California to Ban Plastic Bags
THE TELEGRAPH: California is to become the first US state to ban plastic bags in supermarkets in a move Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger called a "great victory for the environment."

Shoppers will have to bring their own reusable bags or pay at least 5 cents (3p) each for recycled paper ones under the ban which was approved by state politicians.

Californians currently use an estimated 19 billion plastic bags a year, equivalent to 552 for each person, only five per cent of which are reused.

The cities of San Francisco and Malibu had already banned plastic bags and the statewide ban, which also includes pharmacies, grocery stores and liquor stores, is likely to begin at the start of 2012. >>> Nick Allen in Los Angeles | Thursday, June 03, 2010

Archbishop of Canterbury: Humanity Risks Environmental 'Doomsday'
THE TELEGRAPH: Humanity risks being "choked, drowned or starved by its own stupidity" unless action is taken to save the environment, the Archbishop of Canterbury has warned.

The Church of England has been at the forefront of efforts to encourage 'green' behaviour in recent years. Photo (GETTY) courtesy of The Telegraph
In his most apocalyptic predictions in recent years, Dr Rowan Williams claimed that the Earth is now facing a "whole range of 'doomsday' prospects" from climate change to the destruction of delicate ecosystems and even attack from "bio-terror" weapons.

He brushed aside the views of those who are sceptical about global warming or deny mankind is to blame, saying that it is impossible to deny that entire countries are in peril from rising sea levels.

And he told fellow believers that God is not going to intervene and protect the human race as we have a "terrible freedom" to decide our own destiny.

The Church of England has been at the forefront of efforts to encourage "green" behaviour in recent years, even suggesting recently that people should post fewer Christmas cards.

But in a lecture on responsibility delivered at York Minster , the most senior cleric in the Church used unusually direct language to spell out the scale of the threat facing the planet if "unintelligent and ungodly" attitudes to the environment prevail. >>> By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent | Thursday, March 26, 2009