Climate Technology
All Stories
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Re-Bay
eBay joins tech companies to launch electronics recycling program Wondering what to do with that old Commodore 64 or Macintosh II gathering dust in your basement? According to an eBay survey, you’re not alone — some 50 percent of American households have unwanted PCs in storage. That’s why the online auction giant has launched an […]
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Father of the Bribe
Monsanto agrees to pay $1.5 million in penalties for Indonesian bribes When agrochemical giant Monsanto’s bid to introduce genetically modified cotton to Indonesia was met with widespread protests from farmers and activists, it bribed a government official in order to avoid having an environmental impact study conducted on its GM crop. Yesterday Monsanto agreed to […]
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The Next Asbestos Thing
Specter pushing asbestos-claims bill that would create trust fund Amid a continuing flood of lawsuits against the allegedly cancer-causing asbestos industry, the new chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), has drafted a bill to try to stem the flow. Specter’s legislation would establish a trust fund into which asbestos companies would pay […]
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Turn on, Tune in, Drop Out
ConocoPhillips withdraws from Arctic Refuge lobbying group ConocoPhillips, the third-largest energy company in the U.S., has withdrawn from Arctic Power, a lobbying group the sole purpose of which is to convince Congress to allow oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The company is playing down what it calls “merely a business decision,” saying […]
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Harmer’s Market
Energy execs vacation with Bush admin officials — innocently, of course High-level Bush administration environmental officials and members of Congress are canoodling with energy execs at a posh resort in Arizona this week, discussing policy over golf, wine, and canapes. They are, of course, shocked — shocked! — at the implication that anything untoward, like, […]
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Traders to the Cause
E.U. launches mandatory carbon-trading market With the new year began a “new era for European business,” according to Peter Koster, head of the fledgling European Climate Exchange, the world’s first mandatory market for carbon emissions trading. Under the Kyoto Protocol, ratified in October and set to go into force in February, the European Union agreed […]
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Something Old, Something Newmont
Mining giant Newmont continues to juggle pollution claims and lawsuits The last two weeks have seen a continued flurry of activity surrounding charges that mining giant Newmont fouled the environment and sickened villagers around its operations in Indonesia’s Buyat Bay. The New York Times revealed a 2001 internal memo from a Newmont VP recommending a […]
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An interview with John Mackey, founder of Whole Foods
John Mackey wants you to buy his organic squash. He’s the Bill Gates of organic foods. John Mackey, founder and CEO of the Whole Foods empire, started his original health-food store, called Safer Way, in a garage in Austin, Texas, in 1978. Local farmers would drop off produce from junky old pickups, hippie bakers would […]
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A Post Whipping
Newmont Mining Corp. accused of environmental misdeeds across the globe The Denver Post has put together an extensive two-part investigative series on Denver-based precious-metal giant Newmont Mining Corp., detailing questionable environmental practices at a number of the corporation’s mining operations worldwide. Among the findings: Newmont violated water-quality standards in Nevada, operated illegally without required environmental […]
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Royally Screwed
Oil production takes heavy toll on Nigerian villagers In the oil-rich Niger Delta, an area that produces nearly all of Nigeria’s 2.5 million barrels of oil a day, environmental degradation and political and class conflict are the prices of development. While a booming oil business has generated billions of dollars each year for the Nigerian […]
