Climate Climate & Energy
All Stories
-
Iceland Iceland Baby
Iceland is gunning to be the world’s first carbon-free economy. The country is in something of a bind, as it now has very low carbon-dioxide emissions and the Kyoto treaty on climate change gives it little room to expand its economy in a way that would increase its emissions. Already, 67 percent of Iceland’s energy […]
-
Fright Train
Sometime this summer, the feds are planning to transport nuclear waste from power plants via train from New York to a U.S. Energy Department reservation in southeastern Idaho. Dubbing the shipment a “mobile Chernobyl,” anti-nuke advocates plan to raise a ruckus when the freight train comes through. Although the shipment across the country will be […]
-
Czech Your Nukes at the Door
Germany has asked the Czech Republic to shut down the Temelin nuclear power plant near the borders of Germany and Austria. Austria became nuke-free in 1978, and German utilities agreed last month to close their 19 nuclear plants within 20 years. The Temelin plant, which began operating last fall, has provoked major protests from local […]
-
Surge, in General
Canada will see its pollution levels surge if it boosts its oil and natural gas exports to meet the needs of its power-hungry southern neighbor, according to a report released on Friday by the David Suzuki Foundation. For example, the report says a big increase in exports to the U.S. would cause greenhouse gas emissions […]
-
Electric Boogie
12,133 — per capita annual electricity consumption (kilowatt-hours) in the U.S. in 1997 1,381 — per capita annual electricity consumption (kilowatt-hours) in the rest of the world in 1997 21.5 — percentage increase in U.S. electricity consumption from 1990 to 1999 43 — percentage decrease in utility funding for energy efficiency from 1993 to 1998 […]
-
Climate change is threatening Arctic critters
The place to watch for global warming — the sensitive point, the canary in the coal mine — is the Arctic. If the planet as a whole warms by one degree, the poles will warm by about three degrees. Which is just what is happening. Polar bears are walking on thin ice. Ice now covers […]
-
Car and Drivel
With California regulators poised today to set in stone the state’s zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, automakers have been mounting a last-ditch effort to prevent the rule from being so tough. The rule would require that thousands of ZEVS be sold in the state by 2003. Among their complaints, automakers are contending that the electricity used […]
-
Hole Lotta Love
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson said earlier this week that the feds would research new ways to dispose of nuclear waste instead of incinerating the waste in southeastern Idaho. He formally accepted the recommendations of a panel that was appointed a year ago to study the matter after enviro groups, ski bums, Harrison Ford, and others […]
