Latest Articles

An interesting approach to bird safe wind power

Ottawa, Canada-based company Magenn has developed a "floating wind turbine" for personal and infrastructure power generation. The helium-filled device floats up to 1,000 feet into the air, using high altitude wind gusts to generate power up to a kilowatt. The power is transfered down via two "tethers" attached to the turbine.

Magenn states that its compact design and flexibility eliminates the risk of birds getting chopped up near it, a problem associated with standard fan-based turbines. It looks a bit weird, but most out-the-box ideas usually do.

Funny

Here is Stephen Colbert discussing the “reduce reuse re-psychos” and interviewing Colin Beavan, whose family is shooting for a year of zero eco-impact. Beavan puts in a plug for Step It Up. Nice work Mr. Beavan! Funny stuff:

I prefer to fly

I changed my mind. I no longer want a plug-in hybrid car. Them's for punks.

Now I want a solar/plug-in airplane. Video below the fold.

Takeaway message: battery technology is the roadblock. That and rain.

Ticket info and line-ups also announced

After much back–and–forth over D.C. locations for Al Gore’s Live Earth Concerts on 7/7/07, organizers today announced the U.S. concert will be held at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Tickets for the show will go on sale Monday, April 16, at 10 a.m. EDT. Locations were also announced for five of the other seven concerts […]

Gingrich and Kerry face off on climate, except they don’t really face off all that much

John Kerry and Newt Gingrich squared off on climate change this morning. The result? Gingrich committed to the statement that something needs to be done and distanced himself from partisan brethren like Inhofe. He also dropped a line about a need for some “green conservatism.” The transcript: KERRY: I’m excited to hear you talk about […]

Summarizin’

The summary for policymakers (PDF) of the report by the IPCC Second Working Group is out!

A summary of the summary:

Political parties may be divided on the issue of climate, but Americans agree on solutions

On the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency has authority to regulate greenhouse gases as a pollutant (some called it a strong rebuke of the Bush administration's policies), George W. Bush saw fit to ramp up his language on the issue of global warming (hint: the new key word is "serious"):

The decision (of) the Supreme Court we take very seriously. It's the new law of the land. I've taken this issue very seriously. I have said that it is a serious problem. I recognize that man is contributing to greenhouse gases.

But, despite this outpouring of concern, the Prez kept to old-school thinking, arguing that "anything that happens cannot hurt economic growth." (Clearly, nobody gave him any of the the reports on the enormous costs that we will likely bear as a result of climate changes, or for that matter, the compelling memos that have been circulating about the economic opportunities the climate challenge presents to those with a touch of "American ingenuity.")

The American public, on the other hand, appears more ready than Bush to embrace new thinking when it comes to solutions. Republicans and Democrats alike broadly embrace actions to curb emissions.

Based on a March telephone survey of 1,009 American adults, ages 18 and older, Gallup reports that an overwhelming majority supports stronger government restrictions on greenhouse gas emissions. And, majorities, regardless of political persuasion, say we should spend more tax money to develop alternative sources of fuel and energy.

Rich Westerners bypass gov’t to save rainforests

I have mixed feelings about these "conservation cowboys" — rich Westerners who tromp down South in pursuit of grandiose eco-preservation schemes. They possess immense amounts of discretionary capital and can often sidestep cumbersome, slow-moving government machinery. But there’s a tinge of colonialism about it. If they tread too heavily, I fear they’ll end up sparking […]

Dry As a Slightly Moist Bone

Aral Sea restoration project nets $126 million more from World Bank When is a sea not a sea? When it’s a desert. Over the last five decades, the inland Aral Sea — which straddles the border of Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan — has shrunk to a fraction of its original size, thanks to Soviet policies that […]

The sorcerer’s apprentice running amok in ag?

Gene tampering (called "genetic modification" by the same people who call gambling "gaming" and sewer sludge "biosolids") is a terrible idea, said the "extreme environmentalists" who warned that, nature being what it is, it wouldn't be long before we would see invasive weed species adopting whatever characteristics we created.