Controversy heats up as cities look to incinerators.
| Scientists Suggest New Arctic Study May Oversate Sea Ice Melting Cambridge professor Peter Wadhams made headlines yesterday when he said that data gathered from British explorer Pen Hadlow’s Arctic trek, called the Catlin Ice Survey, shows that Arctic summers will be entirely ice-free by 2020. Today, many experts fear the Wadhams may be overstating just how fast the Arctic will be open ocean in summer. |
| Enviro groups decry U.S. refusal to list spotted seals as endangered. The Obama administration rejected a proposed endangered species listing today for Alaska’s spotted seals, saying the animals would adapt to climate change. Environmentalists, who had petitioned for the listing, expressed outrage over the decision. |
| 2009 Climate Corps Fellows Bring Excitement back to Energy Efficiency By Emily ReynaSo maybe energy efficiency has never captured the imagination in the same way that renewable energy has, but attention to the importance of energy efficiency has surged in recent months. Why? Because it saves both money and greenhouse gas emissions.President Obamas administration has touted energy efficiency as the cheapest, cleanest, fastest energy source and a [.] |
| Poisoning the Poor with eWaste in Ghana Green issues are sometimes complex. We need to recycle many things, like electronics, but we certainly don’t want to poison others in the process. Efforts to protect the environment and conserve valuable resources must be coupled with proper health and safety procedures. Unfortunately, just saying this doesn’t make it happen. Developing countries are becoming a dumping ground for much toxic waste and proper environmental health and safety is being ignored, both by local opportunists and suppliers of e-Waste from developed nations.  |
| Controversy heats up as cities look to incinerators. Waste-to-energy is being touted as a green technology that can produce energy, help with global warming, reduce waste and generate revenue. But a growing body of evidence suggests the hidden costs of incinerators outweigh the benefits. |
| Historic Solar Tech SunsetMy friend Taylen Paterson has an interesting solar tech blog at: http://solar.calfinder.com/His collection of historic solar tech is a good read:This is the age of Solar. Its hard when youre living in it to tell exactly how history will remember your time and place, but it seems ever more obvious that our current Digital Age [.] |
| Industry urged to embrace action on climate. Industry should embrace stronger environmental controls, a leading chemicals manufacturer has urged, as ministers from the worlds biggest polluting countries meet for the final stages of climate change talks that will culminate in Copenhagen in December. |
| Press Release: Companies in Texas, Across U.S. Poised For Growth Under A Cap On Carbon IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact Sharyn Stein, Environmental Defense Fund, (202) 572-3396, sstein@edf.org Chris Smith, Environmental Defense Fund, 512-691-3451, csmith@edf.org(Washington DC, October 23, 2009) Environmental Defense Fund today released a groundbreaking online map that identifies and profiles almost 2,500 companies in 22 states that are poised to grow their business and create new jobs when Congress passes a cap on carbon pollution.The interactive site, online at sstein@edf.org Chris Smith, Environmental Defense Fund, 512-691-3451, csmith@edf.org(Washington DC, October 23, 2009) Environmental Defense Fund today released a groundbreaking online map that identifies and profiles almost 2,500 companies in 22 states that are poised to grow their business and create new jobs when Congress passes a cap on carbon pollution.The interactive site, online at LessCarbonMoreJobs.org, includes a map of companies in Texas that was just unveiled today.The site also maps businesses in Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah and Virginia. The companies are involved in a wide range of renewable energy and energy efficiency industries, including manufacturing wind turbine components, shipping solar panel equipment and installing energy efficient building materials. Those are all economic sectors expected to benefit from demand for clean energy technologies created by a cap on carbon.”These maps show a manufacturing boom that’s ready to happen,” said Jackie Roberts, Director of Sustainable Technologies for EDF, who spearheaded the research behind the website. “A carbon cap rewards companies that invent efficient and low-carbon ways of creating and using energy. That will create huge demand for the nuts and bolts of clean energy, and will create new markets and new customers for companies like the ones on these maps.”LessCarbonMoreJobs.org allows visitors to search by state, Congressional district and media market to find companies manufacturing windmill components, shipping solar panel equipment and installing energy efficient building materials. The site also has case studies and worker profiles, and provides business details and contact information for all companies.Meridian Solar and HelioVolt Corporation, both in Austin, Texas, are two of the newest companies added to the LessCarbonMoreJobs.org site.”I started Meridian Solar out of my Grandmother’s garage 10 years ago and today we have over 40 employees on staff,” said Andrew McCalla, the company’s founder and CEO. “Clean energy companies like ours are not only surviving in the current economy, but are growing. That being said, our industry will grow even more, and faster, with improved municipal, state and federal leadership and regulations. A cap on carbon emissions would improve the landscape for clean energy and other industries, and Americans overall.”"At HelioVolt we are focused on manufacturing next generation thin-film solar products with a goal of delivering the most technologically efficient and cost effective solar systems on the market,” said Dr. BJ Stanbery, the company’s founder and Chief Strategy Officer. “Renewable energy companies like HelioVolt represent tremendous economic development opportunities. Being located in Austin, TX, has also allowed us to tap into a base of technology savvy employees who have been a part of the semiconductor business here and are now transitioning to green jobs.”Congress is now working on creating clean energy legislation that will help America use its vast renewable energy resources and move toward energy independence, while also creating much-needed jobs and protecting the climate. The House of Representatives passed a clean energy bill, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, earlier this year. The Senate just introduced the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act earlier this month. |