EarthBlips - Latest Environment News Articles

S. Jacob Scherr: Reviving Rainforests: Your Help is Needed

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:39:39 +0000

Protecting and restoring the world's rainforests is critical to preserve biodiversity. Tropical forests are teeming with life -- covering just about 6 percent of the earth's surface they are home to between half and three quarters of all plant and animal species in the world. Last year, NRDC launched its Revive a Rainforest campaign to restore forests in Costa Rica -- known around the world for its impressive biodiversity. With the help and generosity of our many online supporters, the first stage of our Revive a Rainforest campaign was a true success. This past summer our partner, CATIE , finished planting 30,000 young trees on their land in Costa Rica's lush Central Valley. Following Peter Lehner's trip to plant the first trees , I also visited our new forest in June and -- despite some tropical rain -- was happy to see how the young trees are taking root. The trees are restoring degraded land that was used as cattle pastures and will help bring back some of Costa Rica's unique ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Costa Rica, National Resources Defense Council, Revive

Keith Addis: Ocean Issues Are Profoundly Important, Though Mostly Invisible

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 20:11:28 +0000

The following is a speech I gave last week for Oceana's 16th annual Partner Award event honoring Arianna Huffington and Deepak Chopra ***** How many of you here tonight get at least five fundraiser invitations a month? How many get ten? Fifteen? This is the stack of them that Keri and I have received in just the last ten days. We try hard to prioritize the really urgent issues from the less critical, but frankly it's almost impossible to do. Child abuse, domestic violence, human trafficking, Darfur, cancer research, hunger and homelessness. These issues are so tangible and moving, and the victims are so visible So why does Oceana matter? Why are we here tonight given all the other crises and organizations competing for our attention and financial support? Why? We're here because ocean issues are mostly invisible-- and have always been so much harder to get people to care about even though they function as the primary battery for the planet's climate, generate hundreds ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment

Hacked Global Warming Emails: Do They Tell Us About Scientists Or Skeptics?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:27:57 +0000

Given the furor surrounding the pirated e-mails coming out of the University of East Anglia, what's the real takeaway lesson? Does it say more about the way renowned climate scientists work, or how climate skeptics have operated in shaping the public debate over global warming?

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Baylor University, Global Warming

Freeing the grid

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:19:39 +0000

by Adam Browning It’s that time of year again ... no, not when turduckens appear on dinner tables nationwide and it becomes somehow acceptable to call the marshmallow a vegetable. It’s time for the 2009 edition of “ Freeing the Grid ,” an annual report card to states on their net metering and interconnection standards. Together, these two key policies empower energy customers (that’s you) to go solar and reduce your utility bills. Although there is still plenty of room for improvement, this year’s report shows solid progress across most states—an indicator that these once-obscure policies are becoming accepted best practices. Oregon was this year’s star pupil. Meanwhile, there were still a number of states that didn’t even show up to class. Want to see if your state made the grade? Download 2009’s Freeing the Grid here from the report’s lead author, Network for New Energy Choices. Related Links: Why ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Green Grid, Oregon

Jeff Bocan: The Midwest Is Going Off The Grid ... One Turbine At A Time

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:37:50 +0000

As a Midwest-based venture capitalist, I focus on rapid growth sectors for the Midwest (particularly in Michigan), and one sector I have recently fallen in love with is wind energy. Okay, maybe not love, but certainly lust. It is lust not solely for the wind industry's rapid rate of growth (yeah, VCs have a curious list of turn-ons), but lust for the promise that wind energy brings. To me, harnessing the power of the wind to power the normal functions of our lives without harming the planet is both beautiful and romantic, and it makes a ton of logical, ecological and economic sense. The wind will blow regardless of what us humans do -- it is there for the taking -- no proactive, destructive actions like digging up the land, drilling the ocean bed or diverting the natural course of our waterways are required to generate our needed megawatts. As my evangelical environmentalist friend puts it, "wind is the sweet breath of God" blowing across our landscape, capable of charging our phones, ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Green Grid

Bharati Chaturvedi: Dismantling India's E-Waste: Potential for Green Jobs?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:20:49 +0000

An abiding image of contemporary India is the high-tech call center. A less known one is the wire-strewn electronic waste recycling yard. India's 300 million-strong middle class is buying more and more electronic goods; televisions are no longer a novelty and computers are de rigueur for children. Cell phones have broken the middle class barrier and are marching towards the incredible 500 million sales mark, penetrating the poorest regions and generating an entire sub-culture of zero cost 'missed calls.' But where does all of this electronic gadgetry end up when it's lived its life? Typically, in one of India's many tiny recycling enterprises. Most of these enterprises are unlicensed, run by the other of the middle classes-the poor, just above or just below the poverty line. Using their bare hands and the most basic equipment, these recyclers have trained themselves to take a desktop computer apart in less than 5 minutes. Where they work, motherboards lie in green heaps, and glassy monitors ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, India, Green Grid

Organic Wine-Makers Look to Greener Packaging

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Dear EarthTalk: Apparently boxed wine (instead of bottled) is becoming all the rage for environmental reasons. What are the eco-benefits of boxed wine over bottled? --Justin J., Los Angeles, CA [More]

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment

Frances Beinecke: Obama's Meeting with India's Prime Minister: Another Chance to Advance Clean Energy

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 17:09:26 +0000

With the international climate negotiations in Copenhagen just weeks away, Obama has chance to push real, concrete action forward by making clean energy and climate solutions a central part of his meetings with India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. As the world’s fourth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, India will be a critical player in Copenhagen. Its economy is rapidly expanding, and its emissions could skyrocket with the projected growth of its middle class from 50 million to 500 million in the next few decades. Prime Minister Singh understands that climate change is already having an impact on his people, and his government has taken several steps to address it , including releasing its National Action Plan on Climate Change in 2008. On Friday, I learned from a call with IPCC Chairman R.K. Pachauri that the Indian Cabinet just approved a bold plan for generating 20,000 megawatts from solar energy by 2022. I also heard about many of India’s clean energy ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, India, Barack Obama, Clean Calgary Association, Frances Beinecke

‘Copenhagen Diagnosis’ offers a grim update to the IPCC’s climate science

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:39:48 +0000

by Jonathan Hiskes The IPCC’s prediction for average sea-level rise this century is 13 inches (if global warming continues unchecked). Today’s report from a group of climatologist ups the prediction to 33 inches. This is what the difference looks like on a pair of identical twins. Illustration courtesy Climate Central .The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change —the world’s foremost body for weighing and assessing climate science—received a kick in the pants today from members who say the climate situation is much worse than the IPCC has so far reported. Twenty-six climatologists—including 14 IPCC members—have released a startling update to the panel’s work, reporting that sea levels could rise and methane-laden arctic permafrost could melt much sooner than the panel had anticipated. “ The Copenhagen Diagnosis: Updating the World on the Latest Climate Science ” is not an official IPCC report; it’s a summary of the hundreds of ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Climate Change

Kids just say no—to fossil fuels

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:32:56 +0000

by Osha Gray Davidson “When in the course of human events it becomes necessary…” OK, students of American History, think you know the rest of this historic American sentence? If you guessed, “... for one people to rid themselves of an energy system that may threaten their lives and liberties, it is only decent that they should declare the causes of separation from the dependence on Fossil Fuels,” you’re right. Here’s the complete “ Declaration of Independence from Fossil Fuels .” The document was written by fifteen-year-old climate activist Alec Loorz, who has been organizing his peers to fight global warming since he saw Al Gore’s movie, An Inconvenient Truth, three years ago. Last week, Loorz presented a copy of the Declaration to the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works. It was signed by 10,000 kids. (Nearly 40,000 have added their names, including online signatures.) The young activist summed up his experience ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment

Legal Week Web Seminar: Copenhagen and the legal implications for renewable energy

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:24:00 +0000

BusinessGreen.com Staff, BusinessGreen , Tuesday 24 November 2009 at 15:24:00 BusinessGreen.com sister title to host webinar on impact of Copenhagen on legal landscape Following the Copenhagen climate summit, BusinessGreen.com's sister title Legal Week will host a Web Seminar on February 9 2010 to discuss the legal and regulatory landscape that is intended to...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Climate Change

George Osborne's green policy speech - in full

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:38:00 +0000

BusinessGreen.com Staff, BusinessGreen , Tuesday 24 November 2009 at 14:38:00 Here, in full, is shadow chancellor George Osborne's Imperial College speech on the Conservative's environmental plans Thank you to Imperial for hosting today's speech. I was here eighteen months ago talking about how much more needed to be done to meet the threat of climate change...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Green Grid

Have the Tories sealed the green deal?

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:11:00 +0000

James Murray, BusinessGreen , Tuesday 24 November 2009 at 14:11:00 Osborne's green policies have highlighted the government's exposed flank, but the Tories could still struggle to win over disillusioned green voters Well, that was unexpected. Ever since their husky-hugging, vote-blue-to-go-green period ended with the unforgettable sight of leader David Cameron cycling to work followed by a car to carry his bags,...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Green Grid

Hedegaard in running for EU climate commissioner role

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:07:00 +0000

BusinessGreen.com Staff, BusinessGreen , Tuesday 24 November 2009 at 14:07:00 Danish government insists cabinet reshuffle will not disrupt Copenhagen Summit The Danish government has today played down concerns that the Copenhagen Summit could be disrupted after it announced that the minister chairing the talks, Connie Hedegaard, has been nominated for...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Climate Change

Report: UK firms guilty of ignoring climate risks

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:04:00 +0000

Tom Young, BusinessGreen , Tuesday 24 November 2009 at 12:04:00 Investor-backed study warns of widespread failure to account for climate change-related risks UK firms and investors are failing to take the effects of climate change properly into account when making investment decisions, according to a major new report released today....

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Climate Change, Colbert Report

US to table emission target at Copenhagen

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:45:00 +0000

BusinessGreen.com Staff, BusinessGreen , Tuesday 24 November 2009 at 11:45:00 Senior White House official confirms Obama could still attend crucial climate summit Recent speculation that the US would table an emission reduction target for 2020 at next month's Copenhagen Summit was confirmed yesterday when a White House official said President Barack Obama...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Barack Obama, Climate Change

Investors step up calls for SEC climate risk reporting guidance

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:22:00 +0000

James Murray, BusinessGreen , Tuesday 24 November 2009 at 11:22:00 Petition argues climate change represents "material risk" and as such watchdog should force firms to report on climate risks Institutional investors stepped up their campaign to force the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to introduce rules requiring listed firms to report on their climate risk exposure, issuing a...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Climate Change

Conservatives to unveil green policy push

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 10:19:00 +0000

James Murray, BusinessGreen , Tuesday 24 November 2009 at 10:19:00 Osborne to announce plans for 10 per cent Whitehall emission target, new low-carbon investment bank, green ISAs and recycling incentive scheme The Conservatives will today unveil arguably the most ambitious set of environmental commitments from a mainstream party, pledging to cut government carbon emissions by 10 per cent within a year...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Green Grid

India unveils solar targets, stressing need for overseas finance and technology

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:52:00 +0000

Yvonne Chan in Hong Kong, BusinessGreen , Tuesday 24 November 2009 at 08:52:00 National solar power scheme aims to achieve grid price parity by 2022 India yesterday announced its solar power targets, stressing that its ambitious goal of having 20GW of capacity installed by 2022 would be reliant on foreign finance and technology....

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, India, Hong Kong, Climate Change

Making buildings more efficient: rationalizing retrofit markets

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 08:26:17 +0000

by David Roberts As I said in my last post , taking energy efficiency in buildings seriously means expanding our policy horizons beyond the blunt tool of raising energy prices. We have to think in creative ways about how to remove market and behavioral failures that inhibit cost-effective responses to today’s energy prices. How can we make efficiency markets more rational and robust? What follows is not intended to be comprehensive, just to call out some of the bigger challenges and a few interesting attempts to overcome them. There are folks out there who know much more about this than me—I hope they’ll comment or email me with things to add. Immature, fragmented markets The market for efficiency retrofits, particularly the residential market, is immature and fragmented. Business models haven’t fully gelled; economies of scale haven’t been achieved. Right now the market involves thousands and thousands of tiny, sporadic transactions, usually involving ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment

National Briefing | South: South Carolina: Money for Study of Wind Energy

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:40:31 +0000

Clemson University is getting nearly $100 million in federal stimulus money to study wind energy.

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, South Carolina, Energy Efficiency

Capturing the massive social benefits of fuel efficiency requires regulation

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:14:54 +0000

by Michael A. Livermore This Friday is the deadline for public comments on the stricter vehicle efficiency standards from EPA and the Department of Transportation. The docket is likely to be overrun with statements for and against the regulation that would make cars and light trucks 30 percent more efficient in 5 years. From an economic perspective, the social benefits of the rule outweigh the costs. The environmental, health, and energy security benefits—most especially from reducing the tailpipe emission of greenhouse gases—could more than double the estimated costs to manufacturers of installing more fuel efficiency technologies: social benefits could total over $800 billion, compared to around $400 billion in compliance costs. But there will also be the straight up savings to consumers, who will spend a fraction of the current cost of filling their tanks. The benefit to Americans’ pocket books could reach as high as $2 trillion. ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Energy Efficiency

A Vision Faces an Environmental Test

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:33:58 +0000

Researchers want to transform a poor, remote Dominican town into a locally owned retreat. But challenges, like hydrilla, an invasive, choking water plant, await.

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Dominican Republic

Copenhagen is getting the Big Mo

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:32:17 +0000

by Geoffrey Lean Suddenly—and just in the nick of time—next month’s Copenhagen’s conference is starting to take off. National leaders have rushed to say they are going, elevating it to the status of a major summit. More and more commitments to action are coming in, from both developed and developing countries. And there are signs that even the United States may put an, albeit provisional, offer on the table. It has all been enough to cheer up the phlegmatic Yvo de Boer, who—as Executive Director of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change—is in charge of the talks. Last month he was sounding downbeat, but now he says: “There is no doubt in my mind that (the meeting) will yield a success.” “Almost every day now we see new commitments and pledges from both industrialized and developing countries,” he added. “I am confident that the President of the United States can come to Copenhagen with targets and a financial ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment

Osborne: we will pay people to recycle

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:01 +0000

The Treasury would implement radical measures to ensure a "green recovery" if the Conservatives win the general election, George Osborne will pledge today. > >

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Green Grid, George Will

Melting icecaps to cause massive damage in port cities: WWF

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Flooding in the world's major port cities caused by melting icecaps could cause up to 28 trillion dollars (18 trillion euros) in damage in 2050, environmental group WWF said in a report Monday.

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment

Coca-Cola’s PlantBottle begins global roll-out

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The Coca-Cola Company's PlantBottle packaging, first unveiled in May, is beginning to arrive on store shelves around the globe, Coca-Cola announced November 16. PlantBottles are made partially from plant materials and are 100 percent recyclable, says the company.

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment

McDonalds goes 'green' in Germany

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

With the crunch climate change summit in Copenhagen fast approaching, even McDonalds has decided to go green -- at least with its logo, a senior executive said on Monday.

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Green Grid, Germany

Murky ocean depths hide abundance of life

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Thousands of animal species thrive in the ocean depths beyond the reach of sunlight, between 200 to 5,000 meters below the surface, an international team of scientists reported Sunday after nearly 10 years of research.

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment

Data Show a Decline for Tigers in Russia

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:53:45 +0000

Nearly extinct half a century ago, the tigers had rebounded when the government imposed protections.

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Russia

How to turn your turkey carcass into a spectacular gumbo

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 23:43:47 +0000

by April McGreger Turkey gumbo: the Thanksgiving centerpiece finds its true calling. All photos by April McGreger Before accepting a Thanksgiving dinner invitation, I ask my host two questions: Will you be roasting a turkey and may I have the leftover carcass? The best part of the Thanksgiving turkey has long been about leftovers for me, but a few years ago I upgraded from mundane turkey sandwiches to the exceptional turkey bone gumbo. I have long been a fan of wild-duck gumbo, but the first that I heard of turkey bone gumbo was from my friend Sara Roahen, who devotes a whole chapter to it in her charming book about living and eating in New Orleans, Gumbo Tales. The idea appealed to both my thriftiness and to my holiday homesickness. The first year that I made the gumbo was the first year that I bought a heritage-breed turkey. Whereas the carcasses of previous Thanksgiving birds at my parents’ house had ended up in the trash, I had paid a small fortune for this bird and was determined to ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Turkey

Solar Impulse: First Solar Plane Completes Runway Test (VIDEO)

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:56:58 +0000

The Solar Impulse, an aircraft with ambitions of being the first solar-powered plane to fly around the world, recently completed its first runway tests in Switzerland. See the plane in action in the videos below. The plane weighs about as much as car (approximately 3,527 pounds), boasts a 207-foot-long wingspan (equivalent to that of most commercial jets), and has 11,628 solar cells attached to its wings, according to the New York Times . Wired writes of the test, With the four electric motors running on sunlight, these first tests were slow, only getting up to about 10 knots. [...] Next up, according to the team, is taxi tests up to takeoff speed of about 20 knots for some short "flea hops" into the air. First flights beyond the airport runway are expected early next year. The team hopes that the Solar Impulse will eventually become the first solar airplane circumnavigate the globe, flying 36 hours nonstop, without fuel. WATCH: WATCH: ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Switzerland, New York, Flea, Facebook

DNA tests find "extinct" Siamese crocodile

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:18:00 +0000

For nearly 20 years, the critically endangered Siamese crocodile ( Crocodylus siamensis ) has been considered nearly extinct in the wild, victimized by habitat loss and poaching. A small population was found in Cambodia in 2000 and, until now, it was believed that, at most, 250 of the rare crocodiles existed in the world. [More]

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Cambodia

In the Dark: Unusual Deep-Sea Species Documented [Slide Show]

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:05:00 +0000

The darkest reaches of the ocean have long been thought of as a desolate biome. But as researchers send equipment down to document these mysterious depths, they are quickly learning not only that it is teaming with life, but also that it boasts surprising diversity. [More]

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment

Is there a tradeoff between economics and the environment?

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:37:53 +0000

by Tom Konrad This article was first published on Clean Energy Wonk . California’s RETI process lends insight into the near-term prospects of solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass. In September, California’s Renewable Energy Transmission Initiative (RETI) released their Phase 2A report, which outlined potential transmission corridors to collect renewable energy from Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) that had been identified in previous phases. As part of Phase 2A, they also screened each CREZ for environmental impact, and the potential difficulty of obtaining land for renewable energy development. I previously looked at the results from Phase 1A and gained some insight into the cost of renewable energy technologies . However, what renewable energy projects actually get built has to do with a lot more than just economics. If it raises too many environmental concerns, such as infringing on endangered Mojave Ground Squirrel habitat, it ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, California

McDonald's Logo To Go "Green" In Europe

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:17:41 +0000

BERLIN — McDonald's is going green – swapping its traditional red backdrop for a deep hunter green – to promote a more eco-friendly image in Europe. About 100 German McDonald's restaurants will make the change by the end of 2009, the company said in a statement Monday. Some franchises in Great Britain and France have already started using the new color scheme behind their Golden Arches. "This is not only a German initiative but a Europewide initiative," Martin Nowicki, McDonald's Germany spokesman, told The Associated Press. The Oak Brook, Illinois-based burger behemoth has more than 32,000 restaurants in 118 countries and has long been targeted by activists as being environmentally unfriendly. Still, in recent years the company has warmed to "greener" practices, including environmentally friendly refrigeration and converting used oil into biodiesel fuel. "With this new appearance we want to clarify our responsibility for the preservation of natural resources. ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Germany, Green Grid, France, Illinois

Bill McKibben says time is running out on climate delays

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:17:25 +0000

by Grist Related Links: Climate Citizen: Wyclef Jean U.S. Senate puts off action on climate bill until 2010 George Voinovich (R-Ohio) [UPDATED]

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Wyclef Jean, Ohio, Climate Change

Deirdre Imus: Is Your Baby Crawling On Carpet Made Of Coal Ash?

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:02:54 +0000

People are getting fed up with the broken promises made by bureaucrats who say one thing and do another. They consistently use our children and their "future" as props to advance their agendas on a variety of issues but are equally consistent in doing "too little, too late" when it comes to taking the necessary actions that will actually give those children a healthy future. Since World War II, millions of tons of dangerous toxic chemicals have been produced and deposited into the air, water and soil throughout the country. Each day, approximately 90,000 more chemicals are released into the environment. Today, Superfund sites and coal-fired power plants, two major sources of environmental pollution, dot America's landscape from coast-to-coast. As lawmakers struggle to address the unprecedented economic challenges caused by an unregulated financial system "gone wild," the legacy of decades of unregulated environmental policies persist throughout the country, allowing filthy noxious poisons to ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Coal Mining

Can Climate Change Cause Conflict? Recent History Suggests So

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 21:01:00 +0000

Some experts call the genocide in Darfur the world's first conflict caused by climate change. After all, the crisis was sparked, at least in part, by a decline in rainfall over the past 30 years just as the region's population doubled, pitting wandering pastoralists against settled farmers for newly scarce resources, such as arable land. [More]

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Climate Change

Bring on all the water news—the good, the bad and the ugly

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:36:04 +0000

by Daniel Moss It’s not so unusual to see water stories topping the news these days. Even when that news is very bad, that’s very good news indeed. The stories are frequently troubling; they should be. Climate change is increasing the ferocity of floods and droughts and water privatization is drowning our democracy. But it’s about time that the seamy details of how we manage our water commons see the light of day. Water binds all of nature and humanity together in one big (ailing) ecosystem. In our current legal framework, future generations of people and animals have a hard time getting their voices heard about how water ought to be managed with their health in mind. Public debates are essential. Recent articles on the public health disaster of sewage overflows, California’s new water barons and India’s watershed stewards inspire both head-banging outrage and hopeful ways forward. In a recent National Geographic article , Crispino Lobo of India’s ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Water Conservation

Obama administration may (finally) offer greenhouse-gas targets

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:22:26 +0000

by Jonathan Hiskes Todd SternAs Dave lamented last week, most of the predicting and posturing preceding the Copenhagen climate talks amounts to little more than Some Person Guessing. You might consider the weekend news from the UK Observer—which reported the Obama administration’s intention to set a provisional target for U.S. greenhouse-gas emissions—to be more of the same, though it at least relies on the head of Obama’s climate negotiation team. From the Observer : President Barack Obama is considering setting a provisional target for cutting America’s huge greenhouse gas emissions, removing the greatest single obstacle to a landmark global agreement to fight climate change. The Observer has learnt that administration officials have been consulting international negotiators and key players on Capitol Hill about signing up to a provisional target at the UN global warming summit in Copenhagen, now less than three weeks away. Todd Stern, the state department ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Barack Obama, Methane Gas

Treat energy efficiency like a utility

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:20:25 +0000

by Tom Laskawy With David Leonhardt’s piece on a new weatherization program/jobs bill nicknamed “Cash for Caulkers” generating buzz , as well as questions , it seemed a good time to resurrect a post I wrote about a year ago on the general subject of energy efficiency improvement. I had been inspired by a lengthy Grist post on a post-carbon economy which observed that the way to jumpstart efficiency and incentivize improvements is to copy the British and set per square foot emissions levels for building (unlikely, I know). But more practically, we should also make energy efficiency a “utility” like electricity, gas, or water. Here’s what I wrote : [N]ew entities called “efficiency utilities” ... would pay for efficiency upgrades in order to bring an existing building in compliance with the limits. Owners/tenants would pay for these improvements via a monthly bill and, though they would be part of the building, the improvements’ cost ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Energy Efficiency

Copenhagen, U.S.: December 7

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:57:00 +0000

by Jeff Biggers If the Obama administration is unwilling or unable to stop the massive environmental destruction of historic mountain ranges and essential drinking water for a relatively tiny amount of coal, can we honestly believe they will be able to phase out coal emissions at the level necessary to stop climate change?—Dr. James Hansen, June 22, 2009 Welcome to Copenhagen, U.S. On Dec. 7, the opening day of the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, Americans from around the country will converge for a historic protest at climate change ground zero for our nation—the Appalachian coalfields. At the same time 65 heads of state and other world leaders and environmental regulators view a special Google Earth tour of the importance of Coal River Mountain in West Virginia at the Copenhagen conference, leading anti-mountaintop removal activists and citizens groups —with Robert Kennedy, Jr. reportedly in their ranks—will demand an end to mountaintop ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment

Carl Pope: The Beginning of Accountability

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:24:43 +0000

In one of the most intriguing court decisions in years, the federal district judge who has presided over most of the cases involving responsibility for the damages caused by Hurricane Katrina, Stanwood Duvall, ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers was grossly negligent in shoddy oversight of the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet, and that this negligence led to the flooding of the Lower Ninth Ward of New Orleans and the neighboring St. Bernard Parish. Judge Duvall also ruled that because the Corps ignored clear evidence of the problems in doing its environmental assessments of the project, it was legally liable for the damages. Judge Duvall's ruling is important for a number of reasons. First, it confirmed what has been repeatedly documented -- that the failure to keep the Outlet properly narrowed allowed much bigger waves to build up than its levees were designed for, and that this led to their breaching. Since the relationship between "fetch" or breadth and wave height is -- well it's so basic ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment

Global Warming Emails: Hack Raises Ethical Questions, Hoax And Scam Claims (POLL)

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 19:18:32 +0000

Hundreds of emails related to global warming were hacked from the Climate Research Unit at East Anglia University in the United Kingdom recently and they're causing a firestorm for those interested in the topic of climate change. Analysts say the documents seem to suggest that many scientists are adamant about distributing the view that humans are responsible for global warming, perhaps suggesting an agenda. The hacked emails involve both American and European researchers, and according to the New York Times they include "discussions of scientific data and whether it should be released, exchanges about how best to combat the arguments of skeptics, and casual comments -- in some cases derisive -- about specific people known for their skeptical views." The emails also suggest "bitter feelings" involved in the debate between those on both sides of the issue of global warming and the seriousness of the threat. One writer concludes that the documents are allegedly proof that "global ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Global Warming, United Kingdom, New York

Environmental education in Guinea Bissau

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:54:01 +0000

by Tim Bromfield The Presidential Palace. The Presidential Palace in Guinea Bissau lies derelict and burnt out. You can walk amongst the shards of broken crockery, blackened banisters, and singed carpets. Its empty rooms are a fitting metaphor for this failing state. Teachers in the public sector have not been paid in years. Portuguese, the official language, is hardly spoken by young people and the nation is reverting to a creole contributing to its international isolation. In a country which ranks 10th from the bottom on the U.N.‘s Human Development Index and where life expectancy is 47, there are perhaps more pressing concerns than educating people about climate change. However, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is doing just that. Nelson Gomez Dias, Country Director in Guinea Bissau, described the mobile laboratory used to educate children in Guinea Bissau on one of its most pressing environmental challenges. Biomass fuel. Biomass fuel (charcoal and wood) is ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Guinea-Bissau

Polar Bears Falling To Their Deaths: Plane Stupid's Shock Ad (VIDEO)

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:30:49 +0000

An airplane engine humming crescendos in the background as polar bears drop out of the sky, slam to the ground and meet their bloody deaths. At first you may be wondering, why am I being subjected to this brutal imagery? It's because Plane Stupid has a message for you, and whether it's effective or not, it's shocking enough to keep you watching. The video is a new promotional film from the British group that campaigns aggressively to end airport expansion, citing it as a prime culprit in the earth's changing climate. According to the video, "An average European flight produces over 400 kg. of greenhouse gases for every passenger. That's the weight of an adult polar bear." However, some are questioning whether Plane Stupid's shock tactics have any value. Ed Gillespie, co-director of sustainable communications agency Futerra , writes in The Guardian : Certainly it's controversial imagery will garner press interest, after all I'm writing this analytical blog for starters, and for ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Plane Stupid, Polar Bears

U.S. to Propose CO2 Cut at Talks

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:13:08 +0000

The U.S. will propose a near-term emission reduction target at the U.N. climate change summit in Copenhagen, a senior administration official said.

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Climate Change, Barack Obama, Methane Gas

Robyn Griggs Lawrence: 8 Ways to Green Your Thanksgiving Celebration

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:11:40 +0000

The holidays are a time of family, warmth, joy -- and waste. Between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, 5 million extra tons of trash are created each week. It’s easy to reduce your contribution to all that waste -- and greening your Thanksgiving is a great place to start. Here are eight ideas to get you on your way. 1. Buy organic, local produce. Support the local economy and the environment by purchasing organic produce for your Thanksgiving feast from a local farmers’ market. Better yet, participate in the 100-mile Thanksgiving Challenge . Make a meal for your family and friends using only ingredients sourced within 100 miles of your home. 2. Eat natural turkey. Although turkeys are native to North America, today’s turkeys have little in common with their ancestors. More than 99 percent of turkeys raised in the United States today are broad-breasted white turkeys. This version is ...

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Green Grid

Joining the Energy Underground: Residential Geothermal Power Systems

Mon, 23 Nov 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Dear EarthTalk: How are heating, cooling and electricity produced by geothermal energy? I don’t understand how it works. --Delano Stewart, Wyandanch, NY [More]

Find more top green news, videos, and blogs on EarthBlips: Environment, Energy Efficiency