Climate Technology
All Stories
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A Nice Piece of Tailpipe
New Low-Polluting Cars to Hit U.S. Showrooms Next Month There are low-emission vehicles (LEVs), ultra-low-emission vehicles (ULEVs), super-ultra-low-emission vehicles (SULEVs), and the holy grail of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). As if the clean-car world weren’t baffling enough, now there’s a new acronym to add to this alphabet soup — partial zero-emission vehicles (PZEVs), which Ford and […]
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Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease
U.S. Companies More Mindful of Social Concerns Activists, take heart: It seems that the relentless pressure of boycotts, lawsuits, bad PR, and slow but steady cultural change is having an effect on corporate America. Companies doing business in the 21st century are beginning to listen to the social, health, and environmental concerns of their customers, […]
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A Chilly Reception
Environmentalists Concerned About Increase in Antarctic Tourism Not that long ago, the remote, inhospitable Antarctic would have seemed like an unlikely tourist destination. Now, though, with global tourism on the rise and far-flung places all the rage, tourism to the South Pole is growing rapidly — and possibly at the expense of the region’s environment. […]
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Take a Bite Out of Grime
New Jersey to Make Polluters Pay for Routine Contamination New Jersey is getting tough on polluters, and other states may have a lot to learn from the state’s approach. New Jersey officials say they will soon begin broadly enforcing a law that requires polluting industries to pay the cost of cleaning up their messes. Sounds […]
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Amazing Graze
Bill to Phase Out Grazing Gets Support from Enviros and Ranchers Environmentalists and ranchers alike are getting excited about a bill that would have the federal government pay ranchers to give up their rights to graze cattle and sheep on public lands in the West. The legislation, soon to be introduced in Congress by Rep. […]
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License to Drill
GOP Energy Bill Would Do a Big Favor for Halliburton A measure in a big Republican-backed energy bill would exempt from federal regulation a natural-gas-drilling procedure refined by Halliburton Co., the oil and gas services company previously headed by Vice President Dick Cheney. The process, called hydraulic fracturing, is used widely in Western states and […]
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Proto-cool
Russian Industries Back Kyoto Protocol Here’s an unlikely ally in the battle to combat global climate change: industrial polluters. A number of Russia’s largest gas and electric companies, steel mills, and metal smelters have begun lobbying their government to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, the international treaty on climate change. The companies are so interested in […]
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Turf Wars
Missouri, California Clash Over Air-Quality Plan A proposal to reduce air pollution from lawn mowers and other gas-powered outdoor equipment has set the stage for a battle between the staid Midwestern state of Missouri and the kooky Californians. To help deal with the Golden State’s chronic air-quality problem, the California Air Resources Board plans to […]
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Keeping tabs on the Bush administration’s environmental record
Just after George W. Bush took office, two memos circulated among his top administrators that set the stage for what the president, during his campaign, promoted as a new era of environmental policy. On Bush’s first day in office, January 20, 2001, White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card sent a memo to all cabinet […]
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Thirsty Hungary
Central Europe’s Largest Lake Is Shrinking According to legend, Hungary’s Lake Balaton is constantly replenished by a young girl weeping in a church in the middle of its waters. Now, though, Central Europe’s largest lake is shrinking, and experts say the problem isn’t a happier lake lady; it’s global warming. Following four hot summers in […]
