Press release: “The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is moving ahead this summer to shut down libraries, end public access to research materials and box up unique collections on the assumption that Congress will not reverse President Bush’s proposed budget reductions, according to agency documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). At the same time, EPA’s own scientists are stepping up protests against closures on the grounds that it will make their work more difficult by impeding research, enforcement and emergency response capabilities.”

See also: EPA FY 2007 Library Plan (18 pages, PDF)

There are plans to open 6 million hectares (a hectare is 10,000 square meters) to biofuel plantations in Indonesia, and environmentalists worry that suppliers will burn down trees to clear land for palm oil and sugar fields. Burning down trees that absorb greenhouse gasses would wipe out any climate-change advantage associated with burning cleaner fuels in automobiles.

Just another example of how delicate the balance of nature is. [Source: Reuters via alertnet.org]

It takes about 4,776 gallons of water to raise a Christmas tree. To raise the 35 million Christmas trees U.S. families enjoy each year, a total of 167 billion gallons is required.

• If mothers refresh their floral arrangements and flowering plants during the Mothers' Day week, they will use 2,835,000 gallons of water. That's equivalent to the amount needed to supply a week's worth of water to 1,157 households.
• After Thanksgiving dinner in 1999, 16.4 million Americans will watch football. At halftime, American toilets will flush 16.4 million times and use 48.5 million gallons of water. Water efficient toilets would save us 22.3 million gallons of water. That's the same amount of water needed to fill 1,476 swimming pools.

WASHINGTON, DC, August 21, 2006 (ENS) - The federal government is offering $1.25 million in sustainability grants to teams of college students through the agency's People, Prosperity and the Planet, P3, contest, a national student design competition launched in 2004.

Applications are being received for the funds that will enable teams of college students to research, develop and design scientific and technical solutions to sustainability challenges that protect the environment while achieving continued economic prosperity.

EPA will award as many as 50 grants up to $10,000 each to student teams to research and develop sustainable solutions during the 2007-08 academic year.

In spring 2008, the teams will be invited to bring their designs to Washington, DC to compete for EPA's P3 Award, which includes an additional award worth up to $75,000 to further develop and implement the project in the field.

The competition will be judged by the National Academy of Engineering for design innovation and technical merit along with relevant social, economic and environmental considerations that are the keys to sustainable designs.

The P3 competition is open to teams of students attending colleges, universities and other post-secondary educational institutions.

Interdisciplinary teams are encouraged, including representatives from multiple engineering departments and departments such as chemistry, architecture, industrial design, economics, policy, social sciences, business, and communication.

Proposals must reach the EPA by December 21, 2006. Application procedures and materials for this year's grants are found at: http://es.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/2007/2007_p3_4thannual.html

Details about the P3 competition are at: http://www.epa.gov/P3

"Worldwide, chemistry has not been a popular career choice in recent years. Indeed, a steady decline of chemistry students has prompted concern," Paul Anastas, director of the Green Chemistry Institute in Washington DC and coiner of the term. He is borne out by a 2005 US National Research Council report that identifies a need to increase training in green chemistry — to spur the move away from fossil fuels over coming decades. The report recommends incorporating green-chemistry principles into education materials for students as well as business leaders.

Energy storage is economical when the marginal cost of electricity varies more than the energy losses of storing and retrieving it. For instance, 1.2 gigawatt-hours might be stored at night in a pumped-storage reservoir, at a cost of 1.5 cents/kilowatt-hour. The next day, 1 gigawatt-hour might be recovered, and 200 megawatt-hours lost, and sold at 4.0 cents/kilowatt-hour, for a profit of $22,000. If this profit can be realized on most days, and if the storage facility cost less than perhaps $100M, the operator makes a profit.

The marginal cost of electricity varies because of the varying economics of different kinds of generators. At one extreme, water from a dam can go through a turbine for little more than the cost of releasing it down a spillway, so the marginal cost of generation is nearly zero. Coal-fired and nuclear power plants are also low marginal cost generators, as they have high capital and maintenance costs but low fuel costs. At the other extreme, most peaking generators burn natural gas, which is expensive. Operators prefer cheaper electricity, so they run the low-marginal-cost generators most of the time, and run the more expensive ones only when necessary. This is called "economic dispatch".

The United States uses a lot of energy—nearly a million dollars worth each minute, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. With less than five percent of the world’s population, we consume about one fourth of the world’s energy resources. We are not alone. People in Asia and Europe also use a large amount of energy. The average American consumes six times more energy than the world average. Every time we fill up our cars or open our energy bills, we notice the cost of that energy.

Efficiency & Conservation

Energy is more than numbers on a utility bill; it is the foundation of everything we do. All of us use energy every day—for transportation, cooking, heating and cooling rooms, manufacturing, lighting, and entertainment. We rely on energy to make our lives comfortable, productive and enjoyable. To maintain our quality of life, we must use our energy resources wisely.

The choices we make about how we use energy—turning machines off when we’re not using them or choosing to buy energy efficient appliances—impact our environment and our lives. There are many things we can do to use less energy and use it more wisely. These things involve energy conservation and energy efficiency. Many people think these terms mean the same thing, but they are different.

Christopher Haase

ESS, Cleaning the world “One Solution at a Time”

Environmentally Sensitive Solutions, Inc. 

On the web at: www.neutralsolution.com www.neuhomecare.com www.neutralcleaning.com

NEW YORK, New York, August 24, 2006 (ENS) - The Bush administration is facing fierce criticism across India for backing the Coca-Cola and Pepsi-Cola companies in their fight with local authorities and consumer groups.

Last week, the two multibillion dollar soft drink giants were forced to wind up their operations in the state of Kerala over charges of selling substandard products that could pose health risks.

The cola companies are already facing full or partial bans in six other Indian states as a result of a growing nationwide campaign by environmental groups and local communities.

Researchers at the Center for Science and Environment, an independent group based in New Delhi, say they have conducted various studies that clearly show pesticide residues in Coca-Cola and Pepsi products in India were 24 times higher than European Union standards.

Man in India drinks a Coca-Cola. The company says the soft drinks are safe, but seven Indian states have imposed bans on Coke and Pepsi products. (Photo courtesy Coca-Cola India)

However, they have failed to convince local health officials in many parts of the country. The cola companies have been ordered by the Indian Supreme Court to reveal the contents of their products within the next six months.

The state of Karnataka has initiated a lawsuit against Coca-Cola after its own tests confirmed high levels of pesticides in the drinks.

Those campaigning against the cola operations in India say they are furious over the U.S. government's refusal to consider local environmental concerns and its seemingly unconditional support for the two companies.

"The U.S. government should let the Indian government decide what is safe for the Indian public," said R. Ajayan of the Plachimada Solidarity Committee in Kerala, in response to a senior U.S. trade official's criticism of India's action against the companies.

"This is a setback for the Indian economy," Franklin Lavin, the U.S. undersecretary for international trade, told Agence France Press in an interview following the Kerala ban on Coca-Cola and Pepsi products.

"In a time when India is working hard to attract and retain foreign investment," Lavin said, "it would unfortunate if the discussions were dominated by those who did not want to treat foreign companies fairly."

Lavin, a former U.S. ambassador to Singapore, who has also held senior management positions at Citibank, is due to lead a business delegation to India in November to explore new investment opportunities.

Activists charge that the cola companies are trying to use political influence in India to avert the ban on the sale of their products and that Lavin's comments demonstrate the Bush administration's efforts to favor those who financed its election campaigns in the past.

In 2004, the George W. Bush presidential campaign received more than $380,000 from Coca-Cola and its affiliates, according to the India Resource Center, an international campaign group that works with local activists.

"Coca-Cola has strategically bought its way onto the good side of the Bush administration," said the Center's Amit Srivastava, "which is now returning the favor for the financial support."

Lavin has accused India of treating U.S. companies "unfairly," but activists like Srivastava think that is not true.

"It is ridiculous," he says, "It's the other way round."

Srivastava and others say this is not the first time U.S. officials are intervening on behalf of Coca-Cola and that their actions in the past leave no doubt that they are willing to discount human rights when commercial interests are at stake.

Soft drinks made by Coca-Cola and Pepsico in India (Photo courtesy CSE)

"I understand this is the second time that Coca-Cola's waiver request has been denied," said William Lash, then assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of Commerce, in a letter to the Indian authorities.

"I find it to be very unfortunate," he added, "not just for the company, but also for India's investment climate."

The Indian government ultimately approved the waiver request.

Activists say the U.S. perception of "investment climate" as represented by both Lash and Lavin is not shared by most Indians who care foremost about local communities and the environment.

"American companies cannot get away with exploitation of natural resources or subversion of the standardization process in the name of foreign investment," says Nandlal Master of Lok Samiti, a community organization in India's most populous state of Uttar Pradesh.

In the area of Mehdigang in Uttar Pradesh, local activists like Master who have challenged Coca-Cola say they are facing severe water shortages and pollution as a result of the company's bottling operations.

Sawai Singh, who works with a local community group that has challenged the Coca-Cola operations in Kala Dera in the state of Rajasthan, seems no less resentful of foreign companies' presence.

"Maybe it is time for the U.S. to reduce its investment," he says. "The U.S. companies have gobbled up many Indian owned companies. They have destroyed livelihoods for a large number of Indians."

{Published By Haider Rizvi in cooperation with OneWorld Network.}

A leading technology research group says flash, or solid state memory drives may soon replace the standard hard drives in laptops. Over the past few years, flash memory technology has been claiming an increasingly sizeable share of the market, particularly in the form of USB drives. According to the Gartner Group, the NAND flash market has grown from 1.56 billion in 200 to 11.42 billion in 2005, with even higher projections for the next two years. This summer, Samsung set a new bar by releasing computers that utilize flash memory storage, negating the need for traditional magnetic disk media. The implications of a shift for laptops are significant for a number of reasons including changing performance demand, market trends and investment opportunities. Unconsidered at this point, but nonetheless compelling, is the possible environmental impact of such a transition.   From http://www.mongabay.com/

William O'Keefe says U.S. automakers are using their "green" E85 campaigns to divert attention from a generous federal tax loophole that is creating an artificial market for ethanol.

He notes that there are estimates that E85 production can rise to 18 billion gallons by 2015. But because ethanol contains less energy than gasoline, only 11 billions of gasoline will be saved. That's less than seven percent of the project gasoline supply.

O'Keefe says the future of ethanol can't depend on corn, but even if all other forms of biomass were turned into fuel, the net result wouldn't be a third of the demand for transportation fuel in this country.

He points to the marketing advantage of pushing E85 when the automaker's real motivation is gaining CAFÉ credits

O'Keefe says there are more readily available technologies that can improve fuel mileage by 20 percent and notes that Asian automakers "seem to understand this."

[Source: The Washington Times]