Launch Party!
| Map reveals species most at risk from climate change We heard this week that a quarter of all mammals are threatened with extinction. One of those, the polar bear, made headlines earlier this year for being the first animal to be listed on the US Endangered Species Act, because of its vulnerability to climate change. |
| Diesel Ships: Floating Smokestacks Ocean-going ships like cruise ships, container ships and tankers carry passengers and cargo all over the world. These ships are critical to global trade and our national economy. Bustling U.S. seaports are among the busiest in the world for container traffic. Ocean-going ships are big sources of air pollutionBut besides delivering goods and people, these large ships deliver air pollution. Today the use of ocean- going ships to transport freight is on the rise, and nearly all the ships are powered by diesel engines.Diesel pollution is one of the most dangerous and pervasive sources of air pollution in the U.S. These "floating smokestacks" — which can be as long as three football fields — contribute significantly to harmful air pollution.Our new report Floating Smokestacks: A Call for Action to Clean Up Marine Shipping Pollution [PDF] shows the growing public health threat of these vessels and urges that the international community and Environmental Protection Agency work together to finalize protective international standards for high-polluting ocean-going ships without further delay. Pollution from ships contributes to unhealthy airThese floating smokestacks churn out a noxious brew of pollutants that contribute to a host of ill health effects, ranging from respiratory problems to premature death (more on health threats from diesel).They are a significant source of air pollution across America. EPA estimates that in 2001, ocean-going ships in the U.S. emitted:
Large ships pollute as much as millions of new carsAnother way to grasp the amount of smog-forming pollution that these large ships produce is to look at their emissions in major ports and compare the numbers with automobiles meeting today’s emissions standards.
Marine shipping is a huge global warming emitterOcean-going vessels are also responsible for 3 percent of global warming emissions worldwide (an estimated 912 million metric tons of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas). In U.S. waters alone, these vessels emitted about 55.6 million metric tons of CO2 2006.The global shipping industry as a whole accounts for more annual greenhouse gas emissions than almost any individual nation in the world. Only the United States, China, Russia, India and Japan emit more carbon dioxide than the global marine shipping fleet. Shipping set to grow, strong international rules neededGlobal marine shipping traffic is expected to grow by 4-7 percent annually through 2012, worsening pollution without new international emissions standards. EPA has finalized rigorous standards for other categories of significant diesel mobile sources.It is critical that strong standards for all ships in U.S. waters, both U.S. and foreign, be established to protect American communities that are impacted by the harmful pollution from these large diesel vessels.By 2030, without protective standards, ocean-going vessels in the U.S. will produce:
Time to act is at October 2008 meetingOn October 6-10, 2008, the International Maritime Organization (IMO), the international body that governs global shipping regulations, is poised to adopt more protective air emissions standards for all ocean-going ships.To ensure that meaningful clean-up standards are put in place for ocean-going ships, Environmental Defense Fund calls on the U.S. and the international community to finalize the stronger standards that will be on the table at the meeting. Working together, from the local level to the international level, we can achieve cleaner, healthier air by reducing ship and port-related pollution. Download full report and executive summary
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| The True Costs of Renewable Energy As utility costs mount ever higher, Americans now have real options to take home energy matters into their own hands with “green” systems that can pay for themselves in as little as a few years. |
| University Team Helps Nissan Unveil its Green Future We all are familiar with the reality of fossil fuels, their side effects, soaring prices and their impact on common man who cares to drive an automobile.A Sunderland University team is working tirelessly to create a hydrogen powered car. It will be a significant step forward in developing a mass produced green vehicle. It [.] |
| Global Warming Triggers an International Race for the Arctic A new epoch is beginning at the top of the Earth, where the historic melting of the vast Arctic ice cap is opening a forbidding, beautiful, and neglected swath of the planet. Already, there is talk that potentially huge oil and natural gas deposits lie under the Arctic waters, rendered more accessible by the shrinking of ice cover. Valuable minerals, too. |
| Thermo-chemical Conversion Technologies for Woody Biomass Utilization There are many ways to generate electricity from biomass using thermo-chemical pathway. These include directly-fired or conventional steam approach, co-firing, pyrolysis and gasification. |
| Greenprint Denver Council Releases Report The Greenprint Denver Council has released its draft Climate Action Plan, which includes their recommendations to Mayor Hickenlooper for a citywide greenhouse gas reduction strategy. For our inaugural post on the new Greenprint blog, we’re asking for your feedback. Please take a moment to review the document and the associated citywide greenhouse gas inventory, and [.] |
| Horizon Wind Energy in Indiana Alternative energy giant Horizon Wind Energy wants to trap the immense potential of wind energy. They are planning to open an Indianapolis office for developing up to four new wind farms in Indiana. It will cost them more than $2 billion. Indiana wind farms will be the largest of the Horizon’s farms and the [.] |
| Water seen as the new oil for U.S. Army Soldiers, weapons, food and fuel are important but the U.S. Army absolutely cannot operate for long without water, a top Pentagon official said on Tuesday.This simple fact is just as true for domestic bases as it is in “austere” forward installations in Iraq, said Tad Davis, the Army’s deputy assistant secretary for environment, safety and occupational health. |
| Launch Party! I got the following email from SDU Writer Ben Connor Barrie:It gives us great pleasure to announce the official launch of our weblog, Grown Ass People. |