Climate Technology

Swedish company to warm buildings using body heat

The legendary hotness of Swedes is now useful for more than getting dates. Calls to the French Embassy about plans for using the famous Gallic "icy superciliousness" for air conditioning were not returned by press time.

Newest Air Jordan shoe will be made to sustainable standards, says Nike

The 23rd version of Nike’s iconic Air Jordan basketball shoe was designed with sustainability in mind, says the company. The Air Jordan XX3 will be manufactured with some recyclable materials and without solvent-based glues, while still meeting the performance standards demanded by pro-ball endorsers such as Chris Paul and Ray Allen. The shoe is still […]

GM CEO sows doubt about Volt debut date

The following is a guest post by Marc Geller, who blogs at Plugs and Cars, serves on the board of directors of the Electric Auto Association, cofounded Plug In America and DontCrush.com, and appeared in Who Killed The Electric Car.

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CNNMoney.com reports on an online chat with GM CEO Rick Waggoner.

General Motors might not be able to hit its target to have its breakthrough electric-powered car the Chevrolet Volt in production by 2010 ... GM has already started to build advertising campaigns around the Volt, even though in the best-case scenario it is years away from production. It is seen as a way of trying to change public perceptions about the fuel efficiency and environmental responsibility of the U.S. automaker, which is more closely associated with large SUVs or pickup trucks.

Not the way to mark the 100th anniversary of the company. If GM wants to be believed, they need to do more than flap their lips, run hopeful ads, and buy dinner for bloggers.

Federal Trade Commission reviews environmental marketing guidelines

With consumers becoming more and more concerned about greenwashing, the Federal Trade Commission has agreed to review its voluntary environmental marketing guidelines. Today the agency is holding a public forum addressing carbon offsets and renewable energy credits, the first in a series of workshops designed to review the guidelines, which have not been updated since […]

U.S. Supreme Court refuses Canadian company’s pollution suit appeal

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal from a Canadian mining company in a cross-border pollution case, in effect sustaining an earlier appeals court ruling holding the company liable for pollution under U.S. law. Just 10 miles north of the U.S. border in British Columbia, the mining company Teck Cominco has been […]

Green job planning for 2008

It’s a whole new year! A fresh canvas to paint on. The first page of the brilliant adventure story that will be your green career in 2008. An endless progression of dreary days with that pathetic guy in the next cubicle who spends half his time complaining and the other half in loud personal conversations […]

Ford Motor Co. unveils greener engine

Ford Motor Co. has unveiled a new engine technology with the unsubtle name of EcoBoost. Ford folks say the engine, which comes in both four-cylinder and six-cylinder, will deliver up to 20 percent better fuel economy, reduce CO2 emissions by 15 percent, pay for itself in fuel savings in less than three years, and, of […]

Consumer electronics event showcases green products

The annual Consumer Electronics Show kicked off in Las Vegas last night with tech products both glitzy and green. Laptop cases made from corn instead of petroleum products are on display, as well as devices that help electronics only suck electricity when being used, universal chargers, easily recyclable batteries, and solar-powered cell phone speakers. Sessions […]

Can economic democracy make the global economy more sustainable?

Worried about more coal plants, carbon emissions from transportation, and a crumbling infrastructure? Evidence provided by several recent reports point to one of the least explored causes of these problems: globalization, that is, the transfer of manufacturing capacity from developed to developing countries, particularly China.

The mechanisms differ. The U.S. and Europe, which could manufacture using environmentally benign techniques, instead use old, polluting technologies that wreck China's environment and increase global carbon emissions. The 70,000 cargo ships that ply the seas moving all of the globalized goods emit more than twice as much carbon as all airline traffic. And because major corporations no longer feel tied to their local communities, they also no longer lobby governments for a world-class infrastructure.

Now, I recently proposed that it would be a good thing to manufacture locally (and Ryan Avent took me to task for saying so). But what I want to propose is not protectionism, but the idea that if local companies were employee-owned and -operated, the problems I describe in this post would go away -- as utopian as that may first sound.

But first to the NYT article, "China Grabs West's Smoke-Spewing Factories":

Yogurt CEO blazes green path

Check out Joel Makower on Gary Hirshberg, founder and head of Stonyfield Yogurt. Stonyfield was bought by French food conglomerate Danone last year, at which I point my kneejerk dirty hippie-ism kicked in and I assumed they’d sold out. Apparently not, though: All of which further empowered Hirshberg to pursue, and align, his dual missions […]