China
-
Top 10 countries ruining the planet — and more news from around the world
We’re #2! We’re #2! Sure enough, here’s a new study out of the University of Adelaide in Australia, naming the Top 10 Countries Ruining the Planet, and the U.S. isn’t even the leader. It ranks second behind Brazil, followed by China, Indonesia, and Japan. The research focused solely on environmental impact, using seven indicators of […]
-
Raiding rainforest funds in climate legislation will turn cost projections into fantasy
An endangered unicorn protected by one of the imaginary offsets created if Kerry-Graham-Lieberman raids funds for tropical rainforests.In the ongoing negotiations over the Kerry-Graham-Lieberman bill, different polluters are clamoring for cash to compensate them for not fouling the atmosphere quite so much. One of their targets: the legislation’s set-aside funds for reducing tropical deforestation, which […]
-
WATCH: China building ambitious “Solar Valley City” to advance solar industry
China is building an ambitious “Solar Valley City” as a new national center for manufacturing, research and development, education, and tourism around solar energy technologies. as part of the Chinese government and industry’s efforts to promote clean energy technology and grow the nation’s global market share (see video below beginning at 10 seconds). Solar Valley […]
-
A clean energy competitiveness strategy for America
By Jesse Jenkins and Devon Swezey Accelerating U.S. clean technology innovation, manufacturing, and market creation has become not just an environmental necessity but an economic imperative. A recent Pew study showed that the global clean energy industry has experienced rapid investment growth over the last five years. New clean tech investments in 2009 reached $162 […]
-
This week in comically evil corporate behavior
Updated It’s only Wednesday and we’ve already got way more than a week’s worth of comically evil behavior from the fossil-fuel sector. Item the first: A Chinese coal freighter tried to take a shortcut through Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and rammed into the world-reknowned ecological treasure. The stranded ship remains in danger of […]
-
One more blow to the ailing Great Barrier Reef
The Shen Neng 1 in a plume of heavy oil in Great Barrier Reef Marine Park.Australian Maritime Safety AuthorityUgh. Everything about this is bad: A Chinese freighter crashed into Australia’s Great Barrier Reef Saturday, running aground and spilling heavy fuel oil into the water. The ship is stuck, and while the flow of oil has […]
-
China’s global shopping spree: Is the world’s future resource map tilting East?
Cross-posted from TomDispatch. Think of it as a tale of two countries. When it comes to procuring the resources that make industrial societies run, China is now the shopaholic of planet Earth, while the United States is staying at home. Hard-hit by the global recession, the United States has experienced a marked decline in the […]
-
Pollution limits are essential for clean energy investments
This piece was co-written by Kate Gordon, vice president for energy policy at American Progress. A critical element of President Obama’s domestic agenda is transforming the United States to a low-carbon-pollution economy, which would spur recovery, create jobs, and generate long-term prosperity. The president also made clear in his State of the Union address this […]
-
Wind Power Soared Past 150,000 Megawatts in 2009
This piece was written by my colleague J. Matthew Roney at the Earth Policy Institute. Even in the face of a worldwide economic downturn, the global wind industry posted another record year in 2009 as cumulative installed wind power capacity grew to 158,000 megawatts. With this 31 percent jump, the global wind fleet is now […]