The Flawed Logic of the Cap-and-Trade Debate
Two prominent — and iconoclastic — environmentalists argue that current efforts to tax or cap carbon emissions are doomed to failure and that the answer lies not in making dirty energy expensive but in making clean energy cheap.
Nation’s First Feed-In Policy Fuels Solar Boom in Florida
While the renewable energy [...]
Guest post by Betsy Crowfoot
What sort of fantasy was this? My teenaged daughter – typically coifed, made-up, and wearing the latest of fashions; with her hair in a ponytail, donned in yellow overalls and rubber boots splattered with fish guts. The same child I had to beg and plead to clean her room; on her [...]
Chinese Ban on Plastic Bags Saves Oil
“Banning flimsy plastic bags has been dismissed as a drop in the ocean when it comes to dealing with the world’s environment problems, but multiplied on a China scale, it appears to have made a big difference.”
Recycling? Fuhgeddaboudit
Susan Burton takes an entertaining, sometimes disturbing but informative look at the [...]
Is it possible to help and preserve the natural world, without setting a toe outside your door? Perhaps you have some time, Internet access, and a burning desire to make a difference in the world, but your “spare” time is late at night, or you just can’t factor travel into the equation. Many organizations are [...]
US President Barack Obama is expected to introduce new, national standards for reducing automobile emissions and improving fuel efficiency today, thanks to a milestone agreement that has broad support among environmentalists, the auto industry and consumers.
Under the new rules, passenger car efficiency will reportedly increase from the current 27.5 miles per gallon (mpg) to 42 [...]
Active development and deployment of businesses and technologies geared towards sustainable development and climate change practices are becoming more vital to the global economy and individual state of living.Â
Mobilizing and re-focusing the global economy towards investments in clean technologies and ‘natural’ infrastructure such as forests and soils is the best bet for real growth, combating [...]
The World’s Most Efficient Windmill?
A teenager from rural Malawi uses scraps and bicycle parts to build a wind turbine that powers his family’s farm — and captures the attention of the TED Global Conference.
Green, Prefab “i-house” Hits the Market
The prefabricated “i-house” combines energy efficiency, style, customizable layout and a modest price for the ecologically-conscious home [...]
Plant Conservation Day and World Biological Diversity Day stand together as reminders of the multifaceted interrelationship of all living things.
Plant Conservation Day, May 18th
Plant Conservation Day provides a wonderful incentive to celebrate and explore the momentous importance of plants, their fundamental place in our lives, and our role in their conservation.
Plants form the foundation of [...]
Extreme weather events in the Arctic will become more common as the winter ice cover retreats, with potentially severe consequences for human activity, says the Sweden-based Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research (BCCR).
One of the most visible signs of climate change is the dramatically reduced ice cover in the Arctic. The retreat of the sea ice [...]
Plant and forestry waste and dedicated energy crops could sustainably replace nearly a third of gasoline use by the year 2030, according to an in-depth study by Sandia National Laboratories and General Motors Corporation called “The 90 Billion Gallon Study.”
Researchers assessed the feasibility, implications, limitations, and enablers of annually producing 90 billion gallons of ethanol [...]
Reducing Cow Emissions
University of Alberta researchers have identified genetic and dietary factors that could reduce by 25 percent the amount of methane gas produced by cattle. Greenhouse emissions from cows are no laughing matter — cattle in Canada are estimated to produce 72 percent of the country’s total methane emissions.
Milder Winters Causing 17-Year Cicadas to [...]
This week is International Compost Awareness Week — really!
International Compost Awareness Week (ICAW), established in 1995, promotes awareness about the importance of this valuable organic resource. ICAW takes place this year from May 3-9. This year’s theme is “Compost!…Recycling The Way Nature Meant It To Be.” In nature, compost just happens. Leaves, plant debris, dead [...]
