Climate Technology

The Slush of Mount Kilimanjaro

Many favorite vacation spots around the world are threatened by global warming. For example, the snow atop Mount Kilimanjaro may be around for just 15 more years and the glaciers in Glacier National Park in Montana may last just 70 more, according to recent studies. Would you like to travel to an uncomfortably hot and […]

Victor Victorious

Mexico’s environmental minister, Victor Lichtinger, is trying to slow down sprawl by actually enforcing environmental laws on the books. For example, he has closed or suspended 19 hotel and condo developments, including a 1,400-room complex that would have been built alongside a federally protected sea turtle sanctuary in Cancun. Lichtinger said his moves were meant […]

Fly the Friendly Skies?

350 million — number of pounds of smog-producing chemicals (nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds) released by planes landing and taking off from U.S. airports in 1993 200 million to 600 million — number of gallons of wastewater created each year from airplane deicing 219 — number of volatile organic chemicals found in the air […]

Boxy but Good

Greenpeace and the small London-based group Families Against Bush are using consumer pressure to try to embarrass corporations into supporting the Kyoto treaty on climate change. Earlier this summer, the groups put the heat on Ford by highlighting a rift between the U.S. automaker and its Swedish subsidiary Volvo. Volvo publicly supports Kyoto; Ford does […]

Give a Hoot, Don't Commute

The U.S. Transportation Department launched a new campaign yesterday to reduce pollution and encourage telecommuting by offering smog-emissions credits to companies that get more employees to work from home. Under a two-year pilot program, businesses that earn the credits will be able to swap them for air-quality requirements or sell them to other companies. The […]

In for a Penny, in for a Pound

Assets of socially responsible funds grew five times faster than those of other funds over the past three decades, according to a report released last week by Pax World Funds. The funds focus on different issues, screening out companies with poor records in areas like the environment, diversity, and health. Pax World said the assets […]

Coughing Up the Dough

In the latest victory for residents suffering from pollution-related health problems in a Japanese city, 10 companies agreed today to pay $12.2 million to 260 locals who went to court to protest emissions from the companies’ factories. The out-of-court settlement ends a 12-year dispute in which the Nagoya residents contended that the factory emissions and […]

You Light Up My Cubicle

Data Dump

State officials in the Pacific Northwest are searching for ways to reduce the amount of high-tech waste ending up in landfills. The waste in Oregon has more than doubled since 1998, and it can be nasty stuff — computer monitors and televisions contain four to eight pounds of lead each. The officials are considering a […]

Fund for the Whole Family

To help fund its operations, the Sierra Club may start a mutual fund to invest in companies that pass a strict green test. The group’s executive director, Carl Pope, said the fund would use a tougher investment screen than most other mutual funds marketed as being environmentally responsible. The fund would be managed by an […]