Environmental Resources on the World Wide Web

GIS as a Tool for Collaborative Spatial Decision Making: Libraries' Perspective Presentation of Collaborative Spatial Decision Making (CSDM) as an emerging field of applied decision support involving group-based problem structuring and problem solving using capabilities of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and decision models. Two case study problems will demonstrate how CSDM can be applied in everyday situations; one involving a selection of consensus-based environmental restoration plans, and the other the assignment of resources for state primary health care services. Additionally, the needs of the public for geographically referenced information will be discussed. Using an example of the Idaho Geospatial Data Library, the answer to the question of how libraries can fulfill public needs for spatial information will be addressed. Geographic Information of and Anna Jankowska, of the Environmental Task Force. This annual conference serves as a forum where Information Specialists (government and public) present papers on topics related to the natural resource industry. The conference is recognized for the exchange of information regarding accessibility, availability and procurement of resources and materials in the natural resource fields. Background: The scope of this conference will include both the treatment and remediation of contaminated wetlands (by engineered and natural attenuation approaches) and the use of wetlands (natural and constructed) for the treatment and remediation of contaminated water and wastewater.


Center for Environmental Information and Statistics (CEIS)
<http://www.epa.gov/ceis> This web site from EPA provides users with environmental information about their communities via searching county-level data using zip codes. Data from EPA's databases on air, water, toxics, pollution, and waste are used to provide information about individual communities. The statistics are presented in a manner designed to be easy for citizens to understand. Links are provided to subject-specific web sites within the EPA, and text on the CEIS site puts the information in context for the reader. The web site represents EPA's effort to improve public access to reliable and comprehensive information citizens need in order to protect their health and environment.
Concerned Citizens: Frequently Asked Questions <http://www.epa.gov/epahome/ccfaq.htm> This page has been put together by the Concerned Citizens workgroup, and provides an easy-to-use resource of FAQs. The questions are organized by topic, such as air, water, hazardous waste, radon, Superfund, and pesticides, and link to the relevant pages. There are several useful links to further resources. This page is a good "first stop" for people beginning a search of the EPA Web site. DOE Information Bridge <http://www.doe.gov/bridge/> Department of Energy and Government Printing Office officials have combined efforts to make the full-text of DOE research and development results available to the public without charge via the World Wide Web. The new public web site, named the DOE Information Bridge, became available to the public on April 21, 1998. Using the system is free, and there are no registration or password requirements. Full-text of over 25,000 DOE research and development reports and their bibliographic records and abstracts are available for searching and downloading. Report topics include physics, chemistry, materials, biology, environmental cleanup, energy technologies, and others. These reports were contributed to the OSTI collection by the Scientific and Technical Information Program (STIP) partners at the various DOE and contractor research and development sites throughout the DOE complex. Dating back to January 1996, the growing collection has over 1.4 million full-text pages. Public access to the DOE Information Bridge web site is a cooperative effort funded by GPO and DOE. Global Change Master Directory (GCMD): A Directory to Earth Data and More <http://gcmd.nasa.gov> Funded by NASA, the GCMD is an online directory created for use by scientists, students, and the general public to learn about environmental datasets and their accessibility. Scientific disciplines include meteorology, oceanography, geology, ecology, hydrology, paleoclimatology, solarterrestrial physics, and human dimensions of global change. Over 6600 descriptions of data sets from over 830 data centers, government agencies, universities, and research institutions from around the world are represented in the directory. Searching for information and contributing information about datasets are both entirely free of charge.
Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks 1990-1996 Report <http://www.epa.gov/globalwarming/inventory/> This EPA report is available in full text at the web site. Its executive summary provides a broad overview of all U.S. greenhouse gas emission sources and sinks, introduces key concepts, and discusses the primary drivers for the growth in emissions. Also available are a bibliography of related publications, news items, and links to other Internet resources.  Electronic Green Journal, 1(10), Article 5 (1999) The African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) <http://www.acts.or.ke> The web site explains that "ACTS is an international inter-governmental policy research and training organization located in Nairobi, Kenya. The website provides detailed information about the Centre's activities which focus on the implementation in East African countries of Agenda 21 and related conventions on biological diversity, climate change, and desertification. ACTS has four research programmes: Biopolicy, Climate Change Policy, Governance and Sustainable Development, and Capacity Development." The web site provides access to the catalog of publications from ACTS Press, full text of a magazine ACTS publishes called Innovation, and links to partner organizations' web sites. For more information, ACTS may be reached via email at: acts@africaonline.com or acts@form-net.com Belize Biodiversity Information System <http://fwie.fw.vt.edu/wcs/> The Wildlife Conservation Society <http://www.wcs.org> sponsors a Belize Tropical Forest and Reserve Planning Project, and this web site provides an abbreviated version of species accounts. Birds, mammals, and inland fish are currently available, with amphibians and reptiles to follow.
The BBIS is both a GIS and textual database used for monitoring biodiversity information for the country. It is being adapted for the regional Selva Maya portions of Guatemala and Mexico as well.
Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change <http://www.co2science.org> The mission statement at the web site states that, "The Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change was created to disseminate factual reports and sound commentary on new developments in the world-wide scientific quest to determine the climatic and biological consequences of the ongoing rise in the air's CO2 content." The creators of this site do not believe that the rising CO2 content of earth's atmosphere will lead to catastrophic global warming. They fulfill their mission by presenting reviewsof research publications (journals, books, and other reports), educational materials, and editorial commentary. A virtual roundtable provides an opportunity to see responses to questions which cover basic facts (like an FAQ on carbon dioxide and global climate change) as well as regularly updated responses to questions submitted by readers. The site is searchable.

Planet Ark
Shrode: Environmental Resources on the World Wide Web <http://www.planetark.org> This web site, developed by the Planet Ark Environmental Foundation in Australia, provides daily Reuters World Environment News reports and access to headlines from that service for the past fifteen months. Visitors to the site may register to receive news stories daily via email. Other site features include suggestions about how to take action on environmental issues, downloadable software which provides guidance on how to incorporate environmental awareness into daily activities, and plans for an Eco-Store which will offer products designed to improve home environments. The site is searchable. For more information, contact Jon Dee <jondee@planetark.org>, Founder and Executive Director of Plant Ark Environmental Foundation.
International Corporate Environmental Reporting Site <http://home.wxs.nl/~folmolen/mjv.htm> Created in the Netherlands, the Corporate Environmental Reporting (CER) web site presents news from around the world on environmental performance measuring and accounting. The site brings together relevant web sites concerned with CER and is intended to serve as a clearinghouse for the topic. It also provides access to the Sustainability Web Ring which leads to web sites concerned with principles, policies, and best practices for sustainable development and describes how the web ring is managed. The site is maintained by Folkert van der Molen <Folkert.vanderMolen@MI.dhv.nl>. GeoIndex <http://www.geoindex.com/> GeoIndex, provided by the Datasurge Company, is a search engine designed for use by geo-environmental professionals. Specific database topics include geotechnical, environmental, hydrogeology, geology, mining, and petroleum. Keyword or phrase searching is available, and users can enter multiple phrases. Searches can be narrowed by limiting to one of four major subdivisions: Companies, Associations, Education, and Government. allowed educators and students to track the migration of four satellitetagged green sea turtles from the Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge to Florida Bay. A free Educator's Guide contains detailed information about sea turtles and many fun classroom activities. Lesson plans are provided to facilitate incorporating activities into primary and secondary grade curricula. Teachers may receive their free Educator's Guide by contacting the STSL by E-mail at: <stsl@cccturtle.org>, through the web site at <http://www.cccturtle.org>, or by calling (352)  The UCS was founded in 1969 at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is an alliance of over 70,000 individuals, including concerned citizens and scientists, who address problems for which action by the United States is crucial. Through combined efforts in research, public education, and legislative advocacy, the UCS works at the national level but always with the context of the global situation in mind. Campaigns often seek state and regional solutions to problems and strive to apply lessons learned from success to the whole nation and to other countries. the database of the Climate Change Secretariat, which is built on the information available in the National Communications presented by the Parties to the Secretariat." The web site provides also state of the environment reports for several countries and links to information networks for global regions. A recent publication accessible at the web site is "Environmental Problems Affecting the Traditional Lifestyles of Indigenous People in the Russian North." Toxic-Free Future: World Wildlife Fund's Global Toxic Chemicals Initiative <http://www.worldwildlife.org/toxics> "With the release of this new site, WWF hopes to spread the word about toxic chemicals and their profound effect on our world, to provide access to information and resources that will enable users to learn more about this complex and important issue, and to help reduce everybody's reliance on toxic chemicals." This report from the U.S. government's General Accounting Office (GAO) is of general interest to the continuing efforts of the EPA in providing data and information resources to research and policy communities and the public-atlarge. The 28 page report became available in September 1998 and is accessible from <http://www.access.gpo.gov/gao/index.html> by selecting "GAO Reports" and searching by report number (GAO/RCED-98-245). Fred Stoss (see acknowledgments at the end of this column) sent the following summary of the report to email Listservs: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has three projects under way to provide additional data to communities about releases of toxic chemicals from nearby manufacturing plants. Although these projects are not being designed to define comprehensively a specific community's risks, they would substantially expand the information available to communities, including data on facilities' history of compliance with environmental laws, the relative toxicity of chemical releases, and the dispersion of the releases to surrounding areas. However, each of these initiatives has a different scope and time frame for completion, and it could take years before the initiatives' full promise is realized. The availability to the public of certain data in the first of these projects was delayed because state and industry officials were concerned about the data's accuracy and how the public might interpret the information. Although data from the chemical inventory that are reported under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act could, for example, potentially help a citizen find out which chemicals are used at a nearby plant, public use has been limited. Much of the information has not been computerized to provide easy access and when it has, it has not been available in regional or national databases that permit comparisons among industries or geographical areas. Also, EPA lacks policies, procedures, and standards to govern key aspects of its projects to disseminate information.
Bulk quantities of this GAO report can be requested by email at <info@www.gao.gov> or by phone 202-512-6000. Be sure to give them the "The Green Energy Project is working to help organizations and individuals understand the costs, benefits, and issues affecting choices among different types of green energy. The objective of this project is to help organizations decide what recommendations they would like to make to their members on green energy, and ultimately to help individuals decide what to buy." The Leonardo Academy has established the Cleaner and Greener program to prepare and distribute information on green energy. The Green Energy Newsletter is part of this effort; the first issue describes the Green Energy Project, and subsequent issues will address the costs, benefits, and other issues affecting choices among green energy options. The Leonardo Academy, Inc. <http://www.leonardoacademy.org/> is a non-profit organization based in Madison, WI, that works on interdisciplinary aspects of environmental issues through policy and technical analysis and environmental education.For more information contact, Michael Arny; Leonardo Academy Inc., 1526 Chandler Street, Madison, Wisconsin 53711; Phone: 608-255-0988 ; Fax: 608-255-0988; email: <michaelarny@leonardoacademy.org> Fusi@n Business Magazine, offering Daily and Bi-Weekly News Services <http://www.memegroup.co.uk> This free web-based magazine provides progressive business information by presenting articles on global issues from a wide variety of sources. Some well known titles are Yahoo, Wired, Rachel's Environmental Weekly, and the BBC. Readers may register their email address on the web site in order to Electronic Green Journal, 1(10), Article 5 (1999)  These publications are intended to present major ecological issues in an easy-to-read manner. Full reports average twenty pages in length, and they are available in both text and pdf formats. Summary reports are also accessible using Adobe Acrobat. Issues in Ecology is one of several publications accessible from the ESA's publications page (http://esa.sdsc.edu/publications.htm) at the society's web site.
Environmental Newsletter <http://www.paisvirtual.com/educacion/comercial/edu26/newsletter.html> Free newsletter; monthly issues contain reviews on environmental topics and links to articles available on the Internet. Subscriptions are free, but users must join the mailing list (instructions are available at the web site).
Earth WISE (Writings in Sustainable Ecology) from Washington State University <http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~susdev/> Central writings on sustainability, integrating social, cultural, economic, and ecological dimensions of the topics are presented at this site. Three main components are: abstracts of social science articles by topic, a section of links to community organizations working on sustainability, and a collection of links to international case studies and related topics. Earth WISE resulted from a partnership between the WSU Department of Sociology and the Trillium Corporation.
For more information or to submit contributions, send email to: <susdev@wsunix.wsu.edu> Contact: Eugene A. Rosa, Professor and Chair, Department of Sociology, Washington State University, Pullman, WA 99164-4020; Phone: 509-335-4163; Fax: 509-335-6419; email: <rosa@wsu.edu> Science <http://www.sciencemag.org/feature/data/150essay.shl> Science magazine is publishing weekly essays on the theme of science and society. This effort is in honor of the 150th anniversary of the AAAS, which publishes Science. Essayists include prominent scientists and scholars from a wide range of nonscientific fields, such as art, politics, religion, science fiction, and philosophy.
Solutions for a Water-Short World Report from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health <http://www.jhuccp.org/popreport/m14edsum.stmS> Issued in September 1998, an advance of this report is available on the web, with This report acknowledges that a new approach is needed for managing the biodiversity and ecosystem assets of the United States. It proposes redirecting economic development efforts to recognize the degree to which the U.S. economy depends on natural capital. It includes recommendations for organization and work to be done by the NBII that would be supported with an additional $40 million/year in funding.
Trends in Renewable Energies <http://www.renewables.ca> Published by the Canadian Association for Renewable Energies, Trends is a free weekly newsletter that presents articles from publications and agencies around the world. For more information, contact Bill Eggertson, email: energy@renewables.ca Urban Quality Indicators <http://members.aol.com/CYoakam578/UQIHomePg.html> "This newsletter was developed to share information on various efforts in North America to measure the quality, health, and sustainability of its communities -from neighborhoods to regions." Subscription price is $21.75 (US) for the first year and $29 thereafter. Single issues are available for $7 (US) each. Contact: Cy Yoakam, Editor; 1756 Plymouth Rd., #239, Ann Arbor, MI 48105; email: <CYoakam578@aol.com> Water Resource Monthly Update from EPA Office of Water Resource Center "The Monthly Update is a service from the EPA Office of Water Resource Center (WRC) that provides notification of publications and services available through the WRC, as well as mention of internet resources relevant to water issues, for EPA staff and other interested professionals.
If you would like to be added to the distribution list, please contact the WRC via email or by telephone, or by fax 202-260-0386. Please include your email address or fax number within the body of your request." Contact publisher: 401 M Street SW, RC-4100,Washington, DC 20460;Phone: 202-260-7786;E-mail: <waterpubs@epamail.epa.gov> Weathervane: A Digital Forum on Global Climate Policy from Resources for the Future <http://www.weathervane.rff.org/index.html> An "online forum designed to provide news media, legislators, opinion leaders, and the interested public with analysis and commentary on U.S. and global policy initiatives related to climate change." Weathervane aims to provide timely and useful information about the ongoing international negotiations and debate within the United States.
LISTSERVS FFD-L <http://www.un.org/esa/analysis/ffd.htm> (for information) The United Nations' International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) announces a new e-mail distribution list intended to facilitate information exchange on the high-level international inter-governmental forum on financing for development (FFD). This list has been established in cooperation with the Development Policy Analysis Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. In fall of 1998 the Second Committee of the United Nations planned to establish an open-ended ad hoc working group to begin formal preparations for the high-level international intergovernmental consultation, to be held before the end of 2001. The list will provide announcements about upcoming meetings related to the FDD, copies of position papers, and pointers to on-line resources such as WWW sites and longer documents. To subscribe send a message to listproc@mbnet.mb.ca with the following in the body of the message: subscribe FFD-L. Subscribers can send mail to the entire list at <FFD-L@mbnet.mb.ca>. For assistance in subscribing or for further information contact us at <enb@iisd.org> For further information on the FFD process contact Ian C. Kinniburgh, Director, Development Policy Analysis Division, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations, Room, DC2-2170, New York, N.Y. 10017, USA;Tel: 212-963-4723;Fax: +1 212-963-1061;e-mail: <ffd@un.org> Funding for the establishment, moderation and maintenance of the FFD-L list has been provided by the US Agency for International Development (USAID). As we approach the end of a decade, century, and millennium, our need for efficient, effective, and equitable access to environmental information remains a high priority. Librarians serve a critical role as gatekeepers of environmental information for researchers, educators, students, policy makers, community leaders, and citizens. This program will provide descriptions of resources vital to public, school, and academic librarians. Materials describing ALA's Task Force on the Environment will be provided and handouts will be plentiful! The first Earth Day in 1970 was created in part as a result of the civil rights movement. The past two decades show that many of our environmental problems disproportionately impacting minority and low-income populations. This program will examine the nature and growth of the Environmental Justice Movement and introduce librarians to resources that will assist them in providing answers to issues of environmental equity and justice.

CONFERENCES
Speakers: Alicia Lyttle, from the Tulane University Environmental Law Clinic, and colleagues from Tulane University and other New Orleans organizations will discuss some of the special information needs and requirements for addressing the issues related to environmental justice. This program is organized with cooperation of the LITA GIS Interest Group GIS as a Tool for Collaborative Spatial Decision Making: Libraries' Perspective Presentation of Collaborative Spatial Decision Making (CSDM) as an emerging field of applied decision support involving group-based problem structuring and problem solving using capabilities of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and decision models. Two case study problems will demonstrate how CSDM can be applied in everyday situations; one involving a selection of consensus-based environmental restoration plans, and the other the assignment of resources for state primary health care services. Additionally, the needs of the public for geographically referenced information will be discussed. Using an example of the Idaho Geospatial Data Library, the answer to the question of how libraries can fulfill public needs for spatial information will be addressed. As we look to a new century, we cannot know what challenges the next generation will face, but we can be fairly certain that natural resources and environmental issues will be at the forefront.
Earth Week presents an excellent opportunity to think about ways to insure that today's students have the knowledge base to become tomorrow's environmental stewards. But because environmental studies are necessarily multidisciplinary, it is often difficult to know exactly what the content of this field of study should be. Certainly, we need to give students the knowledge they will need to be capable of understanding our complex and changing environment. But what subjects should be taught to insure environmental literacy? This conference brings together educators and experts in the fields most often associated with environmental studies to lay the groundwork for creating content standards for this field.
An international conference titled Environmental Education-from pre-school to university" is being held in Stockholm, Sweden on 7-8 May 1999. Background: The scope of this conference will include both the treatment and remediation of contaminated wetlands (by engineered and natural attenuation approaches) and the use of wetlands (natural and constructed) for the treatment and remediation of contaminated water and wastewater.