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Ed Norton goes to the Hill to talk up green building

Ed Norton will go green — literally — next month when he hits the big screen as The Incredible Hulk. But on Wednesday he was on the Hill talking up the virtues of going green figuratively, in our building practices. Ed Norton on the Hill. Norton appeared before the House Select Committee for Energy Independence […]

Human-caused warming is resulting in a broad range of impacts across the globe

Nature has published the first article to "formally link observed global changes in physical and biological systems to human-induced climate change, predominantly from increasing greenhouse gases." See news story here and the article, "Attributing physical and biological impacts to anthropogenic climate change" (subs. req'd, abstract below).

NASA's discussion of the piece here explains, "human-caused climate change has made an impact on a wide range of Earth's natural systems, including permafrost thawing, plants blooming earlier across Europe, and lakes declining in productivity in Africa." The image at right: "Impacts from warming are evident in satellite images showing that lakes in Siberia disappearing as the permafrost thaws and lake water drains deeper into the ground." The lead author explained:

Snippets from the news

• Friday is Bike to Work Day! • T. Boone Pickens buys 667 wind turbines. • Starbucks sets green goals. • China earthquake may cut carbon-offset supply. • Global biodiversity is plummeting.

U. of Washington to create big eco-college

The University of Washington is planning to create the largest environmental college evah. The proposed College of the Environment would become the 5th-largest of U-Dub’s 17 colleges, combining its current schools of forestry, fishery sciences, atmospheric sciences, earth and space sciences, marine affairs, and oceanography. “Certainly, higher education in general has a responsibility to tackle […]

Grist asks McCain about contradictory messages on nuclear subsidies

John McCain hosted a call-in with bloggers today following his address in Columbus, Ohio, in which he outlined his priorities for a first term in office. Grist got in a couple of questions: You mentioned climate and energy in your speech today, that they would be among your top priorities, and that has also been […]

How three Rust Belt cities are changing

For more on Rust Belt cities, see our full feature on sustainability initiatives underway in Cleveland. It may not be intuitive to link an area historically associated with steel mills, coal mining, and automobile assembly lines to sustainable development. But green growth is catching on in the Rust Belt, long an economically unendowed area of […]

Prius sales top 1 million

Worldwide sales of Toyota’s Prius hybrid have passed the 1 million mark, the auto company announced Thursday. The world’s first mass-produced hybrid was introduced in Japan in 1997 and in other markets in 2000. While it was at the time a risky business venture, it didn’t take long for the word Prius — Latin for […]

One big corpration dominates the soon-to-be-prized potash market

Industrial agriculture currently stands as humanity’s big plan for "feeding the world" as global population moves toward 10 billion and the earth warms. Increasingly, as oil supplies tighten and prices rise, we’re looking to industrial ag to fill our gas tanks, too. Unhappily, this relatively new form of farming relies utterly on three elements — […]

The eternal cycle of liquid coal reincarnation

Ali Velshi on CNN, Wednesday morning: "What if you could take a lump of coal and turn that in to your gasoline?"

What if, indeed? A brief (very brief) stroll through the archives...

Can Cleveland bring itself back from the brink?

Still known for smokestacks and football, Cleveland is turning its ship around.Photo: Craig Hatfield“Most people know Cleveland by the Browns or The Flats,” says Marc Lefkowitz. From the roof of his office building, which is dotted with native wildflowers and grasses, he gestures to the downtown skyline — marked by the iconic Mittal Steel smokestacks […]