Folks in Boston will be able to read about Zalul in print this week, but for those of you without a subscription to The Jewish Journal - Boston North feel free to read the article below. Read the rest of this entry »

Sounds better than having them in the sea. Check out this article on Treehugger (written by Karin of Green Prophet) and watch the video below.

For that last decade or so, the Eilat Ashkelon Pipeline Company (EAPC) has been working at a reduced rate.  But now a new plan is emerging, to pump oil transported from Turkey through Ashkelon to Eilat and from there to East Asian ports via the Red Sea.  This Haaretz article has all the juicy oily details:

The oil would be pumped in Georgia and Azerbaijan, and be brought to Turkey by pipeline. From Turkey it will be shipped by tanker to Ashkelon, whence it would be transported by pipeline to Eilat. In Eilat, the oil will be be loaded onto a new set of tankers for transportation to eastern Asia. 

How big will the tankers be?

The EAPC aims to reach a final agreement on establishment of a regular transport line with leased 250,000-ton tankers (”shuttles”) moving the oil between Turkey and Israel, and 280,000 to 320,000-ton tanker shuttles used to transport through the Red Sea to the east. Shipment through the Suez Canal is limited to tankers with a maximum capacity of 130,000 tons.

With oil spills seeming to happen quite often lately (San Francisco Bay and the Black Sea popped into our head immediately), this makes us nervous.  And the EAPC had a pipeline break just a few months ago between Ashkelon and Haifa.  One decent sized oil spill in the Gulf of Eilat and that could be it for the reefs.  Pollution has always been a problem in the Gulf of Eilat due to it’s mellow waters, making it much slower to self-clean.   An oil spill?  Well, we just don’t want to think about it.

Be sure that we are watching this issue closely and we’ll keep you updated on any new events.

The Jerusalem Post has an enlightening article about the wake-up call Israeli decision makers are getting in the aftermath of the Bali summit this month.

Though Israeli did not have a formal delegation at the summit, members of the Knesset as well as staff from an assortment of environmental NGOs attended.

“Israel cannot afford to continue with the status quo. As a country that wants to be considered a top economic competitor, it can’t be ranked with developing countries over greenhouse gas emissions. Countries we consider the Third World are ahead of us when it comes to fighting greenhouse gases,” said MK Ophir Paz-Pines (Labor), who also chairs the Knesset Committee on the Interior and the Environment.

And now, marine scientists from across the globe have published a major study arguing that global warming will cause incredible damage to the coral reefs of the world.

At stake, added Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, director of the Center for Marine Studies at the University of Queensland, Australia, and the study’s senior author, are ecosystems that play vital roles in providing habitats for a vast array of marine species that are essential to the oceans’ complex food chain. They also provide livelihoods to 100 million people who live along the coasts of tropical developing countries. Diving tourism in the Caribbean alone is estimated to generate more than $100 billion a year. The loss of coral reef ecosystems also is exposing people to flooding, coastal erosion and the loss of food and income from reef-based fisheries and tourism, he added.

Hopefully this wake-up call to Israel’s leaders isn’t coming too late.

October 21, 2007 will go down in Israel’s environmental history as the day the coral reefs in the Gulf of Eilat were given a chance to live.

After years of debate in the media, the courtroom, and the public sphere, the final word on the fish cages was given by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, who declared that they must be removed from the sea by June 2008 - no exceptions.

There will be no more opportunities for the polluters to appeal this decision. Nor will government officials be able to step in any longer to postpone the final removal. June 2008. Done and done.

And not to toot our horn too much, but if you open any of the Israeli newspapers and read about this issue you’ll see Zalul’s name listed as the key player in this battle. In fact, the timing of this decision has come at the exact same time as our Board Chairman Benjamin Kahn has been awarded by Time Magazine as a “Hero of the Environment”. The coral reefs were what brought our organization together. A shared love for the sea and the amazing marine environment that lives under the waves.

What we have learned in these eight years of battling the polluters of Israel’s seas and rivers is that thousands of others also share our love for water. Surfers, swimmers, and science enthusiasts, fathers and mothers and their children building castles in the sand - we all have a connection to water and to nature.  More than that, these thousands upon thousands of supporters recognize the importance of protecting and maintaining unique habitats and ecosystems like the coral reefs and are willing to go out of their way to do so.

Thank you to all of those who have supported Zalul in this fight.  Your contributions - whether monetary, voluntary, or in spirit from far away - mean a great deal to us all.