Ecowar 2.1

Don't panic, you're at Ecowar. I merely changed the good old custom tweaked and heavily bloated design for a fresh standard one.

I'm also trying out some new stuff. Some stories develop too fast for a one-man blog to follow. But on the new page Inside the wire, under the radar the job is done by 'the crowd' and me curating content using Keepstream. For now I'm doing a stream about the Spratly Islands but plan more (any suggestions?).

In somewhat related news, I also set up a Benno Hansen Weekly at paper.li. Why? Well actually paper.li could be even smarter than Keepstream (comparing apples and oranges here) in that it does the job for you. If you sign up, it produces a "paper" for you based on which links the people you follow have been tweeting. Meaning, now I can check paper.li once a week and get an instant overview of what I "should" have been reading at Twitter (but perhaps didn't because it's almost impossible to keep up with). I'm trying to make it favor Ecowar related news.

Update: Due to popular demand the old background is back. It shows old barbed wire in Normandy with green grass and flowers underneath in stead of mud, blood and carcasses - White Flowers by Reid Gilman. Couldn't handle the grey overload and dystopia anyway :-)

Asia: Oil, climate, conflict

A British company has been surveying for oil by Philippine request in waters China says is theirs.

Energy & Capital / China's Next Oil War:

China’s energy demand is insatiable. The country's state-owned oil firms are on an international buying spree and a disputed group of islands in the South China Sea could be the catalyst for the next oil war. [...] Learning from the West, China is picking up a big stick and enforcing its territorial claims... After all, the West has a long history of military adventures regarding rebels who sit on oil patches. [...] Today, China warned against any oil exploration without its consent in waters it claims in the South China Sea. This comes after a Philippine announcement that Forum Energy had completed a seismic survey for a piece of ocean near the Spratly Islands. The next step would be drilling. The oil-rich Spratlys are contested by Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, and China. [...] The Spratlys are a group of 100 islands that cover 410,000 square kilometers. Some 45 of these islands are occupied by small military units. In recent years, various countries have been building airstrips and bunkers to protect their claims — which, up until recently, have been used as fishing stations and scuba Meccas. But battles have been fought in the past... Strategypage.com, a historical military website, writes: "In 1988, China and Vietnam fought a naval battle, off the Spratly islands. The Chinese victory, in which a Chinese warship sank a Vietnamese transport carrying troops headed for one of the disputed islands, was followed by Chinese troops establishing garrisons on some of the islands. In 1992, Chinese marines landed on Da Lac reef, in the Spratly Islands. In 1995, Chinese marines occupied Mischief Reef, which was claimed by the Philippines." It is clear China intends to defend its claims over the Spratly islands. It is unknown how these conflicts will be resolved. [...] Oil is the lifeblood of the world economy. Eight of the last nine recessions in the U.S were preceded by high oil prices.

Elsewhere: AFP / China warns against S. China Sea oil exploration, Philippine Star / China's military dominance over Spratlys affecting international trade.

In slightly related news, I just updated my collection of climate change and COP-15 related cables in the Wikileaks "cablegate". This time a headline from a Japanese agenda dated 26th of June 2009 read: "Japan-U.S. Sea Power Dialogue [...] Study the possibility of the security environment worsening due to climate change."

Mining conflict: Farmers claim company seized their lands

on August 9, 2008, around 200 residents from barangays Cagusuan and Pagbabangnan raided the barracks of Cambayas Mining Corp. in Homonhon, eastern Samar.

[...]

The attack was staged mostly by farmers who claimed that the mining company seized the lands awarded to them by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) through a certificate of stewardship agreement in 1992.

From the Ecowar frontiers

Middle East

Around one-third of a massive oil slick caused by Israeli bombing of a Lebanese power plant remains in the Mediterranean a year on from war

Source: Lebanon still cleaning oil spill one year after war - Middle East Times

Arctic

Canada's increased military presence in the Arctic poses environmental dangers as bullets, shells, shell casings and other war-game detritus wind up in ecologically sensitive waters and tundra

Source: globeandmail.com: War games in Arctic draw fire over impact on ecology

Central America

Campesinos in the southern Mexican state of Guerrero have been blocking access to an area where the government wants to build a huge dam and hydroelecric station, since 2003

Source: ENVIRONMENT-MEXICO: High Voltage Conflict Over Dam

Asia

Bullets, grenades, bombs, mortars and other war tools obliterate wildlife, disturb native habitats and poison the air, water and soil with toxic chemicals. This damage to the environment is very costly and can persist for generations.

Source: Concealed casualty of war - INQUIRER.net