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The Climate Got Me High

NOAA scientists say near-record U.S. temps in 2006 due to climate change Scientists from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said yesterday that the near-record annual average temperature in the Lower 48 states in 2006 was due to greenhouse gases and not to the weather phenomenon El Nino. By perusing weather records the researchers, […]

A Playg on the Playground

Green group finds some New Orleans playgrounds contaminated with arsenic Some playgrounds and schoolyards in New Orleans may be contaminated with high levels of arsenic swept in by Hurricane Katrina, according to soil samples taken by the Natural Resources Defense Council. Government agencies, which have taken about 2,000 soil and sediment samples in the city, […]

Emission Accomplished

Indiana regulators give BP a pass on meeting federal soot regulations Last week, oil company BP backed off of a plan to dump lots more ammonia and sludge into Lake Michigan; this week, Indiana regulators granted the same refinery an exemption to a federal rule that would have required it to halve its soot emissions. […]

Umbra on singles and CSAs

Hi Umbra! I’ve held back from joining a CSA because 1) I live alone and am worried about wasting food, and 2) I’m worried I’ll get so much oddball stuff, especially in the winter, that I won’t know what to do with it. I figure I can overcome No. 1 by seeking out some sufficiently […]

Honda fights to regain green car company mantle

Honda entered the hybrid market before Toyota, but over time it made a fateful mistake: it failed to visually distinguish its line of hybrids. The Prius’ distinct shape is like peacock feathers — it signals your identity to the world. Who wants to be virtuous if nobody knows about it? Now Honda’s gotten the message […]

Interior Secretary Kempthorne gets award for record refusal to protect endangered species

The Center for Biological Diversity yesterday presented Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne with its first ever "Rubber Dodo" award, in honor of going a record one year and 90 days without listing a new species as endangered or threatened.

The previous record holder was Ronald Reagan's notorious Interior Secretary James Watt, who went a comparatively wimpy 376 days without listing a new species. Meanwhile, the Fish and Wildlife Service has classified 279 species as "candidates" for listing, because they're in danger of extinction, but haven't yet been given protection by Secretary Kempthorne.

"That waiting list could turn into a 'too-late' list without government action, as species in dire need of protection go extinct," the Center said in an email to its supporters.

According to the Center's Kieran Suckling, some of the endangered species waiting for Dirk to stay the hand of permanent annihilation are the elfin wood warbler of Puerto Rico, the Pacific fisher (a wolverine-like animal that prowls the sylvan coasts of the Northwest), and the red knot, an extraordinary bird whose tale of decline is one of the saddest and weirdest.

Survey reveals truth about environmental fibs

A study by (insurance company?) Norwich Union has unearthed the truth about how green Brits really are: The good news: Of the 1,580 people surveyed across Britain, more than half considered unethical living as much of a social taboo as drunk driving — or, as the Brits call it, drink-driving. The bad news: Due to […]

Interesting hydrogen-generating technology from Purdue

I hesitate to post this for a number of reasons, not least of which is that I think our fixation with maintaining automobility is going to be our undoing.

But there's no denying that if this works out as advertised*, this is a real step toward a noncarbon future that includes more energy, rather than less.

* Caveats:

1. The presser doesn't discuss the energy balance for reformulating the catalytic materials; aluminum is sometimes known as "congealed electricity" because of the energy cost of refining the virgin bauxite.
2. I have no idea how much gallium there is, although the presser suggests it's recyclable.
3. You would need to work out the energy cost of the whole process train, including the cost involved in building the windmills or PV panels needed to power the recycling process -- it's quite possible that this would turn out to be just another way to burn coal to make hydrogen, when all inputs and outputs are considered. We don't need ways to use coal to make hydrogen; we need ways to be entirely coal-free.

Magnetic cooling tech hits a milestone

Now this is hopeful: a real advance in refrigeration. Lots of potential here. How cool.

Dave’s Second Law of Sustainability Politics

Clean up coal emissions and you end up with more — and more toxic — coal ash. You get cleaner air, but you get ash that can’t be recycled (into, e.g., concrete). You breath free, but you’ve got arsenic and mercury leaching into your groundwater from coal-ash landfills. Look at this vintage coal magic: There […]