Josette Sheeran, head of the UN World Food Program, warned that the global rise in basic food costs could continue until 2010, blaming soaring energy and grain prices—the effects of climate change and demand for biofuels. Some food prices rose 40% last year, and the WFP fears the world's poorest will buy less food, or be forced to rely on aid. Speaking after briefing the European Parliament, Sheeran said the agency needed an extra $375 million for food projects this year plus $125 million to transport the food aid. She said she saw no quick solution to high food and fuel costs. "The assessment is that we are facing high food prices at least for the next couple of years," she said. Sheeran said global food reserves are at their lowest level in 30 years—with enough to cover the need for emergency deliveries for 53 days, compared with 169 days in 2007. Sheeran has already warned that the WFP is considering plans to ration food aid due to a shortage of funds.

ExxonMobil asked the Supreme Court Feb. 27 to reverse a lower court's decision awarding $2.5 billion in punitive damages to Alaskan fishermen, cannery workers and others impacted by the disaster. The 3,000-square-mile slick caused by the 11-million spill forced the closure of Alaskan fisheries and killed more than 250,000 sea birds, 3,000 otters, 300 harbor seals, 250 bald eagles and 22 whales. The worst oil spill in US history still affects Alaska's fisheries after nearly 19 years.

The Native Alaskan coastal village of Kivalina is suing two dozen oil, coal and power companies that they claim have affected the climate, causing their land and homes to slide into the Chukchi Sea. An Inupiat village numbering nearly 400 inhabitants, Kivalina is located on the end of an eight-mile barrier island between the Chukchi Sea and the mouth of the Kivalina River, 80 miles north of the Arctic Circle. It has been threatened by erosion from the sea for several decades, and a relocation committee was first formed by the community 20 years ago. The village has already been relocated once, from the north end of the river's mouth, due to eroding shores.

Personally, we aren't too comforted by the fact that this thing was blown up in the sky instead of falling to earth—releasing all that toxic hydrazine into the atmosphere. But we are glad this Feb. 21 account from the UK Guardian closes with a quote from Michio Kaku, a principled voice for space demilitarization. Via the Global Network Against Weapons and Nuclear Power in Space:

Earth First! blockades power plant

From Everglades Earth First!, Feb. 19:

Early Monday morning hundreds of concerned community members from Palm Beach County and all over the nation put their bodies on the line to halt construction of FPL's West County Energy Center (WCEC), demanding energy efficiency, truly clean, renewable energy and a moratorium on development in south Florida.

Just as oil is hitting $100 a barrel, come warnings of an impending global food shortage. In an article based on a study by Goldman Sachs, the UK's Telegraph Feb. 9 argues that "peak oil" is morphing into "peak food" as more farmlands are turned over to so-called "biofuels." Food is rapidly becoming less affordable from West Africa to South Asia, where Pakistan has introduced ration cards allowing lower-income citizens to buy flour at subsidized prices.

Clearing vast tracts of land for biofuels production would hinder—not help—the effort to slow global warming, according to two new studies published in the journal Science. Although such fuels emit less greenhouse gases than fossil fuels, clearing forests and other native ecosystems releases carbon dioxide from plants and soil through fire or decomposition. Additionally, cropland absorbs less carbon than the native ecosystems it replaces.

The US Forest Service, with minimal public notice and no formal environmental review, has approved a permit allowing the UK's Vane Minerals company to explore for uranium in the Kaibab National Forest just outside the boundaries of Grand Canyon National Park. The site is less than three miles from a popular lookout over the canyon's southern rim. If deposits are found, it could lead to the first mines near the canyon since the price of uranium ore tumbled two decades ago. The Forest Service ruled that the canyon could be "categorically excluded" from a full environmental review because exploration would last less than a year and might not lead to mining activity. (Denver Post, Feb. 7)