Climate Technology
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Executive Carte Blanche
Chalk one up for Big Energy and its boosters in the White House. On Friday, the General Accounting Office abandoned its efforts to force Vice President Dick Cheney to turn over information about which people he met with while heading up the administration’s secretive energy task force. The GAO, Congress’s investigative arm, had been fighting […]
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A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Sustainability Go Down
The United Nations isn’t generally thought of as a marketing entity — but a little marketing savvy is just what’s needed to encourage sustainable consumption habits worldwide, according to the U.N. Environment Programme. Right now, the organization says, only 5 percent of people in developed countries maintain sustainable lifestyles, defined as “enjoying a good quality […]
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Taking a Smaller Bite Out of Grime
Polluting industries are getting off easy under the Bush administration, according to U.S. EPA data released yesterday by Rep. John Dingell (D-Mich.). In the two years since President Bush took office, civil penalties for breaking environmental laws dropped by almost 50 percent, to $55 million, while criminal penalties dropped by more than one-third, to $62 […]
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Brown Mountain State?
The Green Mountain State is looking less and less green every day: Vermont environmentalists are increasingly concerned about the fate of the state under new Republican Gov. Jim Douglas. So far, Douglas has proposed an 8 percent cut in the Natural Resources Agency budget, pledged to reexamine a plan to protect lands in the Northeast […]
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The Sub-way Continent
If ever there were a city that needed a good subway system, it is New Delhi, India, one of the world’s most populous (14 million) and most crowded metropolises. Now the city’s got just that, and everyone, from residents to foreigners, is amazed and thrilled by its success. Although the entire 62-mile, 90-station subway system […]
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Super-efficient Cheeseheads
Going green could save Wisconsin more than $225 million over the next two years, according to a coalition of state environmental groups. Yesterday, the groups released a “Green Budget” itemizing ways Wisconsin could save money while protecting the environment. One of the budget’s simplest recommendations — using more efficient lighting and turning off unused electronic […]
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Private Eyed
The Bush administration is considering privatizing about 70 percent of National Park Service jobs, according to the Interior Department. The jobs in question range from maintenance workers to secretaries to scientists. Law enforcement officers, managers, and most park rangers would not be affected. About 4 percent of current employees could lose their jobs. Interior Deputy […]
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Bottlestar Galactica
If Michigan environmentalists get their way, the state will dramatically expand its bottle law to cover 750 million additional beverage containers per year, including juice, water, and tea bottles that currently wind up as litter or in landfills. The state’s 1976 bottle law, which quickly cleaned up roadside litter, is both popular and successful. Every […]
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Membership Has Its Privileges
Joining the European Union comes at a price: The 10 nations that are poised to become members next year will have to spend up to $117 billion to meet the bloc’s 149 environmental regulations, according to E.U. Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom. For the mostly poor, formerly communist nations in question, that amounts to between 2 […]
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The Strong and Short of It
In a sign of increasing international concern about the ecological challenges posed by China, one of the world’s most prominent greens has moved to Beijing and set up shop as an environmental consultant. For more than three decades, Canadian Maurice Strong has been a major player in global diplomacy, environmental and otherwise; earlier this month, […]
