A recent guest post from Rocky Mountain Institute points out how vulnerable the USA remains to hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico, citing hurricane Gustave as an example. This current post’s graphic dramatically displays the risk. The more intense a future hurricane is, the greater the chance of in inland incursion (per the image) doing long term physical damage to refinery equipment and pipelines.
In one of the driest states in the U.S., it’s apparently illegal to harvest rainwater (at least on a large scale) as it diverts water from someone else downstream. (Is there a private water-bottling company downstream?) Thankfully, they’re not going after your garden-loving grandmother, but it does set a precedent for those who might collect it for commercial use.
::Infowars via …
Original Source: www.treehugger.com
One of the reasons that I write so often about Amory Lovins is that I believe that the man is a danger to the health and prosperity of billions of people. His views, if accepted, would put the world into a precarious position with less access to clean water, healthy food and reliable electrical power.Unfortunately, he has a great PR department that helps him gain access to the halls of the Pentagon and to feature articles in important publications like T…
Original Source: atomicinsights.blogspot.com
Dan Yurman at Idaho Samizdat has a full series of very informative posts about the tension filled effort to get full concurrence from the 45 member Nuclear Supplier’s Group - an organization of the countries that export nuclear related goods and services - to allow sales to India, the world’s most populous democracy. It is also one of the largest potential markets for new power systems since much of its large population has little or no access to reliable electricity….
Original Source: atomicinsights.blogspot.com
Russia’s energy supplies enabled their aggression, Canada’s supply could be the placating alternative”When it comes to action over Georgia, Russia has the European Union over a barrel. In fact, 1.2 million barrels. That’s how much Russian crude is pumped westward every day down the Druzhba pipeline to fuel Europe’s economies.”So began an article in The International Herald Tribune, one of many last week explaining why Europe — and the west — has little choice but to sacrifice parts of Georgia, and maybe a lot more, to Russia’s ambitions….
Original Source: bionuclearbunny.blogspot.com
Renewable energy advocates tell a dramatic story. Society, like the beautiful young woman in the traditional melodrama is in peril. To its rescue comes two would-be saviors. One is a villain who intends harm. The other is a true and pure-hearted savior. In the renewable energy story, the villain is nuclear power. The hero is (of course) renewable energy sources and efficiency.No one melodramatizes its issues better than Greenpeace. Greenpeace has never allowed truth to stand in the way of a good story. I…
Original Source: thoriumenergy.blogspot.com
Renewsble energy advocates tell a dramatic story. Society, like the beautiful young woman in the traditional melodrama is in peril. To its rescue comes two would be saviors. On is a villain, who intends harm. The other is a true and pure hearted savior. In the renewable energy story, tha villain is nuclear power. The hero is of course renewables energy sources and efficiency. No one melodramatizes its issues better than Greenpeace. Greenpeace has never allowed truth to stand in the way of a good story. I…
Original Source: thoriumenergy.blogspot.com
Image source: Getty Images
The Los Angeles Times report this morning on the state of the oceans sounds like something out of a horror movie - fishermen come in contact with a spongy weed, only to break out into a painful rash that won’t go away and literally peels your skin off. Get a drop in your mouth and your tongue swells so much you can’t eat for a week. Scientists in labs can’t be in the same room with it, the smell is so pungent. Only the problem is that this is for real and happening more and more often in coastal areas around the world. We are putting too much food into the oceans, scientists say, and now the oceans are reverting bac…
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Original Source: www.treehugger.com
The government today announced that it would not be providing the much anticipated “Fuel Payment Plan” of £150 to seven million households, which was originally announced in the media last month after it was leaked by a senior civil servant travelling on a train. Is this the right decision?Our homes consume energy, copious amounts of it. 83% of domestic energy is used for space and water heating, and in the huge majority of homes this is done in an inefficient way. One-off payments purely provide assistance in the short-term, delaying the issue and exacerbating the situation further. In addition by providing a “subsidised” fuel, encourages the user to continue to use energy in an inordinate way, becoming reliant on benefits to subsidise their existence. Reduction of consumption has not be ingrained into the mindset of the individual, increased consumption, increased demand, and whilst on a global scale, relatively minor, increased prices, inevitably leading to further hardship….
Original Source: howtosaveenergy.blogspot.com
We were thinking about putting solar-panels on the south-facing roof our our home-extension some years ago, but determined it would take about 20 years to pay-off the cost in terms of the electricity-bill savings that would be incurred. The upshot was we didn’t bother. There are conflicting views, however, with the "Rics" (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) saying that "solar panels are…
Original Source: ergobalance.blogspot.com
Last week we had the pleasure of checking out the One Planet–Ours! Sustainability for the 22nd Century installation at the United States Botanic Garden just a stones throw from the Capitol in Washington, DC. Despite the odd name (isn’t sustainability for the 21st century hard enough?) the federally-funded exhibit offered a dazzling array of inspiring eco demonstration projects, including the kinds of energy technologies the current administration and government has done so little to support.
One of the many cool exhibits was …
Original Source: www.treehugger.com
photo: Gilbert Rodriguez
In a practical sense, to make the type of changes in theory and practice which many TreeHugger readers would probably like to see happen to make the world a more ecologically sustainable place, we may have to compartmentalize a bit. Overturning the whole system may prove difficult, but at least according to Yale University’s Gus Speth that is the type of change needed.
Orion Magazine currently has an i…
Original Source: www.treehugger.com
Image source: Fighting Goliath Film
Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars, documents how a group of citizens stood up to the proposed development of 19-coal-fired power plants in central and east Texas. Mayors, ranchers, CEOs, community groups, legislators, lawyers and citizens, who might otherwise have had nothing in common, all joined together for different reasons but one purpose: to stop the states’ fast-track approval of coal-plant construction. The group eventually came to include over 36 cities and local government offices across the state.
Treehuggers no doubt remember Knut. He’s the polar bear cub who would likely have died after being rejected by his mother, save that he became a media sensation when his Berlin zookeepers decided not to let Nature take its course. While some animal activists objected, the public at large seems to have responded in unison: “How could anyone let anything this cute die?”
You’ve no doubt also seen equally captivating pictures of many of Knut’s’ wild cousins—images that distill all of the scientific complexities of global warming and melting sea ice into a single powerful concept: this magnificent animal is going to drown in front of your eyes—this is global warming, and it’s y…
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Original Source: www.treehugger.com
In the past couple of weeks I’ve felt a bit like the bringer of climate change doom here at TreeHugger. Well, here’s something to balance all that out, at least slightly. From Yahoo News:
Worst Case: 6.6 Feet Sea Level Rise by 2100
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Original Source: www.treehugger.com
By some estimates, the UK could generate 5-15 gigawatts of electricity using tidal turbines. Photo: Franny Dynamite.
About six weeks ago we reported on the world’s first commercial-scale tidal turbine, S…
Original Source: www.treehugger.com
Image source: Bird Holidays
If the ivory gull could, it would tell that polar bear, ‘I wouldn’t eat that if I were you’ - eating carcasses of other animals is what got the ivory gull in this predicament in the first place. The ivory gull, which lives in the Arctic, was recently found to have the highest concentrations of P…
Original Source: www.treehugger.com
Last week when I posted on Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention, I promised John McCain would get the same treatment. As much of his speech focused on his past record of service and pointing out differences between his campaign and Obama’s, his relevant passages (other than passing remarks) in regards to the environment were pretty much given in one go. So, here ther…
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Original Source: www.treehugger.com
photo: Cindy Seigle
The intersection of spirituality and environmental awareness seems to be getting more crowded. Over the summer there were a couple stories of Hindu temples,…
Original Source: www.treehugger.com
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again –– Israel’s electric car scheme Project Better Place –– needs some serious rethinking. Shai Agassi, who founded the company (pictured above), proposes new infrastructure for the swappable batteries, leased and paid for much in the same way as the cellular phone industry: you pay for use and not the device. Israel and Denmark is buying.
In August W…
Original Source: www.treehugger.com
The Blindmen and the ElephantBy John Godfrey SaxeIt was six men of HindustanTo learning much inclined,Who went to see the Elephant(Though all of them were blind)That each by observation…
Original Source: thoriumenergy.blogspot.com
scorpacciata [score-POTCH-chee-yatta]
n. eating a particular ingredient in copious amounts in peak local season.
Can it be turned into an adjective, like “If this tomato season doesn’t end soon I’m gonna be scorpacciatic.” ::Apartment Therapy….
Original Source: www.treehugger.com
Grupo Bimbo, Mexico’s largest producer of baked goods, announced this week it will be replacing its plastic packaging with a new biodegradable plastic in all main supermarkets and retail outlets in Mexico City.
The new plastic packaging is o…
Original Source: www.treehugger.com
Of course, one of the benefits of LEDs is that they last so long that they can be built right into the fixtures or even the fabric of the building. But people own lamps already, and Frog Design “realized the easiest way to create acceptance was to deliver the technology in an already widely accepted form. The form of a standard light bulb was then the obvious choice. It would not ask consumers to change their form of power, their light socket or replace the lampshade attached to the bulb.”
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Original Source: www.treehugger.com
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