Jul 28, 2006
China oil imports near 50 percent
BEIJING, July 27 (UPI) -- Chinese oil imports were up 47.3 percent in the first half of 2006, making its way to what some experts say will be 50 percent of its consumption by 2010.
The state-run Xinhua news agency reports China's foreign oil imports rose 4.4 percent compared to the first half of 2005.
The ministry of commerce said net imports of crude reached 70.33 million tons in the first half of 2006, a 17.6-percent growth from the first half of 2005.
Refined imports grew 48.3 percent to 12 million tons.
The ministry said Chinese oil production rose 2.1 percent in the first half of 2006, to 91.66 million tons.
A report from China's Social Sciences Academic Press estimates that imports will be half of the country's consumption by 2010. ¶ 7/28/2006 07:44:00 AM 1 Comments Links to this post
The state-run Xinhua news agency reports China's foreign oil imports rose 4.4 percent compared to the first half of 2005.
The ministry of commerce said net imports of crude reached 70.33 million tons in the first half of 2006, a 17.6-percent growth from the first half of 2005.
Refined imports grew 48.3 percent to 12 million tons.
The ministry said Chinese oil production rose 2.1 percent in the first half of 2006, to 91.66 million tons.
A report from China's Social Sciences Academic Press estimates that imports will be half of the country's consumption by 2010. ¶ 7/28/2006 07:44:00 AM 1 Comments Links to this post
Fast Food Cooking Worse for Air Than All the Trucks on the Road
"Here is a great statistic to bite into: Cooking four normal sized hamburgers in a fast food joint emits the same amount of VOC's (volatile organic compounds) as driving a current model car for 1,000 miles. (Engelhard) in Hong Kong, "The 9,000 restaurants in HK also contribute to fine particulates and volatile organic substances. Other components of fumes are oils, fats, aliphatic hydrocarbons, poly-aromatic hydrocarbons, aromatic amines, aldehydes and elemental carbon." (read study here) In New Jersey, 16,000 restaurants release 2,226 tons of particulates, more than all of the heavy diesel vehicles in the state (1,329 tons, read study here) In the Bay area of California, they will soon require emission control on all chain-driven commercial grills. (report here) So just like your cars, all restaurants in the Bay area will be equipped with catalytic converters to reduce particulates and VOC's, and we should demand it everywhere else. "
Full read here: ¶ 7/28/2006 07:42:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Full read here: ¶ 7/28/2006 07:42:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Chemical in Air Fresheners Impairs Lung Function
""Even a small reduction in lung function may indicate some harm to the lungs," said NIEHS researcher Stephanie London, M.D., lead investigator on the study. "The best way to protect yourself, especially children who may have asthma or other respiratory illnesses, is to reduce the use of products and materials that contain these compounds."
NIEHS researcher Stephanie London, M.D., a specialist in genetic epidemiology, was lead investigator on the 1,4 DCB study. (Photo courtesy NIEHS)
Volatile organic compounds, VOCs, are compounds emitted as gases from thousands of commonly used products, including tobacco smoke, pesticides, paints, and cleaning products. VOCs are also released in automotive exhaust.
This particular VOC, 1,4 DCB, is a white solid compound with a distinctive aroma, similar to mothballs. It is typically used as a space deodorant in products such as room deodorizers, urinal and toilet bowl blocks, and as an insecticide fumigant for moth control.
The researchers examined the relationship between blood concentrations of 11 common volatile organic compounds and lung function measures in a representative sample of 953 adults 20 to 59 years old. Four measures of lung function were used in the analyses.
They found that of the common VOCs analyzed, including benzene, styrene, toluene, and acetone, only the compound 1,4 DCB was associated with reduced lung function.
This effect was seen even after careful adjustment for smoking.
The researchers found that 96 percent of the population sampled had detectable 1,4 DCB blood concentration levels. African Americans had the highest exposure levels and non-Hispanic whites the lowest. " ¶ 7/28/2006 07:19:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
""Even a small reduction in lung function may indicate some harm to the lungs," said NIEHS researcher Stephanie London, M.D., lead investigator on the study. "The best way to protect yourself, especially children who may have asthma or other respiratory illnesses, is to reduce the use of products and materials that contain these compounds."
NIEHS researcher Stephanie London, M.D., a specialist in genetic epidemiology, was lead investigator on the 1,4 DCB study. (Photo courtesy NIEHS)
Volatile organic compounds, VOCs, are compounds emitted as gases from thousands of commonly used products, including tobacco smoke, pesticides, paints, and cleaning products. VOCs are also released in automotive exhaust.
This particular VOC, 1,4 DCB, is a white solid compound with a distinctive aroma, similar to mothballs. It is typically used as a space deodorant in products such as room deodorizers, urinal and toilet bowl blocks, and as an insecticide fumigant for moth control.
The researchers examined the relationship between blood concentrations of 11 common volatile organic compounds and lung function measures in a representative sample of 953 adults 20 to 59 years old. Four measures of lung function were used in the analyses.
They found that of the common VOCs analyzed, including benzene, styrene, toluene, and acetone, only the compound 1,4 DCB was associated with reduced lung function.
This effect was seen even after careful adjustment for smoking.
The researchers found that 96 percent of the population sampled had detectable 1,4 DCB blood concentration levels. African Americans had the highest exposure levels and non-Hispanic whites the lowest. " ¶ 7/28/2006 07:19:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jul 27, 2006
GE Maps censored by French Court | Greenpeace International
: "Marmande, France — If you fly over the south of France you might be tempted to believe that aliens have landed with a huge crop circle appearing in a field of maize. But the aliens aren't from a distant galaxy; it is GE maize from the laboratory of Monsanto -- that the French government says you have no right to know about."
¶ 7/27/2006 10:07:00 AM 0 Comments
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Talkback - Wal-Mart Goes Green or PR
FORTUNE: Talkback: "Wal-Mart Goes Green
The retailing behemoth has embarked on a far-reaching sustainability initiative to reduce energy use, curb waste and sell more products that are good for the environment. It's not only revamping its own practices, but pushing its suppliers to be better stewards of the earth.
Do you believe that Wal-Mart is serious? Will the green campaign help the company repair its image? Does this make you more likely to shop there? -- By Marc Gunther
Read the story." ¶ 7/27/2006 10:05:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
The retailing behemoth has embarked on a far-reaching sustainability initiative to reduce energy use, curb waste and sell more products that are good for the environment. It's not only revamping its own practices, but pushing its suppliers to be better stewards of the earth.
Do you believe that Wal-Mart is serious? Will the green campaign help the company repair its image? Does this make you more likely to shop there? -- By Marc Gunther
Read the story." ¶ 7/27/2006 10:05:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Energy - New bill to exend tax credits for solar
United Press International - Energy - New bill to exend tax credits for solar: "Under the Energy Policy Act of 2005, residents and businesses receive 30 percent tax credits for use of solar systems. However, these credits are set to expire after two years, a period lobby groups argue is too short to 'encourage significant industry growth.'
" ¶ 7/27/2006 09:59:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
" ¶ 7/27/2006 09:59:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Green job market heating up
Uncle Sam's environmental protection and resource management agencies were offering 860 new, permanent jobs on the day we checked. To be sure we found them all, we clicked through thousands of listings at USAJOBS and cross-checked 11 agency websites. In addition to permanent jobs, there were hundreds of seasonal, temporary, and internship offerings. Sound good? Not really. For a little perspective, consider that those 860 jobs make up less than one percent of the government's estimated "green" workforce of 150,000+ permanent employees."
¶ 7/27/2006 09:43:00 AM 0 Comments
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Green job market heating up
Uncle Sam's environmental protection and resource management agencies were offering 860 new, permanent jobs on the day we checked. To be sure we found them all, we clicked through thousands of listings at USAJOBS and cross-checked 11 agency websites. In addition to permanent jobs, there were hundreds of seasonal, temporary, and internship offerings. Sound good? Not really. For a little perspective, consider that those 860 jobs make up less than one percent of the government's estimated "green" workforce of 150,000+ permanent employees."
¶ 7/27/2006 09:41:00 AM 0 Comments
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Outstanding New Environmental Scientist Award (ONES) (R01)
: "# The Outstanding New Environmental Scientist Award is intended to identify outstanding scientists who are in the early, formative stages of their careers and who intend to make a long term career commitment to research in the mission areas of the NIEHS and assist them in launching an innovative research program focusing on problems of environmental exposures and human biology, human pathophysiology and human disease.
# NIEHS intends to commit $3.6 million in total costs in FY2007 to fund approximately 6 new awards. " ¶ 7/27/2006 09:24:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
# NIEHS intends to commit $3.6 million in total costs in FY2007 to fund approximately 6 new awards. " ¶ 7/27/2006 09:24:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Outstanding New Environmental Scientist Award (ONES) (R01)
: "# The Outstanding New Environmental Scientist Award is intended to identify outstanding scientists who are in the early, formative stages of their careers and who intend to make a long term career commitment to research in the mission areas of the NIEHS and assist them in launching an innovative research program focusing on problems of environmental exposures and human biology, human pathophysiology and human disease.
# NIEHS intends to commit $3.6 million in total costs in FY2007 to fund approximately 6 new awards. " ¶ 7/27/2006 09:24:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
# NIEHS intends to commit $3.6 million in total costs in FY2007 to fund approximately 6 new awards. " ¶ 7/27/2006 09:24:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Headlines from 1986 - Why don't we hear about acid rain anymore?
"The headlines from 1986 could just as easily pass for those of today. Signs of impending environmental disaster. Industries slow to act. An alarmed public.
Just replace 1986's scourge of ``acid rain'' with today's ``global warming.'' At the time, poisonous sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants were falling as acid rain from the Rockies to the Adirondacks.
The good news, though, is that the government took on the challenge and acted.
Why don't we hear about acid rain anymore? It's because the invisible hand of free-market innovation went to work." ¶ 7/27/2006 08:08:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Just replace 1986's scourge of ``acid rain'' with today's ``global warming.'' At the time, poisonous sulfur dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants were falling as acid rain from the Rockies to the Adirondacks.
The good news, though, is that the government took on the challenge and acted.
Why don't we hear about acid rain anymore? It's because the invisible hand of free-market innovation went to work." ¶ 7/27/2006 08:08:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
We need rationing and regulation to cut carbon
: "'Information' on climate change is confused and often contradictory, the tax system is barely used for environmental purposes, and ever since the political shock of the fuel tax protests in 2000 it has been hardly touched as a means to deliver better environmental outcomes. The idea of carbon rationing burst into the mainstream last week when the environment secretary, David Miliband, announced his intention to examine the feasibility of a personal carbon allowances scheme."
Full read here
Full read here
Labels: CarbCrap
¶ 7/27/2006 08:05:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Rutland Herald: Rutland Vermont News & Information
Rutland Herald: Rutland Vermont News & Information: "Climate change threatens both the financial returns of the companies we all invest in and the performance of state and U.S. economies as a whole. That is why, as Vermont's state treasurer, I value my participation in the Investor Network on Climate Risk, a group of more than 50 institutional investors that collectively manage more than $3 trillion in assets.
Just as thousands of scientists around the world have come to confront the complexities and environmental threats to the planet from climate change, businesses are beginning to understand the financial risks and opportunities from a warming world. Many have already taken action.
Last year, global renewable energy investments hit another record high, eclipsing $40 billion. The Kyoto Protocol is leading dozens of industrialized countries — and their businesses — to find ways to reduce pollutants that are trapping heat in the atmosphere. The international treaty has spawned a new carbon cap-and-trade program in Europe that rewards companies for reducing emissions. More than 230 million tons of carbon dioxide were traded in the first year, with a value of more than $5 billion.
" ¶ 7/27/2006 08:00:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Just as thousands of scientists around the world have come to confront the complexities and environmental threats to the planet from climate change, businesses are beginning to understand the financial risks and opportunities from a warming world. Many have already taken action.
Last year, global renewable energy investments hit another record high, eclipsing $40 billion. The Kyoto Protocol is leading dozens of industrialized countries — and their businesses — to find ways to reduce pollutants that are trapping heat in the atmosphere. The international treaty has spawned a new carbon cap-and-trade program in Europe that rewards companies for reducing emissions. More than 230 million tons of carbon dioxide were traded in the first year, with a value of more than $5 billion.
" ¶ 7/27/2006 08:00:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Climate change – it’s already here and happening at a frighteningly accelerating pace
The uniform view was that it was basically too late to avoid climate change – it’s already here and happening at a frighteningly accelerating pace – and that it was getting close to being too late to avoid catastrophic planetary damage. The best we can hope for is containing future impact to modest levels, and even this would require a massive and rapid shift to much lower carbon energy. To prevent widespread loss of species and coastal areas, it is suggested that the U.S. will need to reduce the absolute quantity of annual CO2 emissions by 60-80% from today’s levels by 2050 – which frankly seems beyond reach. Failing that, all we can do is become more adaptable as a species to the sweeping global climatic changes that are inevitably forthcoming.
All of which was terribly depressing, seemingly hopeless. Fortunately, the last two days of the conference were a little more inspiring.
The Chair of the conference, NREL’s Chuck Kutscher, asked experts from each of the segments of renewable energy and energy efficiency to quantify the economically/technically plausible deployments of these technologies in the U.S. by 2030, to see if we could get onto a path of 60-80% CO2 reduction by 2050. When each of these independent analyses was added together, the overall conclusion at the closing session was that it was indeed viable for the U.S. to achieve the dramatic emission reductions that are estimated to be necessary to avoid catastrophic climate change. ¶ 7/27/2006 07:44:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
All of which was terribly depressing, seemingly hopeless. Fortunately, the last two days of the conference were a little more inspiring.
The Chair of the conference, NREL’s Chuck Kutscher, asked experts from each of the segments of renewable energy and energy efficiency to quantify the economically/technically plausible deployments of these technologies in the U.S. by 2030, to see if we could get onto a path of 60-80% CO2 reduction by 2050. When each of these independent analyses was added together, the overall conclusion at the closing session was that it was indeed viable for the U.S. to achieve the dramatic emission reductions that are estimated to be necessary to avoid catastrophic climate change. ¶ 7/27/2006 07:44:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Environmental advocates, industry groups argue over lawn chemicals' effects on health
JS Online:Turf war: "Whitefish Bay is a sidewalk community," Joyce said. "That's why we moved here. We breathe in these chemicals. We drag them into our houses on our shoes."
Eighty miles away, Dane County and the City of Madison adopted ordinances in 2004 banning lawn care products that contain phosphorus.
Brett Hulsey, a Dane County supervisor and chairman of the county's Lakes and Watershed Commission, said the ban was prompted by health and environmental concerns.
"Three or four years ago, a young man died after swimming in a pond on a golf course that was filled with blue-green algae," Hulsey said, adding that the growth of the algae was associated with the use of fertilizers containing phosphorous.
"Then two or three years ago, a dog died after getting in the same stuff. If a dog - an animal that drinks out of your toilet - dies after swimming in a lake, you have a problem." ¶ 7/27/2006 07:37:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Eighty miles away, Dane County and the City of Madison adopted ordinances in 2004 banning lawn care products that contain phosphorus.
Brett Hulsey, a Dane County supervisor and chairman of the county's Lakes and Watershed Commission, said the ban was prompted by health and environmental concerns.
"Three or four years ago, a young man died after swimming in a pond on a golf course that was filled with blue-green algae," Hulsey said, adding that the growth of the algae was associated with the use of fertilizers containing phosphorous.
"Then two or three years ago, a dog died after getting in the same stuff. If a dog - an animal that drinks out of your toilet - dies after swimming in a lake, you have a problem." ¶ 7/27/2006 07:37:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Pesticides, the toxic cocktail of pollutants interact.
Body & Health powered by MediResource: ""People think that their food, unless they buy organic, is laced with pesticides," said Peter MacLeod, executive director of CropLife Canada, an industry association of pesticide manufacturers and distributors.
"The truth is that they're not."
Federal inspections in 2004-05 turned up chemical residue in just over 22 per cent of both domestic and imported fresh produce, but at levels lower than the maximum residue limits, the analysis concludes.
Only 0.65 per cent of domestic and 1.1 per cent of imported fresh produce exceeded those levels.
What's important, said MacLeod, is that even when residues were found, they were detected in minute quantities - in the range of parts per million or lower.
While environmentalists and health advocates agree the amounts are tiny, they say it's impossible to be definitive in asserting they pose no health risk, especially when it comes to children.
Some experts worry that some chemicals are unsafe at any level, that many safety standards are out of date, and that Ottawa doesn't test for all chemicals in use.
A key worry is how the toxic cocktail of pollutants interact.
"We are concerned about the health effects of low levels of many different chemicals in a person's body," said Sarah Winterton of the group Environmental Defence.
"We really don't know the health impacts of low-level exposure, particularly within the context of how many different chemicals we are exposed to every day."
Results of a study released by Environmental Defence last month detected a wide array of toxins in the bodies of seven children and six adults from five families living in different parts of Canada.
The chemicals, among them pesticides, PCBs and flame retardants, are known carcinogens, hormone disrupters and neurotoxins.
The disturbing findings prompted Health Canada to announce it would study 5,000 people for signs of pollution-related toxins.
"Pesticides are among the most widely used chemicals in the world, and also among the most dangerous to human health," according to the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
"They are a leading cause of poisonings here in Canada and have been estimated to account for thousands of deaths each year globally."
"The truth is that they're not."
Federal inspections in 2004-05 turned up chemical residue in just over 22 per cent of both domestic and imported fresh produce, but at levels lower than the maximum residue limits, the analysis concludes.
Only 0.65 per cent of domestic and 1.1 per cent of imported fresh produce exceeded those levels.
What's important, said MacLeod, is that even when residues were found, they were detected in minute quantities - in the range of parts per million or lower.
While environmentalists and health advocates agree the amounts are tiny, they say it's impossible to be definitive in asserting they pose no health risk, especially when it comes to children.
Some experts worry that some chemicals are unsafe at any level, that many safety standards are out of date, and that Ottawa doesn't test for all chemicals in use.
A key worry is how the toxic cocktail of pollutants interact.
"We are concerned about the health effects of low levels of many different chemicals in a person's body," said Sarah Winterton of the group Environmental Defence.
"We really don't know the health impacts of low-level exposure, particularly within the context of how many different chemicals we are exposed to every day."
Results of a study released by Environmental Defence last month detected a wide array of toxins in the bodies of seven children and six adults from five families living in different parts of Canada.
The chemicals, among them pesticides, PCBs and flame retardants, are known carcinogens, hormone disrupters and neurotoxins.
The disturbing findings prompted Health Canada to announce it would study 5,000 people for signs of pollution-related toxins.
"Pesticides are among the most widely used chemicals in the world, and also among the most dangerous to human health," according to the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment.
"They are a leading cause of poisonings here in Canada and have been estimated to account for thousands of deaths each year globally."
Labels: Toxic2U
¶ 7/27/2006 07:34:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
EPA on Clean Air Regulation
: "Agency officials said the EPA and the Bush administration are making progress. By next year, the EPA said, emissions of toxic air will have dropped by 57 percent from 1990 levels due to new standards affecting dozens of types of industrial facilities.
'Environmental progress is similar to a relay race with each administration passing the baton to the next,' EPA spokeswoman Jessica Emond said. 'The Bush administration completed one leg of the race, while accelerating environmental progress for future generations.'"
'Environmental progress is similar to a relay race with each administration passing the baton to the next,' EPA spokeswoman Jessica Emond said. 'The Bush administration completed one leg of the race, while accelerating environmental progress for future generations.'"
Labels: EnviroProtection, Toxic2U
¶ 7/27/2006 07:13:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jul 26, 2006
Big money gets US$1 Billion Coal Plant
: "Developers of a US$1 billion coal-burning power plant which aims to be the world's cleanest generating facility will build in either Illinois or Texas, US energy officials said on Tuesday. "We are not being critical, we need this technology. But we need to move faster and don't need to take so long to demonstrate it. The private sector is getting to the future faster than FutureGen," said David Doniger, policy director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's climate center.
With the federal government slated to fund up to US$700 million of the total cost of the project, states have been eager to participate, seeing the plant as a veritable job generator.
In addition to Illinois and Texas, states vying to host the plant were Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, Colorado, and West Virginia. Construction could begin in 2009, with operations beginning in 2012, developers said. " ¶ 7/26/2006 07:35:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
With the federal government slated to fund up to US$700 million of the total cost of the project, states have been eager to participate, seeing the plant as a veritable job generator.
In addition to Illinois and Texas, states vying to host the plant were Wyoming, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Ohio, Colorado, and West Virginia. Construction could begin in 2009, with operations beginning in 2012, developers said. " ¶ 7/26/2006 07:35:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Energy Connections
Record Power Demand Sweeps the United States
The United States has seven regional independent operators of electrical grids, stretching from California to New England, and every one of them experienced record power demand last week. A press release from a group representing the seven regional grid operators notes that the peak power demands reached a level that was 0.9 percent to 4.5 percent higher than in 2005. According to the group, regional grid operators reported a new aggregated peak record of electricity usage of 483,233 megawatts during the extreme heat and high humidity, a full 7,500 megawatts above last year's peak. Despite the high electrical loads, the grid operators were able to maintain adequate reserve margins to avoid rolling blackouts. See the press release on the Midwest Independent System Operator Web site. ¶ 7/26/2006 07:24:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
The United States has seven regional independent operators of electrical grids, stretching from California to New England, and every one of them experienced record power demand last week. A press release from a group representing the seven regional grid operators notes that the peak power demands reached a level that was 0.9 percent to 4.5 percent higher than in 2005. According to the group, regional grid operators reported a new aggregated peak record of electricity usage of 483,233 megawatts during the extreme heat and high humidity, a full 7,500 megawatts above last year's peak. Despite the high electrical loads, the grid operators were able to maintain adequate reserve margins to avoid rolling blackouts. See the press release on the Midwest Independent System Operator Web site. ¶ 7/26/2006 07:24:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jul 25, 2006
WDNR - DNR News - July 25, 2006
: " Mooove over cream puffs --the Wisconsin State Fair is adding another great tradition for fairgoers: the chance to recycle away from home.
Seventy-two bottled-shaped bins for plastic bottles and aluminum cans will be scattered throughout the fair grounds, making it easy for fairgoers to follow the same recycling routine they use at home.
“Wisconsin residents do a great job of recycling aluminum cans and plastic bottles at home, but we find that too many of those containers are discarded with other trash when people travel during the summer and attend special events,” says Cynthia Moore, Department of Natural Resources recycling coordinator. “The recyclable bins at Wisconsin State Fair are an innovative way to help make it easy for people to recycle away from home.”
Wisconsin recycles about 55 percent of the aluminum cans and plastic bottles citizens discard, a higher proportion than in most states but not as high as state recycling officials would like to see.
DNR estimates, almost $20 million worth of plastic bottles and aluminum cans are thrown away every year in Wisconsin, with a good share of them thrown away when people are on the road or at special events like festivals, fairs and concerts, Moore says.
“Keeping aluminum cans and plastic bottles and other recyclable items out of landfills has significant and positive environmental and economic impacts,” she says. “Not only is recycling a good environmental choice, but in Wisconsin it helps our economy grow, it provides thousands of jobs and it help conserve valuable oil.” Recycling one ton of plastic can save 16 barrels of oil. "
Seventy-two bottled-shaped bins for plastic bottles and aluminum cans will be scattered throughout the fair grounds, making it easy for fairgoers to follow the same recycling routine they use at home.
“Wisconsin residents do a great job of recycling aluminum cans and plastic bottles at home, but we find that too many of those containers are discarded with other trash when people travel during the summer and attend special events,” says Cynthia Moore, Department of Natural Resources recycling coordinator. “The recyclable bins at Wisconsin State Fair are an innovative way to help make it easy for people to recycle away from home.”
Wisconsin recycles about 55 percent of the aluminum cans and plastic bottles citizens discard, a higher proportion than in most states but not as high as state recycling officials would like to see.
DNR estimates, almost $20 million worth of plastic bottles and aluminum cans are thrown away every year in Wisconsin, with a good share of them thrown away when people are on the road or at special events like festivals, fairs and concerts, Moore says.
“Keeping aluminum cans and plastic bottles and other recyclable items out of landfills has significant and positive environmental and economic impacts,” she says. “Not only is recycling a good environmental choice, but in Wisconsin it helps our economy grow, it provides thousands of jobs and it help conserve valuable oil.” Recycling one ton of plastic can save 16 barrels of oil. "
Labels: WI - Evniro
¶ 7/25/2006 02:36:00 PM 0 Comments Links to this post
Demand for Ethanol May Drive Up Food Prices, Science News Online, July 22, 2006
Science News Online, July 22, 2006: "'The lines between the food economy and the energy economy [are] becoming blurred,' says agricultural economist Lester R. Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute in Washington, D.C. Last week, his organization issued an economic analysis on the subject.
The analysis found an emerging 'competition between the 800 million people who own automobiles and the 2 billion low-income people, many of whom already spend over half their income on food,' Brown says. Furthermore, he says, 'taxpayers may be subsidizing a rise in their own food prices.'
To encourage the use of alternative fuels, U.S. law subsidizes ethanol production at 51 cents per gallon and production of other so-called biofuels at up to $1 per gallon. Those incentives tempt farmers to sell crops to biofuel distilleries or, if they instead sell to food manufacturers, to demand higher prices than they otherwise would.
One-fifth of corn and almost one sixth of the U.S. grain harvest overall goes toward ethanol production, according to the institute's report. And while the world's production of grain will grow by about 20 million tons this year, 70 percent of the increase could be used to generate ethanol for U.S. automobiles, Brown says."
The analysis found an emerging 'competition between the 800 million people who own automobiles and the 2 billion low-income people, many of whom already spend over half their income on food,' Brown says. Furthermore, he says, 'taxpayers may be subsidizing a rise in their own food prices.'
To encourage the use of alternative fuels, U.S. law subsidizes ethanol production at 51 cents per gallon and production of other so-called biofuels at up to $1 per gallon. Those incentives tempt farmers to sell crops to biofuel distilleries or, if they instead sell to food manufacturers, to demand higher prices than they otherwise would.
One-fifth of corn and almost one sixth of the U.S. grain harvest overall goes toward ethanol production, according to the institute's report. And while the world's production of grain will grow by about 20 million tons this year, 70 percent of the increase could be used to generate ethanol for U.S. automobiles, Brown says."
Labels: BioFoolsGold, EthanolHoax
¶ 7/25/2006 10:03:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Global Warming -- Signed, Sealed and Delivered - Los Angeles Times
"Earth scientists long believed that humans were insignificant in comparison with the vastness of geological time and the power of geophysical forces. For this reason, many were reluctant to accept that humans had become a force of nature, and it took decades for the present understanding to be achieved. Those few who refuse to accept it are not ignorant, but they are stubborn. They are not unintelligent, but they are stuck on details that cloud the larger issue. Scientific communities include tortoises and hares, mavericks and mules. "
One of the greatest scientist of all time, Isaac Newton, warned against this tendency more than three centuries ago. Writing in "Principia Mathematica" in 1687, he noted that once scientists had successfully drawn conclusions by "general induction from phenomena," then those conclusions had to be held as "accurately or very nearly true notwithstanding any contrary hypothesis that may be imagined…. "
Climate-change deniers can imagine all the hypotheses they like, but it will not change the facts nor "the general induction from the phenomena."
None of this is to say that there are no uncertainties left — there are always uncertainties in any live science. Agreeing about the reality and causes of current global warming is not the same as agreeing about what will happen in the future. There is continuing debate in the scientific community over the likely rate of future change: not "whether" but "how much" and "how soon." And this is precisely why we need to act today: because the longer we wait, the worse the problem will become, and the harder it will be to solve. ¶ 7/25/2006 09:47:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
One of the greatest scientist of all time, Isaac Newton, warned against this tendency more than three centuries ago. Writing in "Principia Mathematica" in 1687, he noted that once scientists had successfully drawn conclusions by "general induction from phenomena," then those conclusions had to be held as "accurately or very nearly true notwithstanding any contrary hypothesis that may be imagined…. "
Climate-change deniers can imagine all the hypotheses they like, but it will not change the facts nor "the general induction from the phenomena."
None of this is to say that there are no uncertainties left — there are always uncertainties in any live science. Agreeing about the reality and causes of current global warming is not the same as agreeing about what will happen in the future. There is continuing debate in the scientific community over the likely rate of future change: not "whether" but "how much" and "how soon." And this is precisely why we need to act today: because the longer we wait, the worse the problem will become, and the harder it will be to solve. ¶ 7/25/2006 09:47:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Planet Ark : Planned US Coal Plants Would Hike Warming - Group
: "If the more than 150 coal-fired power plants being planned in the United States were built it would boost coal demand 30 percent and raise national emissions of gases thought to cause global warming by 10 percent, according to an advocacy group."
"This list is illustrative of a phenomenon -- which is after years of no coal plants being built, all of a sudden there's a flurry of plans for them," said Rob Sargent, an energy analyst at PIRG. He said that by the 2020s, coal-fired capacity could reach the highest levels in 40 years. ¶ 7/25/2006 09:43:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
"This list is illustrative of a phenomenon -- which is after years of no coal plants being built, all of a sudden there's a flurry of plans for them," said Rob Sargent, an energy analyst at PIRG. He said that by the 2020s, coal-fired capacity could reach the highest levels in 40 years. ¶ 7/25/2006 09:43:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Earth 'on Verge of Major Biodiversity Crisis'
OneWorld U.S. Home / Today's News': "'There is an urgent need to bridge the gap between science and policy to take action,' says a statement from the 19-member group that cautions against the possibility of a 'major biodiversity crisis' facing the Earth.
If governments fail to take appropriate actions in due course of time, the group says it is quite likely that before the end of this century a large number of plant and animal species will have completely disappeared. "
"I would like to call on everyone to join this unprecedented effort to conserve life on Earth," he added. ¶ 7/25/2006 09:37:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
If governments fail to take appropriate actions in due course of time, the group says it is quite likely that before the end of this century a large number of plant and animal species will have completely disappeared. "
"I would like to call on everyone to join this unprecedented effort to conserve life on Earth," he added. ¶ 7/25/2006 09:37:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Finalists to be named for $1 billion power plant of the future
The FutureGen Alliance scheduled an announcement for Tuesday to identify the finalists among 12 sites in seven states vying for the plant. West Virginia is offering 387 acres of state land for the Point Pleasant site it has in play.
FutureGen is a nonprofit collaboration among electric utilities, coal companies and other investors putting up $250 million to design and build the plant. Among the investors are Columbus-based American Electric Power and the U.S. Department of Energy, which is providing $750 million.
Touted as the power plant of tomorrow, FutureGen involves technology that converts coal into highly enriched hydrogen gas that burns more cleanly than coal and would be used to produce electricity for about 275,000 single-family homes.
Plans call for the 275-megawatt plant to capture most of its emissions of carbon dioxide — a greenhouse gas widely blamed for global warming — and inject them permanently into underground reservoirs, a process called sequestration.
The project would create more than 1,000 construction jobs and as many as 200 jobs at the plant.
The finalists will have to get moving. FutureGen wants to measure the progress of the finalists’ proposals at a meeting next week in Pittsburgh. Environmental impact statements are due in early September, said Jacqueline Bird, the Ohio Coal Development Office director, who is working on that state’s project.
Labels: Renewable Energy
¶ 7/25/2006 09:36:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Gore Makes Personal Environmental Appeal
Townhall.com::The News::News Article: "We've fallen into this pattern of consuming more and more and more and I'm part of it, I understand," he said."
¶ 7/25/2006 09:32:00 AM 0 Comments
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Hugg / Sen. Inhofe Compares People Who Believe In Global Warming To ‘The Third Reich’
: "Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-OK) declared that global warming is “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people.” and declares that global warming is 'a big lie' Note his tope contributers: The top industries supporting James M. Inhofe are: 1 Oil & Gas $311,208 2 Electric Utilities $180,907 3 Retired $145,771 4 General Contractors $116,611 5 Leadership PACs $100,347 6 Lobbyists $99,741 7 Lawyers/Law Firms $95,372 8 Commercial Banks $79,925 9 Health Professionals $77,550 10 Building Materials & Equipment $75,267 11 Air Transport $75,069 12 Insurance $72,171 13 Automotive $63,250 14 Misc Finance $61,500 15 Defense Aerospace $60,500 16 Real Estate $58,555 17 Business Services $53,766 18 Mining $52,600 19 Pro-Israel $49,300 20 Chemical & Related Manufacturing $47,010"
comments
#1 I've begun a list of these people, so we can use it as a potential database for future lawsuits involving loss of life and property due to negligence and misinformation. ¶ 7/25/2006 08:00:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
comments
#1 I've begun a list of these people, so we can use it as a potential database for future lawsuits involving loss of life and property due to negligence and misinformation. ¶ 7/25/2006 08:00:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Doctors to Help Prevent Environmental Pollution
Teleosis Institute : Green Health Care - Ecologically Sustainable Medicine
Symbiosis: the Journal of Ecological Medicine is filled with information and answers. Green Health Care provides leadership, advocating for one solutions to complex environmental issues, shift to sustainable medical practices. Medicine must be good for people and the environment.
Joel Kreisberg, DC, MA Executive Director ¶ 7/25/2006 07:58:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Symbiosis: the Journal of Ecological Medicine is filled with information and answers. Green Health Care provides leadership, advocating for one solutions to complex environmental issues, shift to sustainable medical practices. Medicine must be good for people and the environment.
Joel Kreisberg, DC, MA Executive Director ¶ 7/25/2006 07:58:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Texas Tops in Wind Energy Production
News from The Associated Press: "Texas capacity stands at 2,370 megawatts, enough to power 600,000 average-sized homes a year, according to a midyear report released Tuesday by the American Wind Energy Association.
That puts Texas slightly ahead of California, the nation's leader since 1981. California has 2,323 megawatts of capacity. The total U.S. capacity is 9,971 megawatts."
That puts Texas slightly ahead of California, the nation's leader since 1981. California has 2,323 megawatts of capacity. The total U.S. capacity is 9,971 megawatts."
Labels: Renewable Energy
¶ 7/25/2006 07:49:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Hundreds of Wis. Bass Found Dead After Meet
News from The Associated Press: ""If we are killing the fish, we definitely want to know why," he said. "However, I also should point out that there's a bass-fishing tournament in La Crosse every weekend, and when's the last time you saw this many dead? After last year's tournament (which was the first year of the study)."
Perhaps the way the DNR conducted the study was a factor, Stellner said.
The agency put about 100 fish a day in 8-by-8-foot holding pens on the Black River. An equal number of tournament-caught fish and fish culled from the wild using electroshocking were kept for a side-by-side comparison." ¶ 7/25/2006 07:48:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Perhaps the way the DNR conducted the study was a factor, Stellner said.
The agency put about 100 fish a day in 8-by-8-foot holding pens on the Black River. An equal number of tournament-caught fish and fish culled from the wild using electroshocking were kept for a side-by-side comparison." ¶ 7/25/2006 07:48:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Four tons of crude oil has spilled from an Exxon pipeline
United Press International -: "The spill occurred Saturday, but the media was not informed of the event until Monday. As soon as the spill was detected, Exxon Neftegaz officials say, the pipeline was turned off and the site of the spill localized."
¶ 7/25/2006 07:43:00 AM 0 Comments
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After deaths - BP chief to step down
United Press International: "The Wall Street Journal reports it is the same plant where 15 contractors were killed in a March 2005 explosion and where numerous safety violations took place, resulting in $21.4 million in fines."
¶ 7/25/2006 07:41:00 AM 0 Comments
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Jul 24, 2006
Oil lobby blames gov't for record gas cost
: "Murphy said ethanol mandates, instead of the free-market approach, along with government prerogatives like gasoline price-gouging legislation, 'exacerbate' the already high prices.
U.S. ethanol producers enjoy both tax subsidies and a tariff on imports, but the increased demand for ethanol now competes for corn with industries feeding humans and animals.
'The rush to ethanol is a competing demand to food and feeding from grain we produce in this country,' said Fritz Corrigan, president and chief executive officer of Mosaic.
Ethanol is primarily made from corn, though a more sustainable and diverse feedstock is expected in the near future if enough research and development and adequate technological advances are gained.
MTBE, a more popular and less expensive alternative to ethanol, is being voluntarily phased out now amid fears of lawsuits from leaks into groundwater, and is banned by many states.
That alone has created more demand for ethanol, bolstered further by requirements in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to double ethanol sales by 2012, according to a report by the Lundberg Survey, a market research company focused on the U.S. petroleum industry.
Ethanol has been pushed heavily as a way to lessen U.S. dependence on oil. Ethanol was first subsidized in 1978 and is currently empowered by the high prices and slow, but growing, commitment of automakers to create more vehicles that can run on E85 -- 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
In tandem with the Chamber's message, the moderator and panelists said prices would drop and energy security would be bolstered if domestic supply was increased.
U.S. ethanol producers enjoy both tax subsidies and a tariff on imports, but the increased demand for ethanol now competes for corn with industries feeding humans and animals.
'The rush to ethanol is a competing demand to food and feeding from grain we produce in this country,' said Fritz Corrigan, president and chief executive officer of Mosaic.
Ethanol is primarily made from corn, though a more sustainable and diverse feedstock is expected in the near future if enough research and development and adequate technological advances are gained.
MTBE, a more popular and less expensive alternative to ethanol, is being voluntarily phased out now amid fears of lawsuits from leaks into groundwater, and is banned by many states.
That alone has created more demand for ethanol, bolstered further by requirements in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to double ethanol sales by 2012, according to a report by the Lundberg Survey, a market research company focused on the U.S. petroleum industry.
Ethanol has been pushed heavily as a way to lessen U.S. dependence on oil. Ethanol was first subsidized in 1978 and is currently empowered by the high prices and slow, but growing, commitment of automakers to create more vehicles that can run on E85 -- 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline.
In tandem with the Chamber's message, the moderator and panelists said prices would drop and energy security would be bolstered if domestic supply was increased.
Labels: EthanolHoax
¶ 7/24/2006 11:42:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jul 23, 2006
Occupational Health & Safety - The National Magazine for Safety, Ergonomic, and Occupational Health Professionals
The Toxics Use Reduction Institute (TURI) at the University of Massachusetts Lowell conducted an alternatives assessment comparing the five chemicals with approximately 100 alternatives within 16 applications. For example, formaldehyde, a known cause of cancer in humans and used by beauty and barber shops as a sanitizer, was compared to two alternatives -- ultraviolet light cabinets and storing implements in a dry, disinfected covered container without formaldehyde.
According to the researchers, alternatives to toxic chemicals included drop-in chemical substitutes, material substitutes, changes to manufacturing operations, changes to component/product design, and other technological or market solutions.
According to the researchers, alternatives to toxic chemicals included drop-in chemical substitutes, material substitutes, changes to manufacturing operations, changes to component/product design, and other technological or market solutions.
Labels: Toxic2U
¶ 7/23/2006 06:55:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Guardian Unlimited | Comment is free | This trade in carbon emissions won't combat global warming
"It is questionable whether carbon emissions trading will bring a certifiable reduction. As now embodied in the EU emissions trading scheme, fossil- fuel-burning companies such as power utilities, steelworks or cement factories are granted substantial carbon credits that they can sell - on the basis that they have emitted less than expected. That may provide some incentive to look to more efficient technologies, but the assumption is that someone elsewhere, even in another country, is going to buy that credit in order to pollute.
In addition, the use of tradeable carbon units combined with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) - whereby the Kyoto signatories from industrialised nations can invest in emission-reduction projects in developing countries - has huge potential for environmental damage and fraud."
In addition, the use of tradeable carbon units combined with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) - whereby the Kyoto signatories from industrialised nations can invest in emission-reduction projects in developing countries - has huge potential for environmental damage and fraud."
Labels: CarbCrap
¶ 7/23/2006 06:54:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
NASA’s Goals Delete Mention of Home Protection
NASA’s New York TimesIn early February, the statement was quietly altered, with the phrase “to understand and protect our home planet” deleted. In this year’s budget and planning documents, the agency’s mission is “to pioneer the future in space exploration, scientific discovery and aeronautics research.”
But the change comes as an unwelcome surprise to many NASA scientists, who say the “understand and protect” phrase was not merely window dressing but actively influenced the shaping and execution of research priorities. Without it, these scientists say, there will be far less incentive to pursue projects to improve understanding of terrestrial problems like climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions.
“We refer to the mission statement in all our research proposals that go out for peer review, whenever we have strategy meetings,” said Philip B. Russell, a 25-year NASA veteran who is an atmospheric chemist at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. “As civil servants, we’re paid to carry out NASA’s mission. When there was that very easy-to-understand statement that our job is to protect the planet, that made it much easier to justify this kind of work.”
Several NASA researchers said they were upset that the change was made at NASA headquarters without consulting the agency’s 19,000 employees" ¶ 7/23/2006 06:45:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
But the change comes as an unwelcome surprise to many NASA scientists, who say the “understand and protect” phrase was not merely window dressing but actively influenced the shaping and execution of research priorities. Without it, these scientists say, there will be far less incentive to pursue projects to improve understanding of terrestrial problems like climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions.
“We refer to the mission statement in all our research proposals that go out for peer review, whenever we have strategy meetings,” said Philip B. Russell, a 25-year NASA veteran who is an atmospheric chemist at the Ames Research Center in Moffett Field, Calif. “As civil servants, we’re paid to carry out NASA’s mission. When there was that very easy-to-understand statement that our job is to protect the planet, that made it much easier to justify this kind of work.”
Several NASA researchers said they were upset that the change was made at NASA headquarters without consulting the agency’s 19,000 employees" ¶ 7/23/2006 06:45:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Lack of water, energy 'could cause war' - Breaking News - National - Breaking News
Despite an increasing lack of resources "we are still acting in a very wasteful way".
"This is of great concern. It is a problem that basically comes down to the future of mankind," he said.
Mr Gorbachev said by 2020 the "water crisis" would spread across half the world, leaving many countries without drinking water and proper sanitation.
"This kind of situation could only result in a global cataclysm," he said.
"The position of Green Cross International calls for accelerated use of renewable sources of energy, in particular solar energy,"
"At the same time, we are calling for serious and effective steps to more efficiently use the traditional sources of energy."
"This is of great concern. It is a problem that basically comes down to the future of mankind," he said.
Mr Gorbachev said by 2020 the "water crisis" would spread across half the world, leaving many countries without drinking water and proper sanitation.
"This kind of situation could only result in a global cataclysm," he said.
"The position of Green Cross International calls for accelerated use of renewable sources of energy, in particular solar energy,"
"At the same time, we are calling for serious and effective steps to more efficiently use the traditional sources of energy."
Labels: Waterwars
¶ 7/23/2006 06:38:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Say NO to bottled water
"We are what we drink. But how much good is it doing us or the planet? "
But while the summer may be boosting the fortunes of water companies, concerns are growing at the environmental costs of producing and transporting bottled water, not to mention what happens to the millions of bottles used - many of which end up on landfill sites.
According to the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, most containers for bottled water are made from non-degradable plastics and are not recycled. This results in an estimated 500,000 tons of plastic waste being dumped each year which can take hundreds of years to break down.
The cost is not only limited to the production process. More than 22 million tons of bottled water is transported around the world each year, with a resulting cost in carbon emissions.
But while the summer may be boosting the fortunes of water companies, concerns are growing at the environmental costs of producing and transporting bottled water, not to mention what happens to the millions of bottles used - many of which end up on landfill sites.
According to the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, most containers for bottled water are made from non-degradable plastics and are not recycled. This results in an estimated 500,000 tons of plastic waste being dumped each year which can take hundreds of years to break down.
The cost is not only limited to the production process. More than 22 million tons of bottled water is transported around the world each year, with a resulting cost in carbon emissions.
Labels: WaterProtection, Waterwars
¶ 7/23/2006 06:33:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jul 21, 2006
Cost of food grows to 18m tons of carbon dioxide
"The figures will heighten concern about the damage done by the supermarkets' policy of flying in products like sweetcorn from Thailand, prawns from Ecuador, or apples from New Zealand. They are also a blow to the Government's commitment - made in its Food Industry Sustainability Strategy earlier this year - to cut the social and environmental costs of food miles on 1990 levels by 20 per cent by 2012.
Environmental campaigners said the figures showed ministers should be doing more to curb emissions of carbon dioxide (Co2), which causes climate change, which has been blamed for this summer's extreme heat." ¶ 7/21/2006 06:28:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Environmental campaigners said the figures showed ministers should be doing more to curb emissions of carbon dioxide (Co2), which causes climate change, which has been blamed for this summer's extreme heat." ¶ 7/21/2006 06:28:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Gas Escaping From Ocean Floor May Drive Global Warming
Gas escaping from the ocean floor may provide some answers to understanding historical global warming cycles and provide information on current climate changes, according to a team of scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The findings are reported in the July 20 on-line version of the scientific journal, Global Biogeochemical Cycles.
Atmospheric methane is at least 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide and is the most abundant organic compound in the atmosphere, according to the study's authors, all from UC Santa Barbara.
"Other people have reported this type of methane blowout, but no one has ever checked the numbers until now," said Ira Leifer, lead author and an associate researcher with UCSB's Marine Science Institute. "Ours is the first set of numbers associated with a seep blowout." Leifer was in a research boat on the surface at the time of the blowouts.
The distribution of methane hydrates throughout the world is so vast that energy companies hope one day to tap the resource. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that such formations could harbor as much as 200,000 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. ¶ 7/21/2006 06:11:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Atmospheric methane is at least 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide and is the most abundant organic compound in the atmosphere, according to the study's authors, all from UC Santa Barbara.
"Other people have reported this type of methane blowout, but no one has ever checked the numbers until now," said Ira Leifer, lead author and an associate researcher with UCSB's Marine Science Institute. "Ours is the first set of numbers associated with a seep blowout." Leifer was in a research boat on the surface at the time of the blowouts.
The distribution of methane hydrates throughout the world is so vast that energy companies hope one day to tap the resource. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that such formations could harbor as much as 200,000 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. ¶ 7/21/2006 06:11:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jul 20, 2006
7 STEPS TO A ZERO-WASTE SOCIETY
A zero-waste society is a concept that many people have talked about, but is it feasible? Just about everything in our society is designed to be disposable, single-use, or discarded one day in favor of something newer and better. With this mindset, can we ever create a sustainable zero-waste society? I think so.. if we take steps to reduce our needless consumption, but also redefine what we think of as “waste”.
Step 1: Use less packaging
Step 2: Use biodegradable materials for all short-term uses
Step 4: Use reusable containers whenever possible
Step 6: Design products for their entire lifespan
Step 7: Effectively dispose of the non-usable leftovers
I envision a future where there are public waste receptacles that accept recyclables, compostables, and used products to be sent back to the manufacturers. Robots could sort the materials and transport it to the proper location for processing, handling everything from emptying street bins to sorting bottles inside the recycling facility to delivering cleaned bottles back to food production locations, and delivering finished compost to farms or parks. With proper product design, any product disposed of in a public place would go into one of these 3 places. There would be similar sorting in the home, with the addition of a sanitary waste disposal for items to be burned or otherwise destroyed. There wouldn’t need to be any thinking involved, as the infrastructure, economic model and product design would ensure proper disposal, and as more products and materials adopted this system, we would finally approach a truly zero-waste society.
¶ 7/20/2006 08:34:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Al Gore - Hired Guns Aim to Confuse
"'There is a line between public relations and propaganda - or there should be. And there is a difference between using your skills, in good faith, to help rescue a battered reputation and using them to twist the truth - to sow confusion and doubt on an issue that is critical to human survival. And it is infuriating - as a public relations professional - to watch my colleagues use their skills, their training and their considerable intellect to poison the international debate on climate change.'
Well said, Jim. His blog makes fascinating reading. It names names and follows the money trail - often leading back to big U.S. conservative organizations and fossil fuel giants. Jim's making it his mission to expose the liars and the frauds and he's doing a pretty good job.
Al Gore was right, the people do have to be engaged before politicians will listen. But engaging the people sometimes requires clearing the air first. Take the Nature Challenge and learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org. " ¶ 7/20/2006 08:32:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Well said, Jim. His blog makes fascinating reading. It names names and follows the money trail - often leading back to big U.S. conservative organizations and fossil fuel giants. Jim's making it his mission to expose the liars and the frauds and he's doing a pretty good job.
Al Gore was right, the people do have to be engaged before politicians will listen. But engaging the people sometimes requires clearing the air first. Take the Nature Challenge and learn more at www.davidsuzuki.org. " ¶ 7/20/2006 08:32:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Senate Committee is trying to suggest scientists play by the rules of politicians
The Senate Committee is trying to suggest scientists play by the rules of politicians (God help us were that the case). These elected officials would like the public to believe that a $250,000 gift from an ethically-challenged lobbyist is the same as a $250,000 grant from a foundation headed by a politician’s wife. It’s simply not the case, but as Rennie points out, they’ll bend the truth over backwards to fit their world view.
We’ll close on a related quote from Hansen that Rennie highlighted in his post. ¶ 7/20/2006 07:49:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
We’ll close on a related quote from Hansen that Rennie highlighted in his post. ¶ 7/20/2006 07:49:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jul 19, 2006
Half-Baked Smears against Climatologists
"Emphasis on extreme scenarios may have been appropriate at one time, when the public and decision-makers were relatively unaware of the global warming issue, and energy sources such as 'synfuels,' shale oil and tar sands were receiving strong consideration. Now, however, the need is for demonstrably objective climate forcing scenarios consistent with what is realistic under current conditions. Scenarios that accurately fit recent and near-future observations have the best chance of bringing all of the important players into the discussion, and they also are what is needed for the purpose of providing policy-makers the most effective and efficient options to stop global warming."
¶ 7/19/2006 09:30:00 AM 0 Comments
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Will Europe Freeze Over?
Seager also takes issue with the usual interpretation of the Younger Dryas, a cold snap that struck the North Atlantic region 12,900 years ago. It is typically ascribed to a shutdown of the thermohaline circulation brought on by the collapse of a glacial dam, which released a pulse of fresh water, squelching the "haline" aspect of the circulation. Seager argues that the cooling predated the dam collapse.
Read more here ¶ 7/19/2006 09:24:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Read more here ¶ 7/19/2006 09:24:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jul 18, 2006
Car and Truck Fuel Economy Worse Than 18 Years Ago
Model year 2006 cars and light trucks are the fastest and heaviest since 1975, yet they average the same 21.0 miles per gallon they got last year, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) annual fuel economy trends report released today.
But the 21.0 mpg average fuel economy for cars and light trucks is five percent lower than the average fuel economy peak value of 22.1 mpg achieved in 1987-1988."
But the 21.0 mpg average fuel economy for cars and light trucks is five percent lower than the average fuel economy peak value of 22.1 mpg achieved in 1987-1988."
Labels: EnviroProtection, HybridHype
¶ 7/18/2006 06:35:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Jul 17, 2006
Great job for a quality safety professional to fill a full-time Safety Specialist position.
Please Pass On This Great Opportunity -
Midwest Airlines, based in Oak Creek, WI is looking for a quality safety
professional to fill a full-time Safety Specialist position. The pay and
benefits are competitive and this is a great career opportunity to make a
real difference in safety. With 2000 plus employees, it is imperative that
Midwest finds a strong safety leader. Please refer anyone you know who
might be interested to www.midwestairlines.com for details about the
position and how to apply.
Sincerely;
Christopher A. Haase ¶ 7/17/2006 09:48:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Midwest Airlines, based in Oak Creek, WI is looking for a quality safety
professional to fill a full-time Safety Specialist position. The pay and
benefits are competitive and this is a great career opportunity to make a
real difference in safety. With 2000 plus employees, it is imperative that
Midwest finds a strong safety leader. Please refer anyone you know who
might be interested to www.midwestairlines.com for details about the
position and how to apply.
Sincerely;
Christopher A. Haase ¶ 7/17/2006 09:48:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Wal-Mart Warms to a Green Outlook
The retailer is working hard to polish its image but environmental groups have mixed reviews.
Read the L.A. Times article in the Chicago Tribune. ¶ 7/17/2006 08:49:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Read the L.A. Times article in the Chicago Tribune. ¶ 7/17/2006 08:49:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
Environmental Politics Could Divide Evangelicals
Associated Press: Southern Baptists are worried that environmental politics could divide evangelical Christians and distract them from their higher calling to spread the gospel. So not long after two influential evangelical groups disagreed publicly over global warming, the Southern Baptist Convention approved its own resolution on the environment at its annual meeting in June. The resolution urges Southern Baptists to be stewards of the environment, but not to align with "extreme ...
¶ 7/17/2006 08:46:00 AM 0 Comments
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The day we become silent about things that matter
"Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."
Martin Luther King Jr.
"What helps luck is a habit of watching for opportunities, of having a patient, but restless mind, of sacrificing one's ease or vanity, of uniting a love of detail to foresight, and of passing through hard times bravely and cheerfully."
Charles Victor Cherbuliez
"It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself."
Eleanor Roosevelt ¶ 7/17/2006 07:19:00 AM 1 Comments Links to this post
Martin Luther King Jr.
"What helps luck is a habit of watching for opportunities, of having a patient, but restless mind, of sacrificing one's ease or vanity, of uniting a love of detail to foresight, and of passing through hard times bravely and cheerfully."
Charles Victor Cherbuliez
"It is not fair to ask of others what you are unwilling to do yourself."
Eleanor Roosevelt ¶ 7/17/2006 07:19:00 AM 1 Comments Links to this post
What You Need to Know About Climate Change
"Tom Brokaw has the answer: an overwhelming preponderance of evidence. "
"these are extreme scenarios that some suspect are used just to galvanize public opinion. These few remaining skeptics, led by Senator James Inhofe, impugn Mr. Brokaw's objectivity by noting in a press release that he nearly got a job in the Clinton cabinet and that two of the scientists he interviews actively supported John Kerry in the last presidential election. He also points to James Hansen's article in our March 2004 issue as a confession of just such a manipulation. Unfortunately that confession seems to be missing from the actual article."
Fortunately, websites like Spencer Weart's outlining the discovery of global warming can fill in those gaps.
And for those interested in the hard science there is always Real Climate or, dare I suggest it, this very blog. After all, my colleague George Musser has been patiently answering the skeptic's arguments for months now. That may be a hard road; as Upton Sinclair famously noted: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.
Read more here: ¶ 7/17/2006 07:11:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
"these are extreme scenarios that some suspect are used just to galvanize public opinion. These few remaining skeptics, led by Senator James Inhofe, impugn Mr. Brokaw's objectivity by noting in a press release that he nearly got a job in the Clinton cabinet and that two of the scientists he interviews actively supported John Kerry in the last presidential election. He also points to James Hansen's article in our March 2004 issue as a confession of just such a manipulation. Unfortunately that confession seems to be missing from the actual article."
Fortunately, websites like Spencer Weart's outlining the discovery of global warming can fill in those gaps.
And for those interested in the hard science there is always Real Climate or, dare I suggest it, this very blog. After all, my colleague George Musser has been patiently answering the skeptic's arguments for months now. That may be a hard road; as Upton Sinclair famously noted: "It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.
Read more here: ¶ 7/17/2006 07:11:00 AM 0 Comments Links to this post
U.S. and Russia launch major nukes deal
United Press International: "Nuclear energy is not a timely or cost-effective way to reduce our carbon emissions to address global climate change,' Michele Boyd, head of the Public Citizen's Energy Program, which lobbies Congress on energy issues, said ahead of the summit in a statement. 'Nuclear reactors are extremely expensive and take many years to build. They require massive government subsidies that will monopolize funding that instead should be used to develop strategically diverse energy solutions, such as efficiency measures and renewable sources that would quickly reduce carbon emissions.'"
¶ 7/17/2006 06:46:00 AM 0 Comments
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Jul 14, 2006
Celebrity Spokeswoman? Ann Curry Hypes Hybrids, Ethanol | NewsBusters.org
In a segment narrated by NBC reporter Lisa Daniels, the formula was followed to a 't' again this morning by the Today show, with o