We have learned so little with soooo much
1900: All US cars produced: 33% steam cars, 33% EV, and 33% gasoline cars. Poll at the National Automobile Show in NYC showed people's first choice for automobiles was electric followed closely by steam. Yep only 33% were gas...
Learn more EV history at:
http://www.eaaev.org/History/index.html
According to a new job posting on JournalismJobs.com CBS News has set a low bar for their reporting. CBS News is seeking a reporter for its 'eco beat' who does not need any "knowledge of the enviro beat," but must be "funny, irreverent and hip, oozing enthusiasm and creative energy," according to job posting. The potential CBS News employee must also be "vibrant" and bring "a dash of humor to our coverage." (LINK)
Hey, Why would A news station care about content or exerprience when their own "green washers" and "climatologist" don't have them ;-)
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the State of Wisconsin today announced a voluntary collaboration to promote greater industrial energy efficiency throughout the state. DOE, Wisconsin, Wisconsin's Focus on Energy (Focus), and CleanTech Partners have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to foster increased awareness and use of energy efficient practices and technologies by industries.Read the full Progress Alert.
Ocean fertilization, the process of adding iron or other nutrients to the ocean to cause large algal blooms, has been proposed as a possible 'geoengineering' solution to global warming because the growing algae absorb carbon dioxide as they grow. But research performed at Stanford University, the Carnegie Institution of Washington and Oregon State University, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research, now concludes that ocean fertilization is not an effective method of reducing CO2 in the atmosphere because of the seasonal dynamics of the way in which algae sink to the bottom of the ocean.This discovery is very surprising. If, during natural plankton blooms, less carbon actually sinks to deep water than during the rest of the year, then it suggests that the Biological Pump leaks. More material is recycled in shallow water and less sinks to depth, which makes sense if you consider how this ecosystem has evolved in a way to minimize loss. Ocean fertilization schemes, which resemble an artificial summer, may not remove as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere as has been suggested because they ignore the natural processes revealed by this research. - Dr. Michael Lutz, lead author, University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science the sale of offsets or credits from ocean fertilization on the unregulated voluntary markets is basically nothing short of fraudulent.
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization, a group created by asbestos victims and their families, bought products from national retailers and had them tested at independent labs. One of the most disturbing findings was high levels of asbestos in powder from a toy CSI fingerprint kit. The powder is intended to be sprinkled on surfaces and brushed with a soft-bristle brush – creating conditions ripe for inhalation.
Andrew Schneider reports on the group's findings in the Seattle P-I, and notes that CBS, which licenses the kit, has asked its licensees to have the kits tested immediately and to remove the toy from the market if it's found to be unsafe.
Why is a small organization – which spent more than $165,000 getting products tested at government-certified labs – taking on the job of policing consumer products? Schneider explains:
Excellent discussion of the article I cited that personifies the correlation between current water draw downs and biofuel production.
...addressing the supply side of oil and gas depletion, much hope has been put into the scaling of 'biofuels', by applying new (and old) technologies to annual crops to create ethanol or biodiesel, thus providing chemically viable alternatives to the transportation liquids derived from crude oil. Much of the biofuels debate thus far has focused on their lower energy balance, vis-a-vis crude oil. While this is important, analysis of the impacts on non-energy inputs and impacts should a massive scaling of biofuels occur, urgently needs to be discussed. The National Academy of Sciences recently published a report titled "Water Implications of Biofuel Production in the United States". The paper outlines impacts and limitations on both water availability and water quality that would follow the pursuit of a national strategy to replace liquid fossil fuels with those made from biomass.
Read more VIA- theoildrum.com
Also See my previous posts on issue filed under Waterwars
"Andropause is like death by hormones in the workplace. It kills productivity, it kills relationships, and it kills enthusiasm."
That usually cheerful guy in accounting has suddenly become impatient and moody. Co-workers grumble about the change but may not realize what's behind it: He is going through andropause - the male version of menopause.
Hitting men between the ages of 40 and 55, when their testosterone levels begin to decline, andropause can cause many of the symptoms menopausal women complain about: mood swings, extreme fatigue, temporary bouts of forgetfulness and yes, hot flashes.
"Andropause is like death by hormones in the workplace," says Dr. Lawrence Komer, a physician and medical director of Masters Men's Clinic in Burlington, Ont. "It kills productivity, it kills relationships, and it kills enthusiasm."
Employers can help men cope with andropause at work by educating everyone in the office about it, says Dr. Michael Greenspan, urologist and assistant clinical professor at Ontario's McMaster University. Knowing about it also can help managers and co-workers understand that a middle-aged male employee who has suddenly become irritable and unproductive may need medical help.
Go to the full story in the Toronto Globe & Mail (via cal-osha.com)
The embarrassing fervor of selling has turned some Christian groups into a 'Den of Thieves', but even I didn't think it would include sweatshops.
Ed Brayton of "Dispatches from the Culture Wars" just broke a story on the use of child labor in Chinese sweatshops to produce items sold in Christian stores. Conditions in the shop mentioned don't even come close to meeting minimum standards as required by Chinese law, never mind meeting basic human rights.
From the first part of what seems to be a multiple part story:
The crosses are marketed in the United States by the Association for Christian Retail (ACR, founded as the Christian Booksellers Association). ACR supplies nearly all of the nation's Christian specialty stores with a wide range of items, including Bibles, Christian books, apparel, music, videos, gifts and greeting cards.
Perhaps its largest client is Family Christian Stores, a Grand Rapids-based company that is the biggest Christian retailer in the nation with more than 300 stores. ACR did $4.63 billion in business in 2006, at least a portion of it from the crosses made by workers at the Junxingye Factory in Dongguan, China.
Image: Small part of the bigger picture - deforestation in Borneo, Indonesia (World Resources Institute)
In the summer of 2004, Canadian health researchers made a startling discovery in the"the beloved community": sarnia, Chippewa birth records for the city of Sarnia, an hour north of Detroit—for the past decade, female babies had been outnumbering male babies at a rate of 2:1. Further investigation revealed large numbers of miscarriages, a cluster of reproductive cancers in young women, and widespread neurological problems among the band's children. http://newsreel.org/nav/title.asp?tc=CN0196&s= (From By David Dempsey the Great Lakes Blogger"
An aggressive pursuit of energy efficiency in the United States over the next 18 years could cut the nation's growth in energy use by 50% or more, according to a new report. The report, "Vision for 2025: Developing a Framework for Change," was prepared by the National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency Leadership Group, which comprises more than 60 leading organizations, with DOE and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) acting as facilitators. The report sets a goal of achieving all cost-effective energy efficiency improvements throughout the United States by 2025. If that goal is achieved, the nation will spend $100 billion less for energy in 2025 than it would otherwise and will avoid emitting 500 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. The nation will also achieve $500 billion in net savings from its energy efficiency investments.
To achieve that goal, the report calls for placing a high priority on cost-effective energy efficiency improvements, creating energy efficiency incentives for utilities, and implementing the latest technologies. The report recommends establishing policies, incentives, delivery mechanisms, metrics, and utility billing systems that not only encourage energy efficiency but also measure its effectiveness and reward utilities for successful energy efficiency programs. The report also emphasizes the sharing of information, both regionally and nationally, and the use advanced communication technologies to keep utilities in touch with their customers and aware of how their customers are using energy. See the EPA press release (PDF 16 KB) and the full report (PDF 1.3 MB). Download Adobe Reader.
The National Action Plan for Energy Efficiency was developed last year by the leadership group, which includes 30 electric and gas utilities, 17 state agencies, and 12 other organizations, with DOE and EPA as facilitators. An additional 24 organizations are observing the work of the leadership group. Since its launch in late July 2006, 120 organizations have made commitments to advance energy efficiency under the National Action Plan. An EPA document released in conjunction with the new report tallies all those commitments and the achievements to date. The participating organizations include government agencies and utility commissions in 26 states: Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin. A number of utilities, corporations, and regional and national organizations are also participating. See the EPA Web site and list of commitments and achievements (PDF 646 KB).
We are basing our current international law, consumer purchases and potentially our next leader of the free world on the "politics of global warming"Due to advances in technology, increases in disposable wealth, the rationality of institutions and the ability of countries to organize themselves, the adaptability of human society has been radically increased. It will continue to increase and will solve any potential consequences of mild climate changes.I agree with Professor Richard Lindzen from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who said: "future generations will wonder in bemused amazement that the early 21st century's developed world went into hysterical panic over a globally averaged temperature increase of a few tenths of a degree, and, on the basis of gross exaggerations of highly uncertain computer projections combined into implausible chains of inference, proceeded to contemplate a roll-back of the industrial age"
Excellent little quiz available here, courtesy of www.globalwarmingheartland.org
CBS recently produced a video on the quagga mussel problem in the Great Lakes, and the introduction of invasive species in the ballast water of ocean going ships. It's always good to see main stream media taking notice of Great Lakes ecological issues, even if they tend to be pretty superficial in their coverage.
In the video John Jamian, the President of the Seaway Great Lakes Trade Association, says ""I think the shipping industry has done a tremendous job, given the fact that they were not set up for this kind of business, in terms of solving these problems."
Warning: Chemicals in the packaging, surfaces or contents of many products may cause long-term health effects, including cancers of the breast, brain and testicles; lowered sperm counts, early puberty and other reproductive system defects; diabetes; attention deficit disorder, asthma and autism. "U.S. regulators promised a decade ago to screen more than 15,000 chemicals for effects on the endocrine system. Officials identified the program as a top priority. Browner appointed the first panel of scientists to build a framework for how to screen the chemicals. She left the agency after the presidential election in 2000.
More than $80 million later, the government program has yet to screen its first chemical. So far, not one has been screened. The government's proposed tests lack new measures that would spot dangerous chemicals older screens could miss. Hundreds of products have been banned in countries around the world but are available here without warning." Read more from Susanne Rust, Meg Kissinger, and Cary Spivak
U.S. regulators promised a decade ago to screen more than 15,000 chemicals for effects on the endocrine system. So far, not one has been screened. The government's proposed tests lack new measures that would spot dangerous chemicals older screens could miss. Hundreds of products have been banned in countries around the world but are available here without warning.
... 20 years into cleanup work funded by $760 million in bond funds, these lurking threats remain and continue to multiply?
Why are poisons still in soil and water years after their discovery? Where did the cleanup money go?
"How many more deaths, anguish and sorry must be visited upon innocent mineworkers, their families and the communities in which they live before we can say enough is enough?"
Senzeni Zokwana, president of South Africa's National Union of Mineworkers in unveiling plans for a first-ever strike of gold and platinum mines over safety issues.
Go to home page at www.cal-osha.com
Filed under "I told you so"
Looks like the beginning of a trend toward realism: By Joe on Solutions climateprogress.org
Describing them as a "marketing exercise," he said their inherent problem lies with producing
the hydrogen fuel to power them, and in establishing an infrastructure of hydrogen filling stations. "Because hydrogen has to be produced using existing power, CO2 emissions are still an issue," he said.
Ouch!
Also see: Dream of hydrogen car goes down in flames
Ballard -- the Canadian fuel-cell company that once hoped to be the "Intel Inside of the hydrogen car revolution -- has sold off its automotive fuel-cell business to Daimler and Ford.
The story has a keen interpretation of the sale's meaning from Research Capital analyst Jon Hykawy:
[Ballard] would never contemplate such as move if it thought it had any chance of making good on the millions it has poured into that research -- and the vast financing it has been able to raise with promises of the hydrogen highway, a route to the future that has never materialized, but seduced investors with visions of cars that spewed only water from their tailpipes.
"If you knew, talking to your automotive partners, that they had a commercialization timeline that was three to five years out, I suspect you would be holding tight," said Mr. Hykawy.
Hykaway, like most independent observers of the automobile industry, is far more realistic about hydrogen than most advocates:
In my view, the hydrogen car was never alive. The problem was never could you build a fuel cell that would consume hydrogen, produce electricity, and fit in a car. The problem was always, can you make hydrogen fuel at a price point that makes any sense to anybody. And the answer to that to date has been no.
-- but if I've said it once ..Ballard’s talks with potential buyers is admission that dream of hydrogen fuel car is dead: analyst The story has a keen interpretation of the sale’s meaning from Research Capital analyst Jon Hykawy:(more…)
The top five species that we have documented [deaths of] are Common Loon (508), Long-tailed duck (505), White-winged scoter (207)...
The most notable Common Loon among our discoveries was a banded adult from Seney NWR who had been monitored for 14 years and during this time produced 17 chicks, including one this season. His discovery stands as the first evidence that a portion of the very high Common Loon numbers represents birds breeding in Michigan, where the species remains a threatened species...
Carcasses from a wide variety of bird species collected along the lake have tested positive for botulism E at the Michigan DNR's Wildlife Disease Lab. This current outbreak on Lake Michigan follows a trend of increasing botulism-related mortality on the Great Lakes; only Lake Superior has thus far remained exempt from the problem.
More about botulism E here:
http://www.miseagrant.umich.edu/habitat/avian-botulism-faq.html
Carcasses from a wide variety of bird species collected along the lake have tested positive for botulism E - at the Michigan DNR’s Wildlife Disease Lab.
Apparently without realizing or caring that greenwashing is a negative term, Lyra Research, which tracks the digital imaging industry, sent out an email newsletter yesterday with the headline: "Printer Vendors Need to Greenwash Their Image," CNET reports. The newsletter described how companies aiming to appeal to green consumers are painting a green face, without necessarily cleaning By Environmental Leader
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Not! Indeed, the only good news is that the shows bombed across the board. Looks like viewers aren't suckered by greenwashing. As for #2, you can't even find a single reference to being green on nbc.com today (you have to click on the tiny "corporate info" item at the bottom, and then look for the "Green is Universal" link under Headlines.). But, amazingly, what you will see on the NBC homepage is multiple ads for the Nissan Rogue, a The shows were very, very lame from a green perspective. The funniest was 30 Rock (click on David Schwimmer picture/Greenzo episode), but it was a brutal satire on corporate greenwashing. The only person who is genuinely green is Schwimmer, who is a stereotypically obnoxious about the environment. Al Gore has a funny cameo, but he is mainly spoofing himself. Scrubs is pretty funny, but the janitor's effort to green the hospital fails for lack of interest. Thanks NBC! Grist was similarly disappointed with the Thursday night line-up. What really convinced me this was not just a meaningless but actually a counterproductive exercise was that I happened to catch Las Vegas. NBC should be embarrassed for calling this a "green" episode (you can watch the episode, titled, "It's Not Easy Being Green" — gosh, how original — here): |
Environmental Power Corporation announced early this month that it has completed a facility to convert manure and other agricultural waste into a methane-rich biogas that will be sold as natural gas. The Huckabay Ridge facility in Stephenville, Texas, will employ anaerobic digesters to convert manure into biogas. Bacteria in the oxygen-free digester vessels feed on the wastes, producing a gas consisting mostly of methane and carbon dioxide. Environmental Power then conditions the biogas to natural gas standards and distributes it via a commercial natural gas pipeline. The company is currently selling the natural gas to the Lower Colorado River Authority, and in October 2008, it will begin selling natural gas to Pacific Gas and Electric Company under a new 10-year contract. The Huckabay Ridge facility has the capacity to produce 635 billion Btu of natural gas per year, enough to provide all the energy needs for more than 6,000 average U.S. homes. See the Environmental Power press release.
Landfills are another major source of methane, and as North America's leading provider of waste services, Waste Management has a corner on the landfill gas market. The company currently captures and produces energy from enough landfill gas to meet the energy needs of a million homes per year, and in an environmental initiative announced in October, the company committed to doubling its energy production by 2020. But for the sheer elegance of its approach, it's hard to beat the Prometheus Energy Company, which creates liquefied natural gas (LNG) from landfill gas and delivers it to vehicle fleets in Southern California. The elegance comes in with the company's purchase of an LNG-fueled Kenworth tractor, which is now being used to deliver the LNG. So the company is burning its own landfill gas to deliver landfill gas to other users. The first 10,000-gallon shipment was delivered to the Orange County Transit Authority, which operates a fleet of 232 LNG-fueled buses. See the Waste Management press release (PDF 48 KB) and the Prometheus Energy press release (PDF 63 KB). Download Adobe Reader.
I don't get out a lot to shop… however, I have had dozens of examples sent to me and viewed 100's of examples of "false and misleading" green claims on consumable products. Simply watching "treehugger" or GRIST stories may find 1000's.
TerraChoice's own study exemplifies one problem greater than any other.
There are NO, clear, relevant or constant standards that focus on protecting both the consumer and environment.
NO NEW standards need to be made. If these consumer products simply fell under FDA, OSHA, EPA, DOT and WHMIS standards… no consumer would be in the dark.
The problem is, then there would be no need for "green marketing" companies and "green" product branding as it WOULD and SHOULD be the law to protect consumers.
Sorry, with the millions of Americans homes tainted with toxic toy's, cleaners, food and cosmetics… it is about time we made this a solid law.
I do not need a "survey" to tell me 80%* of consumers would buy products that were "actually" safer for them and the environment.
These people were told that the toys they buy their children were "safe" and regulated by "standards".
I don't believe any "fuzzy & feel good" label Language can satisfy safety aspects of a product.
JUST start enforcing what is already know to be hazardous from these products.
And if "terrachoice's" standard protects better than all existing standards, I am sure that federal regulators would be happy to adopt it as the "industry standard" as they did with the paint industry.
Find Consumer sources for safer products and labels:
http://www.householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov
Did you know about bottled water?
On November 15, 2007, Wal-Mart released a comprehensive report of its sustainability efforts, outlining initiatives to improve the environment, health care, diversity, sourcing and highlighting the work of its foundation. The report discusses Wal-Mart's sustainability initiatives and defines the challenges, as well as goals, for moving forward.
In an October 2005 speech titled "Twenty-First Century Leadership," Wal-Mart committed to three large sustainability goals: to be supplied 100 percent by renewable energy, to create zero waste, and to sell products that sustain our resources and the environment. The report examines the progress Wal-Mart has made toward those commitments and details how the company has worked to integrate sustainable practices into its supply chain, the products it sells, the lives of its associates and the communities where it operates and sources.
To read the full text of the report, including an introduction letter by President and CEO Lee Scott, please visit:
