Planetsave

The headlines are out, 1966 was the last time North America and much of Siberia have seen so much snow.

An article in Canada’s National Post summarized weather around the northern hemisphere and concluded that arctic ice is back, heavier than ever in some areas, and China is reeling from its worst winter in a century.

Of course, it doesn’t mean global warming is a non-entity, nor does it mean we’re headed for a mini ice-age. The author, Lorne Gunter, took a swipe at environmentalists this way:

“Ok, so one winter does not a climate make. It would be premature to claim an Ice Age is looming just because we have had one of our most brutal winters in decades.

But if environmentalists and environment reporters can run around shrieking about the manmade destruction of the natural order every time a robin shows up on Geeorgian Bay two weeks early, then it is at least fair game to use this winter’s weather stories to wonder whether the alarmist are being a tad premature.”

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been over a hundred years, but soon a three-masted, 19th century barque will transport 60,000 bottles of French wine from Bordeaux to Dublin. And this is just the beginning for vintners in the Languedoc region.

The 170 foot Belem, launched in 1896, spent many years transporting choclate from South America, and gets it’s name from a Brazilian port. It will be the first of seven three-masted vessels planned to be in service by 2013, all apparently slated to transport French wines as far as Canada.

Frederic Albert, owner of the ship, is quoted by The Guardian as saying, “My idea was to do something for the planet and something for the wines of Languedoc. One of my grandfathers was a wine-maker and one was a sailor”.

The delivery by ship will take longer than a flight, but Albert says it will save 18,375lb of carbon.

Each bottle transported by the Belem will be labelled: “Carried by sailing ship, a better deal for the planet”.

The US has blocked what is being labeled a landmark assessment of oil and gas activity in the high north polar regions. Not surprisingly, this comes at the same time that they are trying to sell off drilling-exploration licenses to the highest bidder for the Chukchi Sea off Alaska.

Sadly, this is also one of the last major habitats of the polar bear, an animal that is already struggling to deal with climate changes.

The long-awaited assessment was derailed by the US prior to its release in Norway, leaving the authors with “huge frustration.” “They [the US] have blocked it,” said one of the lead authors, who requested to go nameless. “We have no executive summary and no plain language conclusions.”

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s the scenario. You’re a young boy living in southern Utah, not far from Nevada’s atomic testing grounds. The mushroom clouds that rose in the sky were fascinating to see, as was the greenish tint that hung in the western sky for weeks. As your family drives from your home along the road to Zion National Park, you notice state troopers warning drivers to roll up their car windows, even when it was quite warm, and you wondered why.

Audio Here:

Years later, your father dies of lymphoma, and you realize it may have been the result of breathing that green air from the atomic testing range. And you finally understand why the state troopers warned motorists about the dirty air. Read the rest of this entry »

An Atlanta-based company is betting on a sustainable, unending supply of raw material as feed stock, to create a renewable energy source. Human and industrial wastes will soon be processed into a solid, called “E-Fuel”, a replacement for coal or other fossil fuels.

The company, EnerTech Environmental, says it has received $42 million in funding to continue engineering and completion of a commercial-size plant in Rialto, CA, shown in the picture. Four more plants are in the planning stage as funding for the projects is received. The company says it now has $57 million in venture capital. Read the rest of this entry »

A Canadian company has used the current presidential race to plug it’s coal-to-liquid process. Citing positive statements by presidential hopefuls, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Mike Huckabee, Silverado Green Fuel has posted a video on it’s front page, explaining the process of turning low-grade coal into a clean-burning, non-polluting product.

The Vancouver, BC firm claims their initial production costs will come in at $15 per barrel, on an oil equivalent energy basis. Not bad, they say, considering oil is hanging in there at $90 plus a barrel. Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s a new wrinkle to advertising, photo and film shoots that are tracked and quantified for the amount of pollutants they produce during a shoot.

A London-based environmental engineering firm has created the tracking software, and it’s been used in the production of several TV commercials. Here’s Hoag Levins of Advertising Age with a report.

A link to the original story is here:

What more can one say? CBS shocked the industry with this video of guards sleeping at the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. They just happen to be in what they called “the ready room.”

The full story in the Washington Post.

They’ve done it, and help from other states is on the way. California’s Attorney General Jerry Brown has filed a lawsuit with the US court of appeals challenging the EPA’s decision to block California from implementing tough new standards on vehicle emissions. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is quoted as saying;

“It is unconscionable that the federal government is keeping California and 19 other states from adopting these standards. They are ignoring the will of millions of people who want their government to take action in the fight against global warming. That’s why, at the very first legal opportunity, we’re suing to reverse the US EPA’s wrong decision. By implementing these standards, California would be eliminating greenhouse gases equivalent to taking 6.5 million cars off the road by the year 2020.”

As I suggested in my “Open Challenge to California and all State Governments” of Dec. 20, 15 other states or state agencies are joining the action, including Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico and New York. Read the rest of this entry »

Have you eaten dirt? I have, usually when some bully shoved my face on the ground or during a football game when a 300 lb tackle sat on the back of my head. My parents told me that several times as a toddler, they’d find me scooping up a handful and putting it in my mouth.

It may have been my way of having a hizzy fit for not getting my way, saying, “I’ll go out and eat some dirt.” Most kids say they’ll eat worms. I never liked worms.

I gave all that up for t-bone steaks and ice cream, but there are people around the world who eat dirt, and like it. Some folks buy what is called “healing clay” at a drug store for a snack. Anthropologist Sera Young of Cornell University believes it’s all part of an ancient craving that has evolved over the centuries. Read the rest of this entry »