Latest Articles
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EPA proposes sensible update to soot pollution limits. Expect outrage
The proposed new standard limiting particulate pollution makes a lot of sense and will save lives. So no wonder certain people will go nuts.
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EPA’s Boiler MACT Is an Economic Growth Opportunity
The new EPA air toxics standards, or “Boiler MACT” will tighten the pollution allowances for industrial (e.g., non-utility) coal boilers, and are widely and consistently being criticized as a threat to a still-fragile economy. This criticism is coming from the usual corners (Inhofe, US Chamber of Commerce, etc.). Meanwhile big-name engineering firms are turning out […]
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Bus-ted: Romney takes anti-clean energy stance to six states with 418k green jobs
Mitt Romney begins a bus tour today across six states where green jobs are far from illusory.
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40 years of environmental diplomacy — what do we have to show for it?
On the eve of the Rio+20 Earth Summit, we look back at four decades of global conservation efforts and take stock of the successes and the failures. Well, mostly the failures.
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How to use a broken cell phone to survive in the wilderness
If your nature hike goes seriously awry, your cell phone will probably be your best chance of survival — if you can get signal, you can let people know where you are. If you can’t get signal, well, it is basically a hunk of metal. But, it’s a hunk of metal that can (if absolutely […]
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Smarter than a Smart car: A Smart e-bike
Quick, what’s smarter and cuter and more awesome than a Smart car? We’re going to go with a Smart bike, the tiny car’s even-tinier electric bike sibling. The bike’s won all kinds of design awards, and it’s no surprise. It actually still resembles a bike, instead of a cyborg bike with a tumor-looking motor attached, […]
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Future California surfers are advised to hang zero toes over acidic waves
One of the lesser-known but still widely feared effects of an atmosphere chock-full of carbon dioxide is that it makes the oceans more acidic. The process, as described by Science magazine: About one-third of the carbon dioxide (CO2) humans pump into the atmosphere eventually diffuses into the surface layer of the ocean. There, it reacts […]
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New Soot Pollution Standard Benefits Americans, Saves Lives
Today the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced a draft pollution standard for soot that will reduce one of the most dangerous forms of air pollution, saving thousands of lives and preventing tens of thousands of heart attacks every single year. Unfortunately, it is sure to come under attack by big polluters, so we will need […]
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Why GMOs aren’t romantic
Today’s Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal is a VERY REALISTIC AND SCIENTIFICALLY ACCURATE cautionary tale about genetically modified organisms.
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Swarms of robots could replace tractors on farms
Most farm machinery right now consists of huge machines. But in the future, farm machinery could be “a swarm of planting, tending, and harvesting robots running game theory and swarm behavior algorithms to help optimize every inch of arable space in a given field,” Popular Science reports. That’s one Iowan’s vision, anyway, and he’s created […]
