Environment

Global Warming On Thin Ice?

by Ben Proffer

categories: Climate Change, Global Warming Deniers

Published February 09, 2010 @ 10:55AM PT

Scientists, like most people, don't particularly like giving bad news. If a scientist is lucky enough to work in a field like astronomy or quantum mechanics she rarely has to talk about anything that would affect the GDP. She gets to describe super novae happening billions of light years away, and you get to imagine it like a fire cracker in space. So pity the scientists of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, because they have much more difficult working conditions.

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Picking Energy Winners and Losers

by Cameron Scott

categories: Climate Change, Fossil Energy, Renewable Energy

Published February 08, 2010 @ 06:40PM PT

A common argument against government incentives for renewable energy is that the government shouldn't be in the business of picking winners and losers: solar or wind or geothermal? As one expert explained it to me, "Every incentive for one industry is basically a disincentive for another industry."

But what happens when the same people who argue against incentives for renewable energy and other developing green fields argue for incentives for nuclear power or, as was the case last week, oil and gas?

As Nikki wrote on this blog, Obama's proposed 2011 budget has some radical environmental maneuvers in it, the biggest of which to eighty-six the tax subsidies long given to oil and gas producers.

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Why aren't we doing more to protect no-carbon commuters?

by Mike Gaworecki

categories: cars and driving, Solutions And Geoengineering, Transportation

Published February 08, 2010 @ 05:05PM PT

Our car-obsessed culture is largely responsible for the outsized impact the U.S. has had on the climate. We represent less than 5 percent percent of the global population, yet we’re responsible for nearly 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. There seems to be a bit of an obesity epidemic in this country, from what I’ve heard. Biking and walking as a means of transportation are quick and easy ways to reduce emissions and shed a few pounds, so you’d think our elected officials would be doing more to promote them and ensure that bike and foot commuters are safe. But you’d be wrong.

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Lorax: I Speak for the Trees, Not for LoraxAG!

by chris santiago

categories: Coal, Fossil Energy

Published February 08, 2010 @ 02:15PM PT

What rhymes with "cease and desist"? Can't think of anything? Maybe that's why the folks at LoraxAG have suddenly gotten so quiet. (Go ahead, try their URL.)

A so-called "green coal" start-up based in Marlborough, Mass., LoraxAG recently found itself slapped with a cease-and-desist letter from Dr. Seuss Enterprises. Why? Well, besides the fact that coal goes against everything the Lorax stands for, the geniuses at LoraxAG never got around to asking for permission to use the name. Yoink!

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Vancouver: Environmental Hero or Gold-Medal Green-Washer?

by Ben Buchwalter

categories: Climate Change, Transportation

Published February 08, 2010 @ 01:15PM PT

There are three official pillars of the international olympic movement: sport, culture and sustainability. That last one might have surprised you.

Explaining those pillars, Vancouver's official Olympic website says that one of its goals is "raising awareness of environmental problems." The Vancouver Olympic Committee has made a point of raising awareness about environmental problems and implementing green practices. But does VANOC's environmental cred stop with awareness? Sort of, says a report released last week by a Canadian environmental group.

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Toppling BPA

by Cameron Scott

category: environmental health

Published February 08, 2010 @ 11:21AM PT

An avalanche of evidence is amassing that Bisphenol A, or BPA, is a serious health hazard.

To reproductive problems, behavioral problems, and increased risk of cancer, add asthma. A new study in Environmental Health Perspectives found that mice exposed in utero to concentrations of BPA comparable to what a human fetus could encounter were significantly more likely to have asthma.

The evidence is frighteningly suggestive, given that asthma rates have skyrocketed in the last couple of decades. Nearly 10 percent of all American children suffer from the disease, up from 8.7 percent just 8 years ago.

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Electric Cars and the Range Anxiety Problem

by Juan-Pablo Velez

category: Climate Change

Published February 08, 2010 @ 10:41AM PT

Picture this: you're cruising along in your electric car and the juice runs out. If you make it to a outlet, you'd better hope it's in a motel parking lot, because you're not going anywhere fast - a full charge on a standard outlet can easily take 8 hours.

This is the so-called range anxiety problem. Electric Vehicle (EV) enthusiasts call it the single biggest barrier to the mass adoption of EVs. According to the Department of Transportation, 80 percent of Americans drive less than 50 miles a day, a distance that several models can easily handle. But what about those rare longer trips?

The are three possible solutions to the problem - make the car go further, make the battery easy to swap out, or make it charge faster.

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