Alaskan greens say McCain’s VP pick is no environmentalist. John McCain’s surprise pick of Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate has a lot of environmentalists in the state worried about the influence she might have on the presidential candidate’s environmental policy. McCain has worked hard to portray himself as a green Republican, but Palin has developed an anti-environmental reputation during her 20 months as governor, according to many in the state. — Grist

Elephants and tigers rejoice as Indonesia doubles Tesso Nilo national park. The long weekend started with some good news for endangered Sumatran elephants and the critically endangered tigers who live in Sumatra’s Tesso Nilo National Park. Working with the World Wildlife Fund, the Indonesian government agreed to extend the national park, which was initially only 94,000 acres by about 250,000 acres.- – Green Daily

Food or Fuel – the Ethanol debate. A common objection to biomass energy production is that it could divert agricultural production away from food crops in a hungry world — even leading to mass starvation in the poor countries. True or not? — Green-Trust

Weeds – new publication will help us identify and regulate them. I was very pleased today to launch an excellent new publication by Rod Randall, from the Weeds CRC, which will be an invaluable tool in the fight against weeds in Australia. It’s a book, but it’s also free to download online! Everyone knows that weeds and feral animals – alien invasive species – stand beside habitat destruction and climate change as the main drivers of biodiversity loss worldwide. But many people don’t realise how widespread invasive species are in Australia. We have introduced 28,000 plants in 200 years, and many of them have become weeds which have overwhelmed ecosystems that do not have the capacity to adapt. — Christine Milne, Greens blog