Climate Technology
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U.N. initiative urges green global economy
Fear not: The economic, food, and climate crises can be tackled in one fell swoop, says the United Nations Environment Program. The organization launched a Green Economy Initiative Wednesday, comparing it to Franklin Roosevelt’s Depression-tackling New Deal. “Investments will soon be pouring back into the global economy,” says Pavan Dukdhev of Deutsche Bank, which is […]
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Wal-Mart lays out more environmental goals for itself, suppliers
Huge-mongous retailer Wal-Mart is back at its favorite activity of all time (besides counting its money and sprawlin’, of course): setting environmental goals for itself and its suppliers. At a company confab in Beijing, Wal-Mart execs promised a host of eco-improvements in the next few years. Soon, they said, suppliers will have to be certified […]
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Consolidation in the beef industry has gotten too intense even for the Bush DOJ
Way back in March, Brazilian beef-packing behemoth JBS finished an extraordinary lunge into the U.S. market, having snapped up Swift, National Beef Packing, and the beef assets of Smithfield — the nation’s third-, fourth- and fifth-biggest beef packers. If the deals were approved by U.S. antitrust authorities — and nothing in recent history suggested they […]
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EBay to ban sales of ivory on its website
Online auction giant eBay announced Monday that it will ban sales of ivory via its website starting next year due to concerns that it is helping to fuel poaching of endangered elephants. The announcement was made ahead of a report [PDF] released Tuesday by the International Fund for Animal Welfare that tracked online wildlife-product commerce […]
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Washington Post editors join the ranks of the climate confused
The Post ran an editorial, “Cap and Return: Fight the recession or fight global warming? Congress can do both,” that is as confused as it is well-meaning. The Post supports strong action now, but they recycle a new inactivist talking point — we need to modify or weaken our climate strategies because of the recession […]
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Finance is valuable to the ‘real economy,’ but the system needs to be replaced
Some Grist readers in comments seem to think we should ignore the financial aspects of the crisis to focus on the “real economy.” The problem is, finance is part of the real economy. Credit was invented before paper currency; there are records of debt in ancient Babylon. Try and imagine life without currency, or checkbooks, […]
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Migrating pollock could endanger Alaskan fishery, international relations
Showing a distinct lack of American patriotism, Alaskan pollock are reacting to climate-changed warmer waters by swimming northward into Russian territory — potentially endangering both the U.S.’s billion-dollar pollock industry and U.S.-Russia relations. Climate-related pollock migration “will be a food security issue and has an enormous potential for political upheaval,” warns Andrew Rosenberg, former deputy […]
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What should Google do next?
I was excited to read this L.A. Times piece, which seemed to hold out the prospect of evidence that Google is moving into smart-grid technology. Instead of evidence, though, there was wild and utterly unmotivated speculation. I do enjoy speculating about what Google will do next though. It’s so nice to have a company with […]
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Electric Mini Cooper coming to the U.S.
What’s cute and teeny and charged up? An electric Mini Cooper, which BMW will unveil at the Los Angeles Auto Show in November. Even more exciting — especially if you are among “select private and corporate customers” — a 500-vehicle test fleet will be available for lease in California, New Jersey, and New York early […]
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Alternative energy takes a hit as economy slumps, oil prices fall
The alternative-energy industry, which enjoyed a boost when oil prices skyrocketed, is seeing its fortunes change. Per-barrel oil prices have halved since July, lessening consumer demand for alternatives. And the credit crunch sure isn’t helping, as long-term funding is harder to come by for wind, solar, electric vehicles, cellulosic biofuel, and their ilk. Renewable-energy stocks […]
