Uncategorized

Snippets from the news

• Mud volcano caused by drilling. • California sues Whole Foods over carcinogen in soap. • Skyscraper on World Trade Center site will be partially powered by fuel cells. • Engineers make wind turbines that float. • Democrats push for ban on BPA. • IBM expands Project Big Green. • Americans ride the rails.

Give to Grist and make my face go away

I would hereby like to formally apologize to all Grist readers for looming over their browsers today like some sort of dystopic Ziggy. It’s part of our ongoing fundraiser — I guess our development department thinks it will drive you to donate to Grist, if only to end the pain. Speaking of that fundraiser. I […]

Snippets from the news

• Gulf of Mexico “dead zone” could be largest on record. • Toronto cyclists form first-of-its-kind union. • Melting Arctic could spur warmer temperatures inland. • Hybrid batteries in short supply. • Gas-drilling rights to Colorado’s Roan Plateau will be auctioned.

Japan sets emissions-reduction goal for 2050 but not sooner

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda announced Monday that Japan will aim to cut greenhouse-gas emissions between 60 and 80 percent by 2050, but did not give in to strong pressure to set an emissions-reduction target for 2020. Fukuda gave a nod in the direction of a shorter-term goal, saying Japan’s emissions will likely drop 14 […]

Former French prez launches foundation to preserve biodiversity

Former French President Jacques Chirac has launched a foundation aimed at preserving cultural and natural diversity that humans seem intent upon obliterating. The Chirac Foundation will provide funds to improve access to water and medicines in developing countries, fight deforestation and desertification, and preserve languages and cultures that are on the verge of dying out. […]

Green groups sue feds to protect polar bears from oil-drilling effects

Two green groups are suing the Interior Department over its refusal to limit the impacts of drilling on polar bears, which were listed as threatened last month. The Bush administration has tried its darnedest to ensure that listing the bears wouldn’t limit oil and gas exploration in their Alaskan habitat, but Pacific Environment and the […]

Snippets from the news

• G8 nations vow to cut oil use. • Churchgoers grow less enamored with environmental regulation. • Farting livestock stymie New Zealand’s goal to be carbon neutral. • U.K. tries out waterless washing machine. • Dozens of dolphins stranded in both England and Madagascar. • World Naked Bike Ride was Saturday. • Celebs want to […]

E.U. has trash problem; Hamburg has trash solution

The European Union is running out of landfill space and faces a looming trash problem. All member nations have been directed to reduce landfill-bound trash 35 percent of 1995 levels by 2020, but many nations have slim chances of meeting that target; Italy, Spain, Greece, and Britain currently send more than 60 percent of their […]

NPS considers returning half of Badlands National Park to Oglala Sioux

The National Park Service is considering returning the southern half of Badlands National Park in South Dakota to the Oglala Sioux tribe. Under the proposal, the northern half would remain a national park, but the 133,000-acre southern half would be returned to the tribe. The land was seized from the Oglala Sioux by the military […]

High oil prices affecting consumer goods, nearly everything else too

Oil prices surged $11 on Friday, hitting a new record high of $138.54 a barrel. Over the weekend the average price of regular unleaded gasoline around the U.S. also surged to new high of $4 a gallon. Unsurprisingly, folks in rural areas are taking the largest hit to their incomes from gas prices due to […]