Green Environment

The New York Times Editorial Board detailed in yesterday’s paper exactly why and how executive action is needed to rein in carbon emissions. Worth a full read. [New York Times] America cannot solve a global problem by itself. But as Mr. Obama rightly observed in his inaugural address, the United States, as both major polluter and world leader, has a deep obligation to help shield the international community from rising sea levels, floods, droughts and other devastating consequences of a warming planet. The prospects for broad-based Congressional action putting a price on carbon emissions are nil. The House is run by people who care little for environmental issues generally, and Senate Republicans who once favored a pricing strategy, like John McCain and Lindsey Graham, have long since slunk away. Meanwhile, Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee have spent the last two weeks trying to derail Mr. Obama’s nominee to run the Environmental Protection Agency — a moderate named Gina McCarthy. Ms. McCarthy has served two Republican governors (Mitt Romney was one) but is considered suspect by the right wing because she wants to control carbon pollution, which is driving global temperatures upward. Hence the need for executive action. Yet we are now four months into Mr. Obama’s second term, and there is no visible sign of a coherent strategy. … As this page has noted, it is possible to adopt a robust climate strategy based largely on executive actions. The most important of these is to invoke the E.P.A.’s authority under the Clean Air Act to limit pollution from stationary industrial sources, chiefly the power plants that account for almost 40 percent of the country’s carbon emissions. … He can hasten the development of less-polluting alternatives to older-generation refrigerants and other chemicals. He can order the Energy Department to embark on a major program to improve the efficiency of appliances and commercial and residential buildings, which consume a huge chunk of the country’s energy supply. And he can ramp up investment in basic research. All of this will take time, which is why it is important to get started. Heatwave deaths in New York City could spike 22 percent in the next decade. [Guardian] Elizabeth Kolbert on Keystone: “The pipeline isn’t inevitable, and it shouldn’t be treated as such. It’s just another step on the march to disaster.” [New Yorker] Extreme drought stretching from Texas to Kansas and beyond could be here for longer than expected as aquifers dry up and groundwater disappears. [New York Times] Deforestation continues to sweep across Southeast Asia. [Yale Environment 360] On Friday, Rep. Lois Capps introduced legislation to create a national plan to assist medical professionals with health issues linked with climate change, allowing additional research and tracking of diseased and environmental health indicators. [The Hill] Gas prices rose 11 cents over the last two weeks. [Time] The Coast Guard is taking a look at why Shell’s Arctic drilling barge ran aground off an island in Alaska. [Washington Post] One solution to “range anxiety” for electric cars could be a battery swapping system, which is something Tesla Motors appears to be examining. [Gas 2] Iceland recently became the 100th nation to deploy wind power. [Renewable Energy Focus]

With at least 10 tornadoes ripping through North Texas in one night this week — leveling neighborhoods, killing six and injuring dozens — it might be tempting to call the twisters yet another instance of climate-fueled weather. But not so fast.   While most climate scientists agree that global warming is driving record heat waves, widespread drought, heavy rain and floods, intense hurricanes, and even monster snowstorms, tornadoes — at least for now — are a different story.

A team of Norwegian research scientists has unveiled a concept that could see electricity stored on the seabed. Conceived by Subhydro AS, the underwater pumped hydroelectric power plant would use high water pressure to create energy that can then be stored for later use on shore. Read the rest of Scientists Unveil Plans for First Underwater Storage Power Plant Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: energy storage, renewable energy, SINTEF, subhydro, Subhydro AS, tidal power, water pressure, wave power

A stopover on a long migration.

Photo via Shutterstock As if the oceans are not struggling enough with climate change, pollution and overfishing, the United Nation’s International Seabed Authority (ISA)has issued 17 prospecting licenses for state and private companies eager to dig up the ocean floor. The ISA has published a report evaluating the impact that mining the sea bed to extract about mineral rich “nodules” amid “an unprecedented surge of interest,” according to The BBC. And they are frank to note that there will be “inevitable environmental consequences.” Read the rest of UN Issues 17 Prospecting Licenses for Deep Sea Mining Across Three Oceans Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: deep sea mining, Environment, environmental destruction, gold rush of the sea, International Seabed Authority, ISA, Lockheed Martin mining, marine destruction, News, sea bed mining, United Nations

The Senate is scheduled to have a debate on the Farm Bill on Monday, May 20th. Below is a message adopted from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics' Action Center; please send to your Senators now to help protect nutrition programs for all Americans! If you don't know who your Congressional representatives are or their contact information, you can find it here. ----------------------------------------------Please protect nutrition programs (Title IV) and nutrition research (Title VII) in the Farm Bill. Your support of a Farm Bill, focused on strong nutrition programs and research, that supports healthy people as well as the health of the earth, will improve the health of Americans and stimulate local economies. As a constituent, I urge you to:Protect funding for –• The SNAP-Nutrition Education (SNAP-Ed) Program. In order to make healthy food choices on a limited budget, people need to be empowered with knowledge. SNAP-Ed educates families and has proven to lead to healthier eating habits. SNAP-Ed is a necessary benefit of the larger Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) package. SNAP-Ed is also in every state, including yours!• The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). SNAP provides eligible, low-income families monthly benefits to purchase much needed food. SNAP also stimulates the economy by increasing participants’ purchasing power. For every $5 in new SNAP benefits, as much as $9.20 is generated in local economic activity.• The Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) supplies low-income families, many of which are seniors, USDA commodity foods. The CSFP food package provides good sources of the nutrients typically lacking in the diet of this population.• The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) provides nutritious foods that supplement the diets of low-income needy persons. This program utilizes organizations like food banks to reach this population. • A strong Research and Extension title. Evidenced-based food and agriculture research will ensure a safe and healthy food supply for years to come. Investing in food, nutrition and agriculture research is vital to guide sound decisions. Much of this research is conducted at each state’s land grant university.Protect the program integrity of -• The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) provides school children access to fresh fruits and vegetables. This program has been shown, in a robust 2013 evaluation, to increase children’s fruit and vegetable consumption by 15%, without increasing their overall calorie intake. This means children are eating fresh fruits and vegetables instead of other, potentially less healthy foods. FFVP also helps creates the foundation for healthy life-long habits.• The Seniors Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program benefits seniors and local farmers. This well established and well received program provides seniors access to seasonal produce while supporting local farmers and economies.These important programs: 1.Contribute to healthy life-long habits; 2. Allow recipients to maintain their health and well-being during temporary times of economic hardship; and 3. May decrease the risk of developing costly and debilitating chronic diseases which strain our healthcare system.Please protect these extremely valuable programs as the Farm Bill is debated on the Senate floor.

The country with the world’s largest rain forests is preparing to enact regulations that opponents say could speed up deforestation and increase greenhouse gas emissions. Amazonian rain forest is burned to create pasture land for ranching in Brazil. For two years, Brazil has been debating how to update a 1965 law that was designed to control slash-and-burn agriculture. via Brazil’s shrinking rain forest – The Washington Post.

Hazmat teams are trying to contain a massive California wildfire that is threatening 2,000 homes. Locals are being warned not to inhale the smoke – especially since highly toxic pesticides have caught fire and are releasing dangerous chemical fumes. The wildfire erupted in Southern California at 6:30 a.m. Thursday, forcing residents near Camarillo to evacuate their homes. The raging fire has already burnt more than 12 ½ sq. miles, and 15 homes have already sustained damage. A group of recreational vehicles in a mobile home park have been completely destroyed. About 2,000 other homes are at risk of destruction as the flames lick the edges of communities 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles. A small, local university canceled classes for the week as the fire threatened its campus, AP reports. And while smoke inhalation is never healthy, the fumes of this wildfire are particularly dangerous: fire officials on Thursday warned that a store of highly toxic pesticides caught fire at an agricultural property in Laguna Farms, near the university campus. Fire officials have sent out health warnings, urging residents to avoid inhaling smoke – even if no flames are nearby. via Toxic pesticides burn up in California wildfire — RT USA.

It took nearly seven years, but the blades are finally turning on a pair of wind turbines at the Archbold and Pettisville schools in northwestern Ohio, demonstrating how school districts can take control of their energy future and create educational opportunities for their kids at the same time. “We have controlled the price of the electricity we will use going forward,” says Stephen Switzer, superintendent of the Pettisville schools. The turbine has a projected lifespan of 20 years. Administrators at both of the small-town school districts had been looking into how to become more self-sufficient and reduce their energy bills since the mid-2000s. Switzer says he had watched as other districts grappled with financial problems brought on by energy costs, and he didn’t want his schools to end up in the same situation when they built a new buidling, as they were planning to do in 2011. But it wasn’t until federal stimulus funds became available through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act in 2009 that the construction of the twin turbines became a reality. Building wind turbines isn’t cheap. But it will mean about $100,000 in energy savings each year. Since the turbine’s activation in late February, says Switzer, the 85-foot blades of the 300-foot-tall 750-kilowatt structure in Pettisville have been whirring away productively, generating about 325,000 kilowatt hours to date. On some calm days, the school has to buy electricity from the utility, but on others, when the wind is strong, it sells juice back to the grid. In Archbold, school officials hope that the turbine will eventually meet 74 percent of the electricity needs of the district’s high school and elementary school. via Powering Ohio Schools With Wind Energy – Sarah Goodyear – The Atlantic Cities.

Read the rest of Designtree’s Gorgeous Frankie Lamps are Made with 100% Recycled PET and FSC-Certified Beech Permalink | Add to del.icio.us | digg Post tags: designtree, FSC certified timber, FSC-certified wood designs, green designers from New Zealand, green interiors, green lighting, ICFF in New York, New Zealand designers, recyclable materials, Recycled Materials, recycled PET lamps