Uncategorized

The Meter Is Cunning

Puget Sound Energy in Washington will soon begin testing a web-based system for controlling home energy use that could help eliminate the need for new power stations in the region. Some 200 homes in the Kent area will be outfitted with devices that allow residents to control their furnaces and water heaters while they are […]

This Plastic, It's Fantastic

Cargill and Dow Chemical are teaming up to make a biodegradable plastic from renewable resources such as corn or wheat instead of from petroleum. The companies say their joint venture, branded NatureWorks, is ready to go into full-scale commercial production, putting the companies at the front of a race among agriculture and chemical firms to […]

Past Their Primates

No primate species have gone extinct within the last century, but now 25 species of apes, monkeys, lemurs, and other primates are in danger of disappearing soon, according to a new report issued by Conservation International. The two main causes of primate decline are the destruction of tropical habitat and hunting by locals; other threats […]

Credit Where Credit Is Due

New York Gov. George Pataki (R) plans to give a boost to green building today by proposing a tax break for builders who construct or renovate large buildings so that they produce less pollution, waste, and indoor air contamination and use less energy than conventional buildings. The tax credits would be limited to $25 million […]

For God's Sake

The Interfaith Center for Corporate Responsibility — an activist network of Catholic and Protestant groups — is waging a David-against-Goliath campaign to get ExxonMobil to acknowledge and address the issue of global warming. Wielding the power of the $90 billion pension fund portfolio owned by its member groups, Interfaith is using its stockholder status to […]

Zed Fun

Meet Zed, last of his species. What’s two-feet-tall, yellow, funny, and desperately looking for a date? Introducing Zed, a critter who’s the last of his species and the star of a weekly Grist Magazine comic strip. Now Zed, whose plight came about because of global warming, has his own video and game. Check ’em out. […]

The French Are Fly

The French government is proposing a tax on carbon emissions that would help the country meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto climate change treaty. Prime Minister Lionel Jospin’s legislative package, to be presented next week, will include the tax, which would take effect in 2001 and apply to France’s state-owned […]

Japanese Banging Their Heads Over Heavy Metal

After years of defiantly eating whale meat in the face of an international ban on whaling, the Japanese are finally cutting back on their consumption — but they’re doing it because the meat is so highly contaminated by pollution, not because they are concerned about dwindling whale populations. Japanese scientists have found high levels of […]

Sealing Their Fate

Dozens of sea lions, seals, and sea turtles die each year after being sucked into power plants along Southern California’s coast, but federal and regional regulators have done little to stop the deaths. Several power plants use ocean water to cool the super-hot steam that powers energy-generating turbines; intake pipes extend far into the ocean […]

Dam It All!!

Enviros, who have been heartened in recent months by a growing movement in favor of breaching dams, had cause for remorse on Friday when a gigantic new dam was dedicated in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains in Southern California. Enviros fear that the $420 million Seven Oaks Dam, erected above the growing sprawl […]