BAD BLOOD- Diabetes and Its Awful Toll Quietly Emerge as a Crisis By N. R. KLEINFIELD.  More than one in every eight New Yorkers now have diabetes, and city health officials describe the problem as an epidemic.

 

 

WHALING BATTLE HEATS UP THE ICY SOUTHERN OCEAN - SOUTHERN OCEAN, January 9, 2006 (ENS) - A Japanese whaling ship rammed a Greenpeace campaign vessel in the Southern Ocean on Sunday, the group said. The two Greenpeace ships protesting whaling in the Southern Ocean took off in pursuit of the Japanese vessel. At the same time, a Sea Shepherd Conservation Society ship is chasing that Japanese ship too, but opinions differ on whether the two groups are working together to oppose the whalers. http://www.ens-newswire.com

WORST GREENHOUSE GAS NATIONS PARTNER FOR CLEANER ENERGY -  WASHINGTON, DC, January 9, 2006 (ENS) - Six Asia-Pacific nations that together emit half of all the world's greenhouse gases are forming a new partnership this week to develop cleaner and renewable energy and advanced energy technology. Australia, China, India, Japan, South Korea and the United States will collaborate to accelerate the development and use of cleaner, more efficient technology. http://www.ens-newswire.com

FIRST OF 11 BIODIESEL PLANTS OPENS IN PENNSYLVANIA - HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, January 9, 2006 (ENS) - A plan to build and operate 11 biodiesel production plants in Pennsylvania over the next five years was announced Friday by Governor Edward Rendell and executives from AGRA Biofuels Inc. Speaking at the state Farm Show, the state and company officials said the first biodiesel production facility in the state started operations January 1 at Middletown, south of Harrisburg, the capital.               http://www.ens-newswire.com

LOGGING AFTER WILDFIRES CAN RETARD REGENERATION, HEIGHTEN FIRE RISK - CORVALLIS, Oregon, January 7, 2006 (ENS) - Allowing trees to naturally regenerate after a wildfire works about as well or better than logging and replanting, finds new research conducted on the area burned in the 2002 Biscuit Fire in southwestern Oregon - the largest fire in Oregon history. In results that contradict the premise of the Bush administration's Health Forests Restoration Act, the data suggests that logging, by itself, would increase the levels of slash that could fuel another fire in the near future. http://www.ens-newswire.com

ILLINOIS TO SLASH MERCURY EMISSIONS 90 PERCENT BY 2009 - SPRINGFIELD, Illinois, January 7, 2006 (ENS) - The state of Illinois is taking action to cut mercury emissions from power plants by 90 percent over the next three and a half years. Governor Rod Blagojevich unveiled the proposal Thursday, saying it will reduce toxic mercury emissions faster and more thoroughly than new federal restrictions adopted last spring and will achieve the largest overall amount of mercury reduction of any state in the country. http://www.ens-newswire.com

U.S. COAST GUARD TO ASSESS PASSAMAQUODDY BAY FOR LNG TANKERS - PORTLAND, Maine, January 6, 2006 (ENS) - The U.S. Coast Guard says it will assess safety and security issues associated with liquefied natural gas tankers transiting Passamaquoddy Bay, which separates Maine from the Canadian province of New Brunswick. The assessment comes in response to two proposals for liquefied natural gas (LNG) ports on the bay - one from Downeast LNG for the small resort town of Robbinston, and the other from Quoddy Bay LLC for a terminal on the Passamaquoddy Tribe's reservation at Pleasant Point. http://www.ens-newswire.com

PENNSYLVANIA FAMILIES WITH NEWBORDS GET FREE RADON TEST KITS - HARRISBURG, Pennsylvania, January 6, 2006 (ENS) - The government of Pennsylvania offering more families free radon test kits to help them protect themselves and their children from the country's second leading cause of lung cancer. Governor Edward Rendell said Thursday that 19 new hospitals have agreed to join the 50 hospitals already participating in the state's Newborn Radon Program. http://www.ens-newswire.com