Alaska’s Pebble Mine: <br />Fish Versus Gold

Report

Alaska’s Pebble Mine:
Fish Versus Gold

by bill sherwonit
With the support of Gov. Sarah Palin, mining interests have defeated an Alaska ballot measure that could have blocked a huge proposed mining project. Now, plans are moving forward to exploit the massive gold and copper deposit at the headwaters of Bristol Bay, site of one of the world’s greatest salmon runs.


08 Sep 2008 | Comments | READ MORE

 
Solar and Wind Power <br />Held Hostage – Again

Opinion

Solar and Wind Power
Held Hostage – Again

by denis hayes
Congress has repeatedly failed to extend the tax credits for renewable energy, which expire at the end of this year. The gridlock is discouraging investment in renewables and jeopardizing major solar and wind projects throughout the country.
02 Sep 2008 | Comments (14) | READ MORE


A Reality Check on <br />the Pickens Energy Plan

Analysis

A Reality Check on
the Pickens Energy Plan

by vaclav smil
Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens has always been one to think big. But his sweeping 10-year energy plan for America faces obstacles that may be insurmountable.
25 Aug 2008 | Comments (4) | READ MORE


The U.S. and China: <br />Common Ground on Climate

Opinion

The U.S. and China:
Common Ground on Climate

by orville schell
The crackdown on dissent surrounding the Beijing Olympics has been a reminder of China’s lingering authoritarianism. Yet for all our differences, the U.S. and China — the world’s two largest emitters of carbon dioxide — have no choice but to work together to tackle climate change.
18 Aug 2008 | Comments (2) | READ MORE


Opinion

Has the Population Bomb Been Defused?

by fred pearce

Paul Ehrlich still believes that overpopulation imperils the Earth’s future. But the good news is we are approaching a demographic turning point: Birth rates have been falling dramatically, and population is expected to peak later this century — after that, for the first time in modern history, the world's population should actually start to decline.

11 Aug 2008 | Comments (6) | READ MORE


Too Many People, <br />Too Much Consumption

Opinion

Too Many People,
Too Much Consumption

by paul r. ehrlich and anne h. ehrlich
Four decades after his controversial book, The Population Bomb, scientist Paul Ehrlich still believes that overpopulation — now along with overconsumption — is the central environmental crisis facing the world. And, he insists, technological fixes will not save the day.
04 Aug 2008 | Comments (28) | READ MORE


Report

Solar's Time Has Finally Arrived

by jon r. luoma
After years of optimistic predictions and false starts, it looks like solar's moment is here at last. Analysts say a pattern of rapid growth, technological breakthroughs, and falling production costs has put solar power on the brink of becoming the world's dominant electricity source.
28 Jul 2008 | Comments (12) | READ MORE


Report

China’s New Environmental Advocates

by christina larson
Until recently, the idea of environmental advocacy was largely unheard of in China. But that’s changing rapidly. At a legal aid center based in Beijing, Xu Kezhu and her colleagues are helping pollution victims stand up for their rights. The second in a series on Chinese environmentalists.
21 Jul 2008 | Comments (6) | READ MORE


Analysis

Coal's New Technology:
Panacea or Risky Gamble?

by jeff goodell
The coal industry, political leaders, and some environmentalists have high hopes for the concept of carbon sequestration, which takes carbon dioxide emissions from coal plants and buries them underground. But so far, this new technology does not live up to the hype.
14 Jul 2008 | Comments (8) | READ MORE


The Arctic Resource Rush is On

Report

The Arctic Resource Rush is On

by ed struzik
As the Arctic's sea ice melts, energy and mining companies are moving into previously inaccessible regions to tap the abundant riches that lie beneath the permafrost and the ocean floor. The potential environmental impacts are troubling.
10 Jul 2008 | Comments (7) | READ MORE


As Big Sugar Leaves the Scene, <br />Hope at Last for the Everglades

Analysis

As Big Sugar Leaves the Scene,
Hope at Last for the Everglades

by michael grunwald
The land deal between the state of Florida and U.S. Sugar is even sweeter than advertised. If it goes through, it may make the once-improbable restoration of the Everglades a glorious reality.
07 Jul 2008 | Comments (1) | READ MORE


Interview

Michael Pollan on What's
Wrong with Environmentalism

In an interview with Yale Environment 360, best-selling author Michael Pollan talks about biofuels and the food crisis, the glories of grass-fed beef, and why environmentalists must look beyond wilderness to sustainability.audio
26 Jun 2008 | Comments (13) | READ MORE


e360 digest

08 Sep 2008: Sea Levels Could Rise
Six Feet by 2100, New Study Says

Melting glaciers and ice sheets are likely to increase sea levels by 2.6 feet (80 centimeters) to 6.2 feet (two meters) by the end of this century, according to a new study in the journal Science. That is considerably higher than the forecast of 2 feet (60 centimeters) by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. A sea-level increase of 6 feet would have profound impacts, inundating large areas of Bangladesh, Florida, and other low-lying regions. Still, W. Tad Pfeffer of the University of Colorado, Boulder, estimated that 6 feet was the upper limit of sea-level rise this century and that forecasts of a 10-foot rise by 2100 would require glaciers to melt and slide into the sea far faster than is occurring. The IPCC acknowledged its estimates were conservative and did not take into account increases from sections of land-based ice sheets breaking off, forming icebergs that eventually melt. Pfeffer and his colleagues factored this into their calculations as they studied sea-level rise from melting and fracturing ice sheets in Greenland and West Antarctica, as well as from melting glaciers.
PERMALINK

 

05 Sep 2008: World Heritage Status
Proposed for Iraqi Marshlands

The ancient marshes of southeast Iraq — nearly drained during Saddam Hussein’s rule and partly restored since his fall — should be recognized as an ecologically and culturally significant World Heritage Site, the United Nations said. The U.N. Environment Programme and the Iraqi government plan to apply for World Heritage status for the Marshlands of Mesopotamia, which covered close to 3,500 square miles in the early 1970s but had shrunk to less than 300 square miles by 2002. Fed by the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, the wetlands were home to the historic Marsh Arab communities as well as abundant birds, fish, and other wildlife. After Saddam’s ouster, local residents tore down some dams, restoring more than half the wetlands, the Iraqi government says. The UNEP has spent $14 million helping to rejuvenate the marshes by planting pollution-filtering reeds and providing drinking water to locals.
PERMALINK

 

05 Sep 2008: U.S. Will Cut Emissions
From Lawn Mowers and Motor Boats

After years of delay, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued tougher pollution limits for lawn mowers, weed trimmers, motor boats, and other small engines. EPA estimates that its new rules, which take effect in 2010 and 2011, will eliminate millions of tons of smog-producing pollution and greenhouse gases, preventing 300 premature deaths a year and producing public health benefits valued at between $1.6 billion and $4.4 billion annually by 2030. Because they lack catalytic converters, riding mowers currently emit 34 times as much pollution per hour as cars. The revamped engines will also be more fuel-efficient. California adopted similar requirements several years ago, but Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., sponsored legislation blocking other states from following suit. EPA’s action, delayed for three years, comes after small-engine manufacturers agreed they could meet the standards. The move, said one environmental activist, will mean “less summertime smog and healthier air for millions of kids.”
PERMALINK

 

05 Sep 2008: PCBs and DDT Threaten Arctic Gull

Long-lasting industrial pollutants are threatening the ivory gull, a small Arctic bird, Norwegian scientists report. The Norwegian Polar Institute found record levels of PCBs and the pesticide DDT in ivory gull eggs collected off northern Norway and Russia. Arctic levels of many persistent pollutants — which accumulate in the environment and in the body fat of birds, fish, and mammals — have declined in recent years. But Canada’s ivory gull population has reportedly dropped by 80 percent, triggering the Norwegian survey. A Polar Institute scientist explained the ivory gulls’ heavy toxic burden by noting that, as predators and scavengers, they are high on the food chain. In another threat, the birds’ habitat is shrinking along with Arctic sea ice.
PERMALINK

 

04 Sep 2008: Chemical in Plastic Damages Monkeys and Human Tissue, Studies Find

A chemical found in hard plastics, like baby bottles and Nalgene-style water bottles, interferes with monkeys’ moods and brain function, a Yale University study has concluded. The Yale study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, marks the first time the chemical, bisphenol A, has been connected to health problems in primates. In a separate experiment on adult human tissue, researchers from the University of Cincinnati found that low doses of bisphenol A suppressed a hormone that protects against obesity and diabetes. Also this week, the National Toxicology Program reaffirmed a draft report citing “some concern” that bisphenol A could cause reproductive and brain development damage in children. Bisphenol A, or BPA, is widely used in food and beverage containers, and small amounts are routinely found in the human body. An endocrine disruptor that mimics natural hormones, BPA has been shown to cause reproductive problems in rodents. The chemical industry and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, however, maintain BPA’s effects on primates are unproven. The Yale and Cincinnati studies both found ill effects at doses the EPA deems safe.
PERMALINK

 

04 Sep 2008: Carbon Trading Comes to Africa

Africa, which emits only a tiny fraction of the world’s greenhouse gases, can nonetheless play a role in slowing global warming. That’s the claim of governments and investors who are meeting this week at the Africa Carbon Forum in Senegal. Convened by the United Nations and the International Emissions Trading Association, the forum aims to pair clean-energy projects in developing countries with investors who want to earn carbon credits to offset their pollution elsewhere. Proposals in search of money include a wind farm in Senegal, an Ivory Coast biofuel project, and a solar university in Nigeria. “Although Africa is tiny in terms of its contributing to the problem, it can potentially make a huge contribution to the solution,” said Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Convention on Climate Change. But critics allege "greenwashing," saying some African carbon-credit projects are unnecessary or environmentally harmful.
PERMALINK

 
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