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Let It BP

BP making big boost to clean-energy spending Oil giant BP plans to invest up to $8 billion of its oil-and-gas profits into clean energy technologies and greenhouse-gas abatement projects over the next 10 years. An $8 billion investment would represent an eightfold increase over the company’s clean-energy outlay in the past decade, says CEO John […]

What, Too Busy Screwing Up New Orleans?

EPA abandons big cleanup plans near New York City’s Ground Zero The U.S. EPA is ditching ambitious cleanup plans for post-9/11 lower Manhattan and Brooklyn, disbanding a panel of scientists, community leaders, and local officials that has met for 20 months on the matter. The panel’s efforts — to devise a comprehensive decontamination plan for […]

Steamroll on Columbia

Idaho senator axes funding for agency that studies endangered salmon Well, that’s one way to deal with scientific findings you don’t like! Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) has wiped out funding for the Fish Passage Center, a 12-person, $1.3 million agency widely respected by salmon-conservation experts. The center has documented shrinking fish numbers in the Columbia […]

Leggo My Negotiation

U.S. gums up works at Montreal climate talks Representatives of the world’s governments are currently gathered in Montreal for a historic summit on the most pressing problem facing civilization: global warming. And the U.S.? “The United States is opposed to any such discussions,” says Harlan Watson, who bears the somewhat misleading title of “chief U.S. […]

U.S. in Montreal

I suppose it's no big surprise that the U.S. is deliberately gumming up the works in Montreal -- having paid no penalty (at least domestically) for its intransigence on climate change, the Bush administration is getting more and more flagrant about thumbing its nose at the international community on this subject.

But in reading all the many stories about it, for some reason this little bit from Reuters is the only thing that really got me down:

"It would be nice if the U.S. would step up and start to take some action," said Ben Matchstick, a U.S. organizer dressed as a bird.

Making sustainability sexy, from an ad man’s point of view

Sustainability. Sexy. Two words you don’t often see together. Sustainability is a serious word. It’s about saving the world from ecological disaster. Getting humanity on track for survival. Heady stuff best left to academics, unions of concerned scientists, and earnest tree-huggers. Would you buy this? Photo: iStockphoto/Tyler Stalman. Sexy … now that’s a fun word. […]

Umbra on composting feminine products

Dear Umbra, OK, the kitty-litter thing pushed me over the edge. I know you are sick of writing about gross, yucky things, but I had to ask: if kitty litter is compostable, what about biodegradable maxipads and tampons? One of the leading natural feminine-care brands touts their stuff as being biodegradable and compostable. Can this […]

EPA and Ground Zero

The U.S. EPA's atrocious track record around Ground Zero in New York City continues

NYT:

Abandoning an ambitious cleanup plan for Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, federal environmental officials said yesterday that they would clean, at no cost, any apartment south of Canal Street with unacceptable levels of contaminants from the collapse of the World Trade Center.

Bike guy, meet clue. Clue, bike guy.

Slate carries the story of a guy who tried and failed to use his bike for useful purposes. Why he failed becomes painfully obvious if you can read between the lines.

He owns four bikes, which he rarely uses "for actual transportation." Like our president, he rides for fitness and recreation only. He is single, childless, owns a dog of course, and has no aging parents to care for (the exact opposite of my lifestyle). He also telecommutes and lives near a 17-mile bike trail that passes close to most places he would want to go (stores, bars, and restaurants). You would think it would be nearly effortless for him to use his bike for just about every local errand. Not so!

Is the fuel efficiency of hybrid cars worth the extra money?

Anybody thinking about selling their old car and buying a hybrid should check this out: Brandon U. Hansen at OmniNerd calculates the monthly gas savings of trading in your current vehicle for a hybrid; how much you'll need to take out in a loan; monthly payment of the loan compared to current car payment; and (voila!) a pretty graph showing the "maximum economically justified hypothetical hybrid sticker price vs hypothetical hybrid gas mileages for various gas prices."

The post considers lots o' info about hybrids, and comes to the conclusion:

While no "green" person would ever advocate buying a hybrid for purely economic reasons, it is painfully obvious that existing hybrids lack the ability to make up for their steep prices with gas savings.

Bummer. According to this, at least, hybrids don't yet have the right appeal to the typical American consumer.

Maybe you knew that already. But aren't the equations and graphs cool? I think so; then again, I used to do long division for fun.