Snippets from the news
• Highway repair fund, paid for with gas-tax revenue, is nearly depleted.
• Want to put stinkweed in your tank?
• Climate change could harm giant sequoias.
• Engineers unveil new generation of tidal turbines.
• Power outages from hurricanes hamper gasoline production.
• Iraqi marshes thought to be site of Garden of Eden will be a World Heritage Site.
&bull Pyrenees glaciers may melt by 2050.
Cameroon and Nigeria team up to protect endangered gorilla
Cameroon and Nigeria will partner up to protect the world's most endangered gorilla under an agreement facilitated by the Wildlife Conservation Society. Only some 300 Cross River gorillas remain, all of which live only in those two Central African countries. Gorilla gorilla diehli is threatened by illegal logging, agricultural conversion of its habitat, and poaching for the bushmeat trade. Cameroon and Nigeria will work to increase monitoring of the gorillas, educate and involve surrounding communities in conservation, and improve law enforcement.
source: Mongabay
Ford won't sell 65-mpg diesel car in U.S.
The Ford Fiesta ECOnetic, a small, sporty five-seater that gets an impressive 65 miles per gallon, will the hit the road in November -- but only in Europe. "We just don't think North and South America would buy that many diesel cars," says Ford America President Mark Fields. The new generation of diesel cars, which are dramatically cleaner than old-school diesels and are at least 30 percent more fuel-efficient than gas-powered vehicles, haven't managed to shake Americans' longstanding aversion to the fuel: only 3 percent of cars in the U.S. are diesel-powered. But other automakers are betting that Americans can be swayed. Mercedes-Benz will by next year have three diesel vehicles on the market, and a handful of other automakers will introduce diesel models to the U.S. in 2010.
source: BusinessWeek
see also, in Gristmill: Diesels will outsell hybrids in the U.S. by 2012, says report
see also, in Grist: Umbra advises on converting your diesel car to biodiesel and straight veggie oil, and discusses diesel hybrids
Germany opens world's first carbon-capturing 'clean coal' demo plant
Germany will next week open the world's first "clean coal" plant actually ready to capture and store its carbon-dioxide emissions. The 30-megawatt, $100 million Schwarze Pumpe demonstration plant will burn coal in an atmosphere of oxygen instead of regular air, producing some 10 tons per hour of compressed CO2 that can be captured and buried under a depleted gas field. (Such "oxyfuel combustion" technology is different from the integrated gasification combined cycle systems being pursued in the U.S.) While the project is a step forward for "clean coal," a full-scale system is many years and many dollars away. By the by, "clean coal" is both oxymoronic and plain ol' moronic; as one Greenpeace activist sums up, "Our concern is that this technology is used to justify the construction of more coal power plants. It's too expensive, it will come too late, and it will divert money from the real solutions, renewable energies and energy efficiency." Not to mention that whole leveling-mountains thing.
sources: Earth2Tech, Scientific American, BBC News, The Guardian
Half of GM's manufacturing plants to go "landfill-free" by 2010
Automaker GM is planning to make half of its 181 manufacturing plants worldwide "landfill-free" by 2011 through initiatives to reuse or recycle some 90 percent of its waste, according to USA Today. The not-reused, not-recycled portion of the waste would potentially be incinerated to produce energy. GM has yet to formally announce the program, but USA Today reports that the company already has 10 "landfill-free" plants in operation and a spokesperson told the paper that another 80 plants will likely meet the no-landfill-waste goal sometime in 2010. GM, along with other U.S. automakers, has been struggling financially lately as high gasoline prices have substantially curtailed SUV sales that had been a central part of its business model. Automakers that have focused on offering greener vehicles, such as Honda and Toyota, have lately fared much better than GM whose green-car offerings are still quite slim. However, GM has focused its efforts on developing one green car, the Chevy Volt, a plug-in hybrid slated for release sometime in the next few years when battery technology catches up to GM's design.
source: USA Today
BLM finalizes plan for leasing oil shale in U.S. West
The U.S. Bureau of Land Management has finalized plans to open some 1.9 million acres of public lands in Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming to oil-shale development, a necessary step on the road to tapping the vast reserves. The technology for turning oil shale into usable crude oil is energy-intensive and heavily polluting, but the Bush administration has pushed to clear the way for exploiting U.S. oil-shale deposits in the name of energy independence; oil-shale deposits in the three states could hold up to 800 billion barrels of recoverable oil. However, the processes for developing oil-shale deposits are still largely in the experimental stage so the full extent of the process's impacts on air quality, water quality, and wildlife in the area are as yet poorly understood. Environmentalists and Democrats in the region criticized the BLM's plan as misguided and premature. "Finalizing an environmental impact statement without any clear understanding of the environmental, community, economic, and energy impacts of commercial-scale oil shale development is irresponsible, short-sighted, and premature," said Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter (D).
sources: The Daily Sentinel, Post Independent, Rocky Mountain News, Denver Post
Snippets from the news
• BLM releases plan for opening public land to oil-shale development.
• What are the effects of public participation on environmental policymaking?
• Media ignores Energy Dept. data when reporting on drilling.
• Chile reforms salmon farms.
• U.S. now world leader in wind electricity generation.
• California prepares for water crisis.
EPA requires emissions cuts by lawn mowers and speedboats
Gas-powered lawn mowers and speedboat engines will be cleaner under new regulations announced Thursday by the U.S. EPA. By 2011, engines in new lawn and garden equipment must emit 35 percent less smog-forming emissions, and recreational watercraft must cut emissions 70 percent by 2010. "EPA's new small engine standards will allow Americans to cut air pollution as well as grass," says ever-hilarious EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson. While small engines may seem, well, small, they contribute 15 percent of the nation's smog-forming emissions. The public-health benefits of cleaning 'em up "outweigh estimated costs by at least eight to one," notes EPA, "while preventing over 300 premature deaths, 1,700 hospitalizations, and 23,000 lost workdays annually." The regulations would likely have been implemented years ago if not for strenuous opposition from Missouri Sen. Kit Bond (R), whose state is home to the nation's largest small-engine manufacturer.
sources: Associated Press, EPA, Environmental Defense Fund
see also, in Grist: Umbra advises on lawn mowers
Under pressure from Big Canned Tuna, FDA lax in mercury regulation
Under strong pressure from Big Canned Tuna, the Food and Drug Administration is crazily lax in regulating mercury in tuna. Among many examples: In 2000, a draft advisory to pregnant women listed canned tuna as a product highly contaminated with mercury; after FDA officials met with the three largest tuna companies, the final advisory left tuna off the list. When the FDA's fish mercury guidelines were revised in 2003, canned light tuna was put in the low-mercury group -- mainly, according to an FDA official, "in order to keep the market share at a reasonable level." The FDA doesn't require warnings in stores or on tuna cans, issuing advisories mainly through doctor's-office brochures. However, a recent appeals-court decision could open the door to allowing states to mandate warning labels on tuna -- a prospect opposed by both the tuna industry and, sadly, the agency tasked with regulating Americans' food and drugs.
source: Mother Jones
see also, in Grist: Study finds excessive mercury in 20 percent of women of childbearing age
Honda rolls out new cheap hybrid with familiar name
At the Paris International Auto Show next month, Honda will unveil a prototype of its new low-cost hybrid: the Insight. A lot has changed since 1999, when the company debuted the first hybrid to hit American roads: the, um, Insight. Has Honda exhausted its supply of car names? Nay, says the company: "The name Insight was chosen to denote Honda's 'insight' into a new era in which hybrid vehicles come within reach of most car buyers." Indeed, when the new Insight hits showrooms in spring 2009, it's expected to be priced around $18,500; the base retail price for the 2009 Toyota Prius is $22,000. Honda officials are so far mum on the Insight's expected fuel economy. With its five-door, five-passenger offering, Honda hopes to gain ground on Toyota in the hybrid market, but it has a ways to go: Toyota sold some 280,000 hybrids in the first seven months of 2008, while Honda sold about that many hybrids in the past decade.
sources: CNNMoney.com, Jalopnik, Reuters, Consumer Reports, The Telegraph
see also, in Grist: Honda reports surprise first-quarter profit, Honda produces new fuel-cell car
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Chomsky on Obama
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| Added:7 months ago, in category: |
| From:niccolo |
| Comments:0 / Views:857 |
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See the world in you
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| Added:5 months ago, in category:permaculture |
| From:EcoBurb |
| Comments:0 / Views:27 |
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Money as Debt
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| Added:7 months ago, in category: |
| From:niccolo |
| Comments:0 / Views:27 |
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The End of Suburbia
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| Added:5 months ago, in category:permaculture |
| From:niccolo |
| Comments:0 / Views:23 |
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Real UFO's
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| Added:3 months ago, in category:permaculture |
| From:EcoBurb |
| Comments:0 / Views:16 |
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Nimbin - Hippie Dorf
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| Added:4 months ago, in category:permaculture |
| From:EcoBurb |
| Comments:0 / Views:12 |
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the classic piece that was the audiovisual epiphany for many. still remains the standard to match for av cutup. ninjatune rool!
Added:3 months ago, in category:permaculture |
| From:EcoBurb |
| Comments:0 / Views:201 |
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This is a short segment of Bill Mollison speaking about Permaculture.
Added:5 months ago, in category:permaculture |
| From:EcoBurb |
| Comments:0 / Views:61 |
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Permaculture guru David Holgrem filmed in NZ in... (more)
Added: January 14, 2008
Permaculture guru David Holgrem filmed in NZ in 2007. This is part one of his vision for retrofitting the suburbs for the coming energy descent.
Added:5 months ago, in category:permaculture |
| From:niccolo |
| Comments:0 / Views:36 |
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David Holmgren is co-originator (with Bill Mollison) of the permaculture concept and author of the recent book, PERMACULTURE: Principles and Pathways Beyond Sustainability. He talks about the need to move beyond the lulling hope that 'green tech' breakthroughs will allow world-wide 'sustainable consumption' to the recognition that dwindling oil supplies inevitably mean a mandatory 'energy descent' for human civilization across the planet. He argues that permaculture principles provide the best guide to a peaceful societal 'powering down."
Added:5 months ago, in category:permaculture |
| From:niccolo |
| Comments:0 / Views:30 |
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"We're literally stuck up a cul-de-sac in a cement SUV without a fill-up" - James Howard Kunstler
Are today's suburbs destined to become the slums of tomorrow? A 78-minute documentary about the end of the age of cheap oil.
Added:5 months ago, in category:permaculture |
| From:niccolo |
| Comments:0 / Views:23 |
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The End of Suburbia is a must see documentary about peak oil, arguing that it spells a hard crash for the suburban dream. David Holmgren here offers a counterview, a vision of a radically retrofitted, food producing suburbia. David Holmgren is the co-originator of Permaculture. http://www.holmgren.com.au
Added:5 months ago, in category:permaculture |
| From:EcoBurb |
| Comments:0 / Views:21 |
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Geoff Lawton founding Director of the Permaculture Research Institute talks about Permaculture Water Harvesting techniques, swales and sillways. For more infomation on how to purchase the complete DVD, please visit:
http://www.permaculture.org.au
For more Information on Global Permaculture
Please Visit:
www.permacultureplanet.com
Added:5 months ago, in category:permaculture |
| From:EcoBurb |
| Comments:0 / Views:13 |
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Kirsten, Nick and Peow the cat leave their comfortable life in coffee-soaked Melbourne for an adventure in sustainability in the Great Dividing Range of NSW, Australia... http://milkwood.net
Added:5 months ago, in category:permaculture |
| From:EcoBurb |
| Comments:0 / Views:9 |
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An engaging and accomplished exponent of Permaculture and Keyline Design, Darren Doherty, principal of Australia Felix Permaculture presents an overview of the design considerations and implements of his practice. He explains how the intelligent design and management of agricultural landscape, through its ability to rapidly regenerate the topsoil that most effectively sequesters atmospheric carbon, is a prime strategy in repairing humanity's relation to the biosphere.
Added:5 months ago, in category: |
| From:niccolo |
| Comments:0 / Views:8 |
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Award-winning 1992 documentary Manufacturing Consent by Mark Achbar (The Corporation) and Peter Wintonick, explores the political life and ideas of world-renowned linguist, intellectual and political activist Noam Chomsky. Through a dynamic collage of biography, archival gems, imaginative graphics and outrageous illustrations, this documentary highlights Chomsky's probing analysis of mass media and his critique of the forces at work behind the daily news.
Quote: " If I'm analyzing capitalism and I point out that General Motors tries to maximize profit, that's not a conspiracy theory. That's analysis. "
Mr. Chomsky's reaction to Manufacturing Consent can be found at http://www.chomsky.info/books/power02.htm
http://www.archive.org/details/manufacturing_consent
Added:5 months ago, in category:permaculture |
| From:EcoBurb |
| Comments:0 / Views:7 |
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