Climate Technology
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Economic woes lead to slower growth for organic market
The decade-long boom in sales of organic products in the U.S. may be coming to an end, thanks to the economic slowdown. The market is still growing, but at about 4 percent annually, not the 20 percent seen in recent years. It means hard times for Whole Foods and good times for McDonald’s.
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Gross
In the wake of record-breaking profits, Exxon continues its fight to pay as little as possible to those scarred by its Exxon-Valdez oil spill.
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Ethanol industry craters; investors take a bath; world probably fails to learn lesson
VeraSun, one of nation’s largest ethanol producers, mulls bankruptcy. Ethanex Energy files. Alternative Energy Sources shuts down. E3 Biofuels files. A trend? Seems so: It was an American dream that has failed to become a reality. For much of the last decade, enthusiasts from President George W. Bush down have touted corn-based ethanol as something […]
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Starbucks will double its purchase of fair-trade coffee
Starbucks will buy 40 million pounds of fair-trade-certified coffee next year, doubling the hill of beans it bought this year and becoming the largest purchaser of fair-trade coffee in the world. The caffeine giant, though struggling financially and recognizing the price premium of sustainable bean-buying, has a goal of selling only “responsibly grown and ethically […]
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The oil companies should bail out the automakers
Cross-posted at the NDN blog —– As the U.S. auto companies frantically search for ways to stave off bankruptcy, an interesting bit of news surfaced yesterday: Exxon Mobil’s profit in the last quarter was the highest of any company ever in history: $14.83 billion. The company is on track to make $50 billion or so […]
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Sugar from GM sugar beets will soon be unlabeled and widespread
The scariest thing next Halloween might not be the monsters, zombies or witches trolling our streets — it might be the candy. Those colorful, tin-foil-wrapped Hershey’s kisses and dark chocolate pumpkins could contain sugar extracted and processed from the roots of genetically modified sugar beets. Sugar in Halloween candy comes from several sources, including sugar […]
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Exxon Mobil announces record quarterly profit, again
Exxon Mobil on Thursday announced that it raked in $14.83 billion in its third quarter, breaking its previous record for the highest quarterly profit ever for a U.S. company. John McCain, campaigning in Ohio, declared that “we’re not gonna let that happen” again if he’s president, neglecting to mention that his tax plan would afford […]
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Global biz leaders support push for international climate agreement
Undeterred by the shaky economy, a gathering of global business leaders on Wednesday gave the thumbs-up to the United Nations’ effort to clinch a global climate deal at its December 2009 rendezvous in Copenhagen.
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Big Ethanol descends on Africa for land, water, and sympathetic governments
A few weeks ago I was in Mozambique for a conference that brought together NGOs, small-scale farmers, agricultural associations, and local media to discuss the impact of biofuel production in southern Africa. While the United States and other Western countries mandate ethanol quotas to supposedly reduce their consumption of fossil fuels, many farmers in Africa […]
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Chrysler puts kibosh on hybrid SUVs
Chrysler is discontinuing production on its Dodge Durango hybrid and Chrysler Aspen hybrid. And if those SUVs don’t sound familiar, it’s because they never hit the market in the first place.