Sailing out to sea on "thin" ice - Antarctica - Times LIVE

In a good year, provided the bay ice has thawed sufficiently for the SA Agulhas to break through and reach our off-loading zone on the ice shelf near the German station, Neumayer, the ship's entire payload can be deported for the 315km trek to Sanae IV, the South African research base, within three days.

This December, however, the bay ice was too thick for the SA Agulhas - an ice-strengthened vessel, not an ice breaker - to penetrate.
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"In 1992, conditions were similar and we had to back-load all our cargo from the bay ice," Dreyer, who began with the Antarctic programme back in 1985 as a supply clerk, recalled.

US ‘green’ award for Arroyo draws outrage

MANILA, Philippines—Not so fast.

More environmental and religious groups have expressed outrage over the prestigious conservation award President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is set to receive at the US Congress in Washington on Tuesday.
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“Honoring President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as a conservationist and protector of biodiversity is akin to giving a fox an award for chicken husbandry,” said the letter that was signed, among others, by Rev. Michael Doe of the Anglicans in the World.

“President Arroyo has led a deeply corrupt regime that has promoted and profited from environmental despoilation by mining, logging, overfishing and the promotion of unsustainable plantation production.”

Philippines: RP has 1M ‘climate refugees,’ and count is rising

Climate change is one of the major campaign issues in the May 10 elections, but it has grabbed little attention in the current debates. Candidates with “green agendas” are falling far behind in popularity surveys in the run-up to the balloting.

Willmar businessman to challenge Peterson in 7th Dist.

Republicans in the 7th Congressional District endorsed Willmar businessman Lee Byberg to challenge Democrat incumbent Rep. Collin Peterson.
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Peterson figures to be difficult to unseat; in 2008, he pulled in 70 percent of the vote. Peterson voted against President Barack Obama's health care legislation and stirred up controversy for his vote for cap-and-trade legislation last year.
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Byberg said if the world needs to double its energy supply in 20 years America should lead the way, but not through cap-and-trade, which, he said, is more of a European-style model of government.