There was very little new in Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford’s(D-AZ) wedding to Astronaut Mark Kelly. There was plenty of something old, borrowed and blue, however, as the couple were married in the small community of Amado, south of Tucson, AZ on Saturday.  Giffords, a staunch and outspoken proponent of solar power and everything environmental, made her statement well with a “low carbon footprint” wedding, complete with plates and forks made of sugar cane, a borrowed kiddish cup used in traditional Jewish wedding ceremonies, and homemade flower bouquets. Even her wedding dress was second hand, how’s that for a statement on sustainability?

Following the wedding on the Agua Linda Farm about 35 miles south of Tucson, the reception featured Mexican food with a person making tortillas on the spot, along with steak and potatoes.

Gifford’s husband, Astronaut Mark Kelly flew in a 14-day shuttle mission in 2006, his bride to be standing in the crowd watching liftoff. He’ll remain in Houston at the space center, while his congressional wife starts her quest for another two-year term in Congress. The democrat filled the seat vacated by Jim Kolbe in 2006.

Kelly will fly another shuttle mission in April, his third in 11 years and first as commander.  That puts their honeymoon on hold, since Kelly is grounded until the flight is finished, but they plan on seeing each other on weekends.

If you’d like to read more about this fairytale wedding in a rustic, southwestern setting, you’ll find it in the Arizona Daily Star.

If you’ve ever been to San Francisco, or lived there for a time as I have, you can’t help but be charmed by the city, but also aware of the natural beauty of the entire 9 county bay area. That charm and beauty, in many cases, was won in difficult and often contentious battles between environmentalists, governments and developers to name a few.

San Francisco author John Hart and photographer Nancy Kittle have put together a wonderful book about 50 notable "elders" who helped shape the area with their committment to the environment and conservation. This is a review of Legacy, and the impact the "elders" have had on the bay area.

85 year old Liz Moore is nobody’s fool. The minute she laid eyes on Syncrude’s Canadian Oil Sands operation in Alberta, Canada, she knew some terrible things were happening to the ecology of that area. While touring the company’s site, she took pictures of land not reclaimed, a few snapshots in the visitors center, and came home to Colorado bound to tell a story. She set up a website, The Oil (Tar) Sands of Alberta The Canada/U.S. Connection, and published her pictures along with some interesting facts about the operation.

Almost immediately, Syncrude’s legal staff wrote her and demanded she remove the pictures she had taken. Shortly thereafter, the company’s publishing firm did the same, as did the Alberta provincial government concerning pictures of the Oil Sands Discovery Center which they helped fund.

Liz also maintains another website: Energy Smart

Here is her story….

Thirteen women from around the globe meet and resolve to promote change. If there were ever active seniors, you'll meet them here.

The International Council of Indigenous Grandmothers

For the Next 7 Generations: The Grandmothers Speak

Biosphere2 - Citizen PhotoArizona’s much maligned, highly controversial Biosphere 2 is on it’s way to becoming a world-class ecological research facility, according to an article in the Tucson Daily Citizen newspaper. The University of Arizona announced today it would take control of the facility July 1st, and promises to have world-class researchers on site by year’s end.

The university has formed B2 Earthscience to operate a think tank, and conduct ecological research at the property, 35 miles north of Tucson near Oracle. The main thrust is expected to be a study of Earth’s ecological processes and global climate change, claiming the research will be relevant into the next century.

The property was developed in 1984 by billionaire Edward P Bass at a cost of $200 million, and enjoyed a not-so favorable reputation. The biosphere was originally designed as a for-profit venture, to help researchers determine ways to explore and settle other planets, and as a tourist attraction. In both cases, the facility failed to live up to its investor’s expectations.

In 1991, four men and four women entered the 2.5-acre, sealed terrarium for a two-year experiment, complete with plants, animals and insects. It also contains climatic regions meant to mimic that of Earth, including a rain forest, an ocean and a desert. Their experiment reportedly fell short of expectations nearly two years later when oxygen was pumped into the biosphere. Crewmembers were said to be fatigued, and had difficulty sleeping because the environment wasn’t supplying enough oxygen. They ended their stay shortly afterward.

To make a really long story short, a second crew entered the facility in 1994 when seven people, five men and two women, tried living in the biosphere to conduct ecological experiments over a period of 120 days to one year. That lasted less than a month when someone sabotaged the biosphere by opening doors and breaking the atmospheric seal.

In 1996, Columbia University began management of Biosphere 2, conducting research until 2003, when they vacated the property. Since then the facility has remained a tourist attraction to this day. The U of A will continue to court tourists

On June 5th of this year, a Texas home builder purchased Biosphere 2 and 1,700 surrounding acres for development of a 1,550 home development with a 200-room resort. Construction isn’t expected to begin for another two years.

The U of A will lease the terrarium and some neighboring buildings for from the developer for $100 annually. According to UA President Robert N Shelton, the university has $30 million set aside to launch management of the biosphere and sustain annual operating costs for 10 years.

First project on the list, according to the university, will be a study of how water interacts with flora typical of deserts, grasslands and savannahs. Researchers hope to learn more on how water is lost, how the area will be affected years from now and what vegetation will survive.

UA officials are quick to say failure is no longer an option at Biosphere2. One spokesman said, “We’ll be chugging along with the Biosphere for decades.”