyethylene plastic shopping bags that his mother horded in a closet. Every time he'd open the closet, bags tumbled out.

Daniel knew that to just throw the bags away would mean sending them to landfills, where they'd sit, without decomposing, for, oh, millennia.

So for his school's science fair, Daniel isolated the microbes that break down polyethylene. First, he ground plastic bags into powder, then mixed in tap water, yeast, and a dash of dirt.

Six weeks later his "bag powder" weighed 17 percent less! So he tried again, adding sodium acetate, which helps microbes grow. Another six weeks and his bags decomposed 43 percent.

His project earned him a $10,000 prize, $20,000 in scholarships and interest from industry.

The real winner could be Mother Earth, since we produce 500 billion of these bags annually, Burd's recipe could also save the lives of wildlife that die from eating bags, and save space in landfills.

Not to mention Mrs. Burd's closet.

Script by Bob Rhein

What do you get when you cross folk art with photonic technology? A very bright idea.

Researchers at the University of Glasgow have combined cell phone displays and the craft of punched tin to create a new light bulb that could hit living rooms within three years.

LEDs, or "light-emitting diodes" are the lights behind computer screens and cell phones: small, energy efficient -- but weak. That's due to their structure and material, which trap light the way thick lampshades darken a room.

It's that analogy that got the researchers thinking. Taking a cue from the decorative art form of punched tin lanterns, they made more light escape from LEDs by, literally, poking them full of holes! Using a 21st Century version of lithograph printing they stamped billions of molecule-sized openings onto LED surfaces -- increasing brightness without increasing energy consumption. A low cost technique that can be mass-produced.

It could mean a greener, brighter bulb on the market in the future. LEDs run more efficiently than compact fluorescent light bulbs, which in turn are 70 percent more efficient than incandescent bulbs. That could make LEDs the bulbs that the others can't hold a candle to.

Script by Gail Davis

Farming has always been subject to the uncertainties of weather and market conditions. But farmers in Huron County, Michigan, have found something they finally can count on.

The wind!

Blowing across Lake Huron, the wind there is always ripe for harvesting. A patch of thirty two turbines have already been planted. And plans for 42 more are underway.

Bob Krohn, a farmer in the area, anticipates reaping up to $30,000 per year from just three windmills on his property. It's a welcome source of revenue where incomes are fifteen percent below the national average.

Michigan is another in a growing list of farm belt states like Texas, Iowa, Minnesota and others, where wind power is becoming a major industry. Many of these states require utilities to generate a certain percentage of electricity from alternative sources. Other than concerns about creating hazards for birds, windmills are readily accepted in rural areas.

In fact, some see them as a way of preserving our rich agricultural heritage. After all, what would you prefer in your backyard? A subdivision of homes, coal-burning power plant, or wind turbines?

Script by Stephen Webb

The words, "holistic," and "cattle range" aren't often heard together. But in California, "holistic range management" is indeed all the rage on the range.

And that thanks to the California Rangeland Conservation Coalition, a group of ranchers, conservationists and government officials. Each has far-flung agendas, but one common interest: To keep 25 million acres of Central California grasslands sustainable for both cattle and native species.

Steve Thompson, of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is the coalition's acknowledged inspiration. He helped California conservationists and ranchers realize that despite their differences, each cares deeply about sustaining their state's natural beauty.

So starting in 2001, the coalition began exploring ways to graze cattle on the ranchers' mostly private land, in ways that prevent overgrazing and sustain local wildlife.

Since then, there's been a change...on the range. On one ranch, owners used state bond funds to install fencing, water pipes and six new troughs, improving water availability across the ranch. Now cattle no longer congregate at one watering hole that was a sensitive area for wildlife.

The coalition's also documenting such changes in photos, to prove that managed grazing can increase plant diversity and soil cover.

Script by Bob Rhein

In 1945, John Steinbeck wrote a novel called Cannery Row. In it he told the story of life in Monterey, California -- a thriving fishing port at that time.

But the story didn't end well, the ocean's changed, the fishing pressure stayed high and Monterey's sardine industry collapsed. Similar stories are now being played out in fisheries around the globe.

In each case, the environmental question is the same. How much fishing can the fishery stand? Take too much of the ocean's bounty too quickly and you end up with a devastating collapse, as happened in Monterey.

The facts are these: the number of fish that an ecosystem support is finite, that limit changes with climate, and fish can only make so many new fish each breeding season. Over-fishing now dominates most of the world's oceans -- the Arctic being but the latest concern. A study by the University of British Columbia found that actual catches there might be 75 times higher than originally reported to the United Nations.

Today cannery row survives thanks to tourists, instead of sardines. To ensure that there's no real-life sequel to Steinbeck's novel, inquire and purchase seafood from sources committed to sustainable fishing practices to help protect our oceans future bounty.

Script by Dan Maxwell

Let's talk about high fashion and Target, the big box store.

The two seemingly opposites converged, recently, largely because of the environmentally focused business ethic of runway designer Rogan Gregory.

Gregory is a 30-something New York-based clothing designer. He's emerging as a style visionary, and he got that way by designing with sustainability in mind. That is, environmental sustainability.

Gregory recycles T-shirts and designs urban, ultra-cool denim duds in certified organic cotton. Where's his stuff sell? Only in the poshest stores.

His work caught the attention of Target. The chain wanted to reach the earth-conscious but budget-minded crowd. So it approached Gregory about working together.

Some designers might have said no. But Gregory realized something: Clothes from organic cotton, bamboo and other eco-friendly fibers are usually on the pricey side. Only the Targets and Wal-Marts of the world will ever be able to place the massive orders necessary for prices on these fibers to drop enough to pull them into the mainstream. Simple eco-economics.

The result? Target's new Rogan Gregory fashion line. It's called "Go International" and is priced at $15 to $45.

Leaving plenty of cash for a big bag of Target popcorn.

Script by Bob Rhein

Believe it or not, just two generations ago, it was unheard of not to recycle glass beverage bottles.

Today, that idea itself is getting recycled.

Until the 1930s, most beer and soda came in glass bottles that got washed and refilled many times before discarding. Then beer companies introduced disposable cans, and well, the rest is history.

In the '70s, some states passed bottle recycling laws or, "bottle bills," that require a refundable deposit, about a nickel, for beverages sold in glass bottles.

These bills were designed to reduce litter. But they do more. Studies in states with bottle bills report big drops in roadside litter and increases in recycling rates. But today, legislators also like that bottle bills promote green manufacturing. Recycled glass can substitute for up to 70 percent of glass-making raw materials. That means factories can reduce industrial emissions and save on raw goods and energy consumption.

With results like that, some states are exploring broader bottle bills to cover more types of containers. And Congressman Ed Markey from Massachusetts even proposes a national version.

Let's hear it for history repeating itself.

Script by Gail Davis