Mayor Hickenlooper on Colorado Matters
Robot Ranchers Could Maintain Future Wind Farms We all know that the need of the hour is alternative energy so that future generations can still breathe fresh air and have enough energy for their industrial purposes and domestic use. Many states and countries are promoting wind energy as a clean and green energy. We all know the advantages and disadvantages of [.]Posted in: Inventions, Wind Farms, Wind Power |
Energy from Solar Roadways We are using fossil fuels as the primary source of energy to run our Industrial Civilization. But we are paying a heavy price for using fossil fuels in the form of environmental damages. Now, we know that fossil fuels and natural gases are not going to last forever. This will lead us into big [.]Posted in: Future Energy, Inventions, Solar Power, Transportation |
| Dell, HP Cut PC Power Consumption 2010 For both laptop and desktop computers, Dell plans to cut power consumption as part of its required work on compliance with the EPA’s EnergyStar 5.0 standard, reports Mark Hachman of pcmag.com. HP earlier said it would cut power use of “volume” PCs by 25 percent, relative to 2005. In those terms, Dell’s reductions would be [.]  |
| Press Release: Climate Change Will Seriously Impact Human Health, But Research Lacking, Peer-Reviewed Report Concludes
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact:
Jennifer Andreassen, 202-572-3387, jandreassen@edf.org
John Balbus, 202-572-3316, jbalbus@edf.org
(Washington, D.C. – March 18, 2009) Climate change will seriously impact public health, but the United States is failing to support the research needed to prepare for it, according to a report published in the peer-reviewed journal published by the U.S. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. “The lack of attention from the Federal government on the health risks of climate change to U.S. populations is needlessly putting multitudes at risk,” warns the report, “U.S. Funding is Insufficient to Address the Human Health Impacts of and Public Health Responses to Climate Variability and Change,” published in Environmental Health Perspectives.
The report is co-authored by the same authors who wrote the Climate Change and Human Health chapter in the July 2008 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency report: “Analyses of the Effects of Global Change on Human Health and Welfare and Human Systems,” including Environmental Defense Fund”s Chief Health Scientist Dr. John Balbus. Dr. Balbus also is a member of the National Academy of Science Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology, the Institute of Medicine Roundtable on Environmental Health Sciences, Research and Medicine, and the Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Global warming is expected to worsen many health problems, including heat-related mortality, diarrheal diseases, and diseases associated with exposure to ozone and allergens from the air. Health effects are also likely to result from altered air, water, agriculture, and ecosystems processes, according to the report.
Despite these facts, federal funding of health research related to climate change is estimated to be less than $3 million per year. The report concludes that more than $200 million is needed annually to sponsor “robust intra- and extramural programs” in federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
Funding research in climate change and health research “that is directly linked to protective action at the local level is a wise investment, consistent with the goals of restoring economic stability, justice and environmental quality, and reducing health care costs,” according to the report.
The inadequate level of U.S. funding, the report states, “appears to be due to the low priority placed on identifying and managing the health risks of climate change by Congress and the Federal government.” The report also concludes that reporting of the research funding needs more transparency and clarity.
|
| Environmental Consequences: Asbestos and Human Health When microscopic asbestos fibers are inhaled, they lodge themselves in the lining of lungs. This lays the groundwork for the deadly asbestos cancer, mesothelioma. Perhaps it should come as no coincidence then that rates of pleural cancer (mesothelioma) in oil refinery workers are among the highest of any occupation.  |
| Press Release: State Senate Majority Leader Urged to Deliver MTA Rescue Plan to Stop 23 Percent Fare Hike
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Mary Barber, 646-209-9469-c, mbarber@edf.org
Sean Crowley, 202-550-6524-c, scrowley@edf.org
(New York, NY – March 23, 2009) A transit advocacy group today urged State Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith “to join the parade of heroes” including State House Speaker Shelley Silver and the Ravitch Commission “and support a transit rescue plan that supports holding fares in check.” The MTA is scheduled to vote on Wednesday on a doomsday budget that would hike transit fares by 23 percent and dramatically cut transit service in the New York region.
“Our transit system is the lifeblood of our region and the force that keeps our people mobile, our economy strong, and our air clean,” said Mary Barber, managing director of Living Cities for Environmental Defense Fund in written testimony delivered during an MTA Finance Committee hearing. “The system is in financial trouble and decisions need to be made now to secure its health and vitality for the millions of people who rely on it every day.
“This defining moment has called for heroes to defend our transit system. Thankfully, there have been many. There are the hundreds and thousands of riders and commuters who have signed postcards, written letters, signed petitions and phoned their elected officials urging them to make the tough decisions to keep our transit system safe and reliable. Richard Ravitch and his commission are heroes for proposing a fair and balanced long-term plan to fund the system by asking all who benefit–riders, businesses and motorists–to contribute to its well-being.
“And now it”s Albany and our State government”s opportunity to be heroic. The governor appointed the Ravitch commission and championed the Ravitch plan. He is a transit hero because of his willingness to support some unpopular, but necessary solutions. Speaker Silver is a hero because he supports the basics of the Ravitch plan and recommended some adjustments to make it more acceptable to more legislators. And now we wait for the Senate, but where are they? Their response has been a plan that is short-term and ill-conceived and puts off for tomorrow what must be done today.
“We call on Majority Leader Smith to join the parade of heroes and make the hard choices and support a transit rescue plan that supports holding fares in check and continuing to rebuild the system for a better tomorrow.
And we look to the governor to bring all parties together and find a solution to this crisis now, not when it”s too late.”
|
| Mayor Hickenlooper on Colorado Matters Mayor Hickenlooper is a guest on today’s episode of Colorado Matters - a daily production of Colorado Public Radio. With host Ryan Warner, he discusses details of the Greenprint Denver Advisory Council’s recommendations, shares his thoughts about the proposals, and examines next steps. Listen live this evening at 7 p.m. on KCFR 1340 AM, or [.] |
| Centre opened to reduce greenhouse gasses in SA. A Centre for Carbon Capture and Storage, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere in South Africa, was unveiled in Johannesburg on Friday. |
Small Wind Farm Ready to Generate Power While very small wind energy projects are not normally viable due to the cost and effort involved, a small wind farm in the Clay County could easily start generating power as early as 2010. If this project, called The Romar wind project, starts generating power successfully it will certainly trigger a trend. But how [.]Posted in: Industry, Wind Farms, Wind Power |