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Well done UK Govt: Committing to an ambitious carbon budget

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 17 May 2011 in Air Quality

by Greg Lavery, Ph.D. Yesterday (17 May) the UK government committed to a 50% reduction on 1990 greenhouse gas emission levels by 2025. This is very good for the development of the UK’s green economy and honours the recommendations of the Independent Committee on Climate Change. It represents anoth...

World’s Smallest Whale Population Endangered For Extinction

Posted by grant on Tuesday, 17 May 2011 in Wildlife Conservation

In a study released recently, the world’s smallest group of whale population known as Eubalaena japonica has its population dwindled to almost extinction. The Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska once teemed with tens of thousands of North Pacific right whales. But hunting in the 19th century wi...

Top U.S. Scientists "Global Warming. Really. We Are Not Kidding."

Posted by EarthDude on Monday, 16 May 2011 in Climate Change

by Adam Frank Last week the National Research Council, one the nation's leading scientific bodies, published yet another report on the current state of climate research. What was newsworthy about this effort was the degree to which (from my perspective) the nation's best scientists seemed to ...

An overview of the conventional energy system and the problems associated with it.

Posted by peter.gephart@gmail.com on Monday, 16 May 2011 in Energy Efficiency

The following is the introduction of my Capstone project, titled "The Sustainable Energy Utility: What Delaware developed and if it is possible or necessary for Colorado," which was completed for my Master's degree in November 2010. It also has the Thesis statement to form a better understanding of ...

Calling all artists: The climate movement needs you!

Posted by plantitfilm on Friday, 13 May 2011 in Arts and Entertainment

Throughout history, artists have joined forces with political movements to battle injustice and demand a better and more beautiful world. Picasso's "Guernica" captured the horrors of the German bombing of civilians in 1937. "Solidarity Forever," "We Shall Overcome," and "Give Peace a Chance"...

Tough Rules Have Made Our Air Cleaner

Posted by henryfool on Thursday, 12 May 2011 in Air Quality

May ushered in smog season and metro Atlanta had its first code orange alert Monday. We’ve made tremendous progress improving our air quality, but serious challenges remain, particularly with respect to elevated ozone levels. Since the passage of the Clean Air Act amendments in 1970, emissi...

The Emerging Market for Small Renewables in California

Posted by Wolf on Wednesday, 11 May 2011 in Sustainable Development

The long battle between public and private power is flaring up again. California is the hot spot because the state legislature has lined up on the side of Community Choice Aggregation (CCA), a form of public power lite in which communities choose power sources but distribution is left to t...

Biomass Energy – Mixed Signals

Posted by plantitfilm on Wednesday, 11 May 2011 in Biofuels

Standing in front of 200 New Hampshire loggers on a cold night last February, it was my job to explain electricity markets and why biomass power projects are facing a tough time. For these guys, it wasn't an academic discussion of the influence of natural gas prices on wholesale power prices...

Quebec to Spend Billions to Develop Northern Regions

Posted by plantitfilm on Monday, 09 May 2011 in Mining

By IAN AUSTENQuebec province, anticipating continued strong growth for its natural resources, has rolled out an ambitious 25-year plan to develop its vast but sparsely settled northern and Arctic regions. The region is well endowed with mineral resources, woodlands and potential hydroelectric devel...

On Mother’s Day, Hundreds of Events for iMatter March

Posted by henryfool on Monday, 09 May 2011 in General Environment

In 25 countries on five continents, the next generation of youth climate activists are participating in the iMatter march by taking to the streets and to the courts to demand action. Here at It’s Getting Hot in Here, we have seen a youth climate movement explode in Montreal, g...

The Return of ‘Drill, Baby, Drill’

Posted by Wolf on Monday, 09 May 2011 in Fossil Fuels

With the country again facing $4-a-gallon gasoline, the time would seem ripe for a grown-up conversation on energy. What we are getting instead is a mindless rerun of the drill-baby-drill operatics of the 2008 campaign, when gas was also at $4 a gallon. Then, as now, opportunistic politicians insist...

A solid grasp of the wind

Posted by bchristo on Sunday, 08 May 2011 in Wind

Company keeps track of far-flung energyBy RONNIE CROCKER When the wind shifts in Sarita, they know about it on the 40th floor at 1600 Smith in downtown Houston. Same thing when lightning strikes in Northern California or threatens the Canadian plains of south-central Manitoba. This isn't idle goss...

Man-made rock reef is part of a welcome seaweed change

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 08 May 2011 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Three years ago, Southern California Edison pushed basketball-size rocks from a barge off San Clemente. Little did the utility realize that the kelp reef it created would thrive the way it has, or as quickly. By Tony Barboza It was a gamble when Southern California Edison crews pushed basketball-s...

US ranks 17 as clean tech producer, China is No. 2

Posted by Aaron on Sunday, 08 May 2011 in Clean Technology

By ARTHUR MAXAssociated Press AMSTERDAM (AP) -- Denmark earns the biggest share of its national revenue from producing windmills and other clean technologies, the United States is rapidly expanding its clean-tech sector, but no country can match China's pace of growth, according to a new report obt...

Climate change curbs crops

Posted by henryfool on Sunday, 08 May 2011 in Agriculture

Warming has already lowered yields of wheat and corn. Nicola Jones Farmers have produced less food during the past three decades than they would have done were climate change not happening, according to a study published today1. Global maize (corn) production, for example, is estimated to be about...

Thousands rally in Japan against nuclear power

Posted by Aaron on Saturday, 07 May 2011 in Earth Violators

by Harumi Ozawa Thousands of people rallied in Japan Saturday to demand a shift away from nuclear power after an earthquake and tsunami sparked the world's worst atomic crisis since Chernobyl a quarter-century ago. Braving spring drizzle, thousands of demonstrators gathered at a park in Tokyo's Sh...

Fish Hooks Designed to Avoid the Wrong Catch

Posted by bchristo on Saturday, 07 May 2011 in Fishing

MOST angling gear is designed to hold onto fish. But some new equipment is fine-tuned to be more selective — holding tight to some fish and letting go of others, especially if they are Atlantic bluefin tuna — a fish whose numbers have fallen sharply. Starting this month, commercial fishing vessels ...

Frack and ruin: the rise of hydraulic fracturing

Posted by plantitfilm on Saturday, 07 May 2011 in Fossil Fuels

Inflammable tap water, cancer threats and earthquakes: probably coming soon, near you. Sebastian Doggart reports from New York on the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking'. Go to your nearest tap. Light a match, and place it next to the running water. If it catches fire, as it has in many ...

World's Farmers Feel The Effects Of A Hotter Planet

Posted by henryfool on Saturday, 07 May 2011 in Agriculture

by Richard Harris Scientists have long predicted that — eventually — temperatures and altered rainfall caused by global climate change will take a toll on four of the most important crops in the world: rice, wheat soy and corn. Now, as world grain prices hover near record highs, a new study finds ...

Gray Wolf Removed From Endangered Species List

Posted by Wolf on Friday, 06 May 2011 in Wildlife Conservation

The 1,300 gray wolves in the Rocky Mountain region are considered recovered and are losing federal protection. The U.S. government said Wednesday it is formally removing about 1,300 gray wolves in the Rocky Mountain region from the endangered species list, acting on the orders o...