Links

(Poggy, or menhaden, fish lie dead and stuck in oil from the BP spill in Bay Jimmy, Louisiana. Image from the Guardian - Photograph: Sean Gardner/Reuters)

• David discusses village relocation in another succinct and balanced piece of reporting.
• A trio of excellent posts from Michael Turton: Review of Formosa Betrayed, Taiwan's reservoir problems and developmentalist culture and an ROC Schindler.
• Taiwan ROC Premier Wu proves he is less intelligent than dolphins ... but hey who didn't know? (Note to Wu - Its not about whether the dolphins can swim around but rather whether the development economic model itself is environmentally sustainable)
• Is the Obama administration about to give up on Taiwan? Could it be that naive?
  
• Egypt plans 100MW solar power installation. Pity its too little too late.
• In the UK, bankrupt people are being denied basic banking accounts by all but 2 main high street banks. Way to go headlong into a double-dip recession folks!
• More BP fallout - Oil spill dead zones (this is just the start).
• New law from Israel threatens free speech for academics - ominous
• Global carbon emissions steady for first time since 1992 - don't get too excited, the recession slowed the rate down but all gains by developed nations wiped out by growth in emissions from India and China
• A film to watch if you can find it - Tapped - all about bottled water.
  
• Great report on the links between bad business and a bad environment ... some money quotes from Pavan Sukhdev, head of the UN's investigation into how to stop the destruction of the natural world:

"While the real impact on the local economy, wildlife and marine health may not be fully known for years … What's bad for biodiversity is bad for business." "We have created a soulless corporation that does not have any innate reason to be ethical about anything. The purpose of a corporation is its own self-interest."

More detail from the Guardian article ...

Sukhdev, now on sabbatical from Deutsche Bank, spoke as he prepares to publish tomorrow one of the most eagerly awaited parts of his report – The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) for Business.

The report will be launched at the first Global Business of Biodiversity symposium in London, where speakers will include environment secretary Caroline Spelman. She will highlight examples of businesses causing damage which imposes a huge cost on themselves and society – including an estimate that global destruction of forests costs the world's economies $2tn-$5tn (£1.3tn-£3.3tn) a year.

A little video for your edutainment ...

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Steele Crazy After All These Years
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Tea Party

And finally ... Guardian Cartoonist Steve Bell on the Con-Lib cuts that look set to screw the NHS (something they've always wanted to privatise, along with water, gas, transport, air (?) ...)