.bbpBox80268799235993601 {background:url(http://a0.twimg.com/images/themes/theme1/bg.png) #C0DEED;padding:20px;} p.bbpTweet{background:#fff;padding:10px 12px 10px 12px;margin:0;min-height:48px;color:#000;font-size:18px !important;line-height:22px;-moz-border-radius:5px;-webkit-border-radius:5px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata{display:block;width:100%;clear:both;margin-top:8px;padding-top:12px;height:40px;border-top:1px solid #fff;border-top:1px solid #e6e6e6} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author{line-height:19px} p.bbpTweet span.metadata span.author img{float:left;margin:0 7px 0 0px;width:38px;height:38px} p.bbpTweet a:hover{text-decoration:underline}p.bbpTweet span.timestamp{font-size:12px;display:block} AEP really is coordinating their PR today. WV, OK and IN media all have stories about costs of EPA compliance. http://t.co/Zgvsgkrless than a minute ago via web Favorite Retweet ReplySean Casten SeanCasten This morning American Electric Power is waging a not-so-secret -- and not terribly subtle -- campaign to build sentiment against EPA regulations that would force it to shut down or clean up its oldest, filthiest coal-fired power plants. One of the …
Rockies snowpack level in severest decline in a millennium
Although all of that water flooding into the Midwest is coming from record snowpack in the Rockies, in the long term, snow pack levels in the mountain range have been decreasing since the 1980s. The U.S. Geological Survey wanted to know how dramatic the current dip in levels is, so it looked back more than 1,000 years to gauge the long-term trend. Researchers examined hundreds of thousands of tree rings, which reflect winter snow accumulation. The result: snowpack levels are in the worst dip on record. There were two other periods of decline, one in 1300s, the other in the …
Critical List: Sarah Palin’s emails on oil; Firefighters gaining ground on wildfire
Sarah Palin's emails show that even in private that she's not Big Oil's best buddy. In Arizona, the population of two towns was allowed to return home, and firefighters said they were more confident about containing the fire. Obama is visiting an LED manufacturer before convening his jobs council today; NPR asks if investing in clean energy is a gamble the U.S. should take. Grist says: Yes, duh. The Rockies are losing snowpack at an "almost unprecedented" rate. The Texas drought is hurting even oil and gas interests. (Maybe this is how action on climate change starts — when its …
Buy new sunglasses, save someone’s sight in the developing world
Men and women probably do make passes at people who use their sunglasses purchase to provide someone in the developing world with vision surgery, eye care, or glasses. Okay, the scansion needs a little work, but the point is that buy-one-give-one shoe company TOMS is expanding into eyewear, and the concept's pretty sexy, and so are the shades. There are 284 million people in the world who are visually impaired, and at least 39 million who are blind. Most blindness-causing conditions are preventable or treatable, but many people can't afford the eye care they need, or the glasses that would …
Bikes are now the hottest accessory
Bike lanes and bike riders may be controversial, but bikes as an image are marketing gold right now. Want to sell it? Put a bike on it! Transportation Nation found bikes for sale or used as display elements at Kate Spade, CB2, Club Monaco, Anthropologie, the Gap, Urban Outfitters, and Brooklyn Industries. Sure, those bikes are being used to move whatever consumerist crap people are hawking. But on the flip side, the consumerist crap is also kind of selling the bike. If bikes are promoted as the image of coolness all over your favorite trendy store, you might just start …
Solar panels to match your couch
Excited about your inevitable solar panels, but concerned they'll clash with your decor? Qsolar has you covered, you fashion victim. Their colored solar panels aren't just for the roof -- they can be integrated into the design of a building as cool-looking and functional walls or (semi-transparent) windows.
Montreal has so many cyclists, it has bike traffic now
Like a shortage of bikes in a new bike sharing project, congestion in bike lanes is a problem cities should want to have, at least temporarily. And Montreal has that problem! So many people have begun using the city's most popular bike routes that more than 20 bikes often get backed up at red lights. Traffic on some bike paths has quintupled. And bike advocates and cyclists are beginning to push for more major bike lanes. No one wants to wait in traffic, but it's great to see that level of enthusiasm for cycling, even in a city known for …
The race to build the world’s most improbably gigantic — and efficient — wind turbine
Modern wind turbines already have blades as big as the wings of jumbo jets, and the tips of them can move at up to 200 mph. Now Britain's Energy Technologies Institute wants to nearly double the generating capacity of the world's largest wind turbines by making the blades EVEN MORE PHENOMENALLY HUGE. Bigger turbines mean more power. On the drawing board is a monster of a windmill, with blades 295 feet in length, a third longer than the largest currently in use, which top out at around 197 feet. Big turbines potentially mean cheaper electricity: “This project is based on …
Why you’ll soon have solar panels, in three easy graphs
The cost of silicon solar panels has been falling precipitously, with no end in sight. Naturally, falling costs mean solar installation has been exploding worldwide. By the time new coal-fired power plants come on-line in the U.S., solar will already be cheaper. If you want to understand what kind of revolution this will bring about in power production, check out this analysis from Jonathan Koomey of Stanford University: Here's an interesting thing for people to contemplate: As solar reaches grid parity based on retail prices we'll start to see big changes in what is now called the peak demand period …
How would Herman Cain solve climate change?
Pizza magnate and Republican presidential contender Herman Cain has unveiled his plan for combating illegal immigration: a 20-foot-tall, barbed-wire-studded, electrified Great Wall of U.S., and also a moat with alligators. Man, with that kind of go-getter attitude, imagine what he could achieve! Here are our predictions for how Herman Cain would tackle climate change if he believed in it, given that his approach to solving thorny political problems is apparently to throw alligators at them. Genetically engineered sharks that kill carbon by BITING IT TO DEATH. Pit with spikes for emissions to fall into. Steel cage match between a hurricane …
