Climate Technology
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Monsanto uses child labor in its Indian cottonseed fields
Photo: iStockphoto Monsanto dominates the global seed industry and churns out $1 billion a year in profit. Investors are so enamored of its market power and profitability that they’ve bid up its share price by nearly 1500 percent since 2004. So why does Monsanto rely on farms that use child labor to cultivate its genetically […]
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Has the east coast car-sharing company screwed up the west coast car-sharing company?
Late last year, the country’s two major car-sharing companies, west-coast Flexcar and its larger east-coast cousin Zipcar, merged and became, um, Zipcar. Flexcar fans were concerned about the effects of the merger. Sadly, Flexcar fangirl Erica Barnett reports that they were decidedly negative: more expensive, fewer cars, less friendly service, etc. Zipcar, what hath thou […]
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Archer Daniels Midland will squeeze out competition, says Fortune
Record corn prices aren’t just squeezing consumers. They’re also hurting the ethanol industry — yes, the very folks whose ravenous appetite for corn drove up prices in the first place. From Fortune Magazine: Cargill announces it’s scrapping plans for a $200 million ethanol plant near Topeka, Kan. A judge approves the bankruptcy sale of an […]
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Kodak, Wal-Mart partner on photo kiosk recycling
Wal-Mart continues on the “Seriously? They’re still doing good stuff?” path with a new partnership with Kodak that will bring recycling to those handy in-store photo kiosks. The printer ribbon, spools, and cartridges recycled annually by the program will weigh about as much as six commercial planes. Which is, even by Wal-Mart standards, big.
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Mr. Straight Talk voted against requiring double-hulled tankers after the biggest oil spill
You’re likely aware that the notorious Exxon Valdez case is back in court yet again. Yesterday, the Most Profitable Company of All Time argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that it shouldn’t have to pay $2.5 billion in damages to Alaskans harmed by the spill. (That was reduced from the original $5 billion, but Exxon […]
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Chinese bosses could see salary cuts for water pollution
China is considering a law that would cut a head honcho’s income by up to half if his or her company was found to be “directly responsible for causing severe water pollution incidents.”
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Wal-Mart wants your cleantech ideas
Wal-Mart wants your help: We are trying something new at Wal-Mart…amidst the crazy fast, rapidly growing space of clean/green technologies we have found it pretty difficult to do two things: 1. Find the technologies that we should be implementing and 2. Be sure those that we know about are the best options with the most […]
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Large water utilities form climate alliance
Eight of the largest water agencies in the U.S. have formed the Water Utility Climate Alliance to strategize about dealing with climate change. Together, the eight members provide water to more than 36 million people, whose slaked thirst is endangered by “diminishing snowpack, bigger storms, more frequent drought, and rising sea levels,” according to WUCA […]
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Portfolio magazine lists eco-saint and eco-sinner companies
The magazine Condé Nast Portfolio has produced a “Toxic Ten” list of companies that claim to be green, but really ain’t. Among those called out: Cargill, in part for egregious water pollution; Ford Motor Co., in part for the unimpressive overall gas mileage of its fleet; Boeing, in part for a lack of transparency about […]
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GM’s Lutz can think whatever he wants, but the record shows his actions hurt the climate fight
Yesterday, a post on the Wall Street Journal’s energy blog discussed the controversy over GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz calling global warming a “crock of shit.” It said: Some, like Wired and Grist, buy his argument: As long as GM keeps making progress toward electric cars and expanding the role of alternative fuels like ethanol, […]