Climate Technology
All Stories
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
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 […]
-
Low Income, High Concept
Low-income housing starts going eco-friendly Low-income housing, built in part with money from a special program of federal tax credits, has traditionally been low-cost, low-quality, and low-appeal. But the Enterprise Foundation is trying to change that with its Green Communities Initiative, investing $550 million over five years toward 8,500 units of affordable housing built to […]
-
Suit of Harmer
Automakers sue California over greenhouse-gas emission regs The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers filed suit against California on Tuesday, charging that the state’s new regulations on greenhouse-gas emissions from vehicles (requiring a roughly 30 percent cut by 2016) amount to the imposition of new fuel-economy standards, which is the feds’ purview. The Schwarzenegger administration has pledged […]
-
Fond O’ Honda
Honda ranked as greenest automaker Of the six largest automakers selling vehicles in the U.S., Honda is the greenest, according to a new report from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Emissions from Honda’s 2003 vehicles amounted to less than half the industry average. Nissan, which ranked second, was the most improved in reducing emissions of […]
-
Put It in Neutral
HSBC pledges carbon neutrality U.K.-based banking company HSBC has announced a management plan aimed at reaching carbon neutrality by 2006. With 10,000 banks in 76 countries, HSBC estimates it will cost up to $7 million to account for the more than 600,000 tons of carbon dioxide the company adds to the atmosphere every year via […]
-
Up the Leak Without a Paddle
New documents point to Union Carbide culpability on Bhopal Since the Bhopal disaster in 1984, Union Carbide Corp. (UCC), owner of the leaking chemical plant, has denied responsibility, saying that its Indian subsidiary (Union Carbide India Limited, or UCIL) was solely responsible for the plant’s design and management. But newly uncovered documents cast doubt on […]
