Uproar about Tokyo Olympics Construction: “No Rainforest Destruction or Human Rights Abuses”
Petitions delivered to Japanese Embassies in Germany and Switzerland today decry the use of tropical wood as part of Tokyo Olympics construction.
Environment
Virgin Forests and their Unique Biodiversity: A Film in the Making
An upcoming film will show the wonder and increasing deforestation of the Romanian virgin forests. A Kickstarter campaign will make it possible.
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ACLU Lawsuit Forces Landfill Company to Agree to Free Speech and Environmental Protections
A group of citizens in Alabama who spoke out against a coal ash landfill in their small town were vindicated, with help from the ACLU.
Trump Administration Spurs a Solidarity Wake-Up Call in U.S. and Abroad
Many protests and action-oriented organizations are taking to the streets to reject Donald Trump’s policies and appointments.
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Wave Energy Converter Prize is Awarded to AquaHarmonics
The recent announcement of the recipient of the Wave Energy Prize marks another step toward global disruption of the reliance on fossil fuels.
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Renewable Microgrids and Remote Communities across the Globe
Renewable energy microgrids can change the way that people on isolated islands and in remote communities live.
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Socially Responsible versus Environmental, Social, and Governance Investment
What’s the difference between socially responsible investments and investments that advance social, environmental, and governance practices?
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How Will You Celebrate America Recycles Day on November 15?
America Recycles Day in November 15. Do your part to reduce litter and contribute to a healthy planet.
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How to Choose the Best Sustainable MBA for You
What do you need to consider as you choose a sustainable MBA program? Here’s a list of helpful ideas.
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Hawaii Solar
Hawai’i has long, sunny days and the capability to produce lots of solar energy. Why, then, is solar production so contentious in Hawai’i?
Budweiser’s “Not Backing Down” Ad: Corporate and Political Parallels
Advertisements have a way of persuading us about larger social issues. What can a Budweiser commercial tell us about sustainability and society?
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Thinking About a Green MBA? Here’s What You Need to Know
A green MBA is a specialized degree that surrounds that specific study of the extent to which environmental and social sustainability can be achieved at a profit. Are you interested?
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Massachusetts Solar — History & Policy
Solar energy in Massachusetts has grown from 10 megawatts in 2009 to more than 1,050 megawatts in 2016. The state enacted much legislation to usher in solar as a renewable energy source.
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A Solar-Plus-Storage Startup Focuses on Optimizing the Battery
Swell Energy’s EnergyShield combines rooftop solar and lithium-ion batteries from its partners, plus an energy management system.
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GOP EPA Chiefs Endorse Clinton over Trump’s “Profound Ignorance of Science”
Endorsing Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, two former EPA chiefs, both Republicans, are warning that Donald Trump’s energy policy “would set the world back decades.” William D. Ruckelshaus, head of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Presidents Nixon and Reagan, and William K. Reilly, EPA Chief under George H. W. Bush, signed the joint
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How Bringing Back The Great Whale Can Limit Climate Change (VIDEO)
The oceans are huge carbon sinks for the world. Fish and whales comprise only a tiny part of their overall biomass. Nevertheless, studies have shown that fishing and whaling by humans have altered the ocean’s carbon storage and sequestration capabilities by causing a change in the food chain, or a trophic cascade. As naturalist and
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Can Poverty Be Reduced through Environmental Protection of Natural Areas?
[Originally published at Inspired Economist] Little is known about the mechanisms through which ecosystem conservation programs affect poverty, but scholars are now accumulating evidence about the effects of environmental programs on social outcomes. A recent article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences highlights the progress being made by researchers in Costa
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“Origami Robots” Self-Construct And Start Working
If you haven’t seen the origami robot yet, you’re in for a fantastic surprise! Evoking the potential of an ancient and wonderful Japanese art, these crawling robots can self-assemble from flat-pack designs and autonomously perform. Inspired by self-assembly in nature—such as the way complex proteins with sophisticated functions derive from folding linear sequences of amino
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Many State Governors With US House In Blocking Climate Action
On Tuesday, one big handy graphic appeared online detailing what every state governor really believes about climate change. The Center for American Progress released an interactive map of the 50 states. It details the sad fact that half of America’s 29 Republican governors agree with the anti-science caucus of Congress. Tiffany Germain And Ryan Koronowski, who wrote the
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New "Tool for Action" from Climate Reality Project
Climate Reality Project, Cape Verde (UN in Cape Verde on Flickr/Climate Reality Project/Masakazu SHIBATA) Sometimes one website just doesn’t seem able to serve all the goals of a complex, multi-actor organization. The Climate Reality Project had this problem and just unveiled its chosen solution today. We recommend you check it out. With a global movement
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Rails-to-Trails Gains Steam With $5M For Atlanta BeltLine
Sustainable redevelopment strikes again! The Atlanta BeltLine, one of nation’s largest, widest-ranging urban redevelopment programs, will develop the Westside Trail. Plans call for a three-mile-long, 14-foot-wide concrete multi-use path in the BeltLine’s southwest corridor. As well as a Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant from the US Department of Transportation, which is covering 42%
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E-Cigarettes: "To smoke, but how to smoke?"
Saying “the jury is still out” on the ramifications of electronic cigarettes would be a massive understatement. E-cigarettes* are designed to mimic tobacco cigarettes in both look and feel. Most of them have three basic parts: a battery-operated heating element; a replaceable or refillable cartridge containing nicotine; and an atomizer that converts the cartridge contents
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President Announces Solar Deployment and Energy Efficiency Actions Today
By now, many of us have heard that the President spent a little time this morning at a Wal-Mart store in in Mountain View, California, near San Jose. Solar deployment and energy efficiency were the two main thrusts of his speech. He spoke about more than 300 recent private and public sector commitments to create
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The IPCC's Blockbuster 5th Climate Assessment
BREAKING: Late this evening (8 pm EST, or tomorrow, March 31, at 9 am in Tokyo), something large and unpleasant will hit the fan about climate change. At a press conference in Yokohama, the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change will release its Fifth Assessment Report on impacts of human activities on current and
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Review: The Long Shadow Of Chernobyl
Though we try to keep a very positive focus here, PlanetSave isn’t just a blog about the wonders of the natural world and the glory of Mankind’s inventions. It also offers knowledge and a caution about our failures as individuals and as a species. We’ve all made mistakes before, big and small. By acknowledging anthropogenic
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Four Reasons Why Democracy is Ineffective as an Agent of Change
We often take it for granted that democracy is the best way for us to run our societies. In democratic countries, governments are given consent to rule and legitimacy by the people through the electoral process, and elected governments are presumed to be generally representative of public opinion. But how well does democracy function
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Los Angeles Council Unanimously Puts Off Fracking
When the hydraulic fracturing measure passed the Los Angeles City Council today, several tweeters posted photos of this meeting (source of the above: Walker Foley on twitter). The City Council of Los Angeles, second-most populous metro in the United States, voted 10-0 today to prohibit hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) and other “unconventional” deep-underground drilling methods to produce
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Help Others "Get" Climate Change With This Page
If you’re a regular PlanetSave reader, you know a lot of these facts already–but here’s an excellent one-pager about climate change, a.k.a. global warming. The presenters write in everyday language with photos and feature leads. From the webpage: “The science of global warming starts with the burning of fossil fuels, specifically in vehicles fueled by
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Farmageddon Strips Rosy Myths From 21st-Century Food: London Salon February 20
Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat exposes a worldwide crisis in mega-farming. (Graphic from Sunday Times review by coauthor.) The authors, Philip Lymbery and Isabel Oakeshott, believe that the increasingly globalized food production industry threatens the quality of what we eat, our health, and the very land we live on. They say people now
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State Of The Union: Climate Change, Energy
From President Barack Obama’s State of the Union Address February 12, 2013, 9:15 P.M. EST U.S. Capitol Washington, D.C. THE PRESIDENT: Mr. Speaker, Mr. Vice President, members of Congress, fellow citizens: Fifty-one years ago, John F. Kennedy declared to this chamber that “the Constitution makes us not rivals for power but partners for progress.” (Applause.)
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What's "Sustainable Development"? Free Online Course!
On his blog “I see a change,” Nigerian Youth Development Expert Olumide Idowu presents the elements of sustainable development (source: olumideidowu.blog.com). Not all online courses provide all they promise you, but here’s one that should answer all your questions about environmentally sustainable, socially inclusive economic development. It will also challenge you to find out more.
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Hamburg Will Extend Bike, Ped Routes & Remove Cars From City Core
Move over, Copenhagen. Hamburg is following you into the 21st century by deemphasizing the role of the car. Almost half of Germany’s second-largest city already consists of green areas, parks, gardens, squares, cemeteries, and sports facilities (see map). Hamburg plans to link two large green areas in the north and south with bicycle routes and pedestrian
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Renewables (Bikes!) Power Times Square New Year's Ball
New York “rides in” the New Year as Times Square visitors bike to help power the New Year’s Eve Ball (© Charles Sykes, Invision, for Citi, on Treehugger). You heard it right. When the festive ball drops to usher in 2014, renewable energy will contribute to the flashiness of its cascade. For the past three
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What Makes A Town An "EV Town" — Normal & Others Show Leadership
How come Normal, Illinois–about 150 miles south of Chicago–has ten times as many electric vehicles per capita than the U.S. average? (You’re right; it’s not just coincidence.) A coalition of business, industry, nonprofits, all levels of government, and farsighted individuals has converged to transform Normal into an EV town. And it’s not an exclusive community.
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TEPCO Begins Relocating Fuel At Fukushima Unit 4
NHK World reports the beginning of Fukushima Reactor Unit 4 fuel rod transfer. (Screenshot of NHK broadcast, video released by TEPCO.) The ticklish operations involved in decommissioning Tokyo Electric’s ruined nuclear power plant at Fukushima began on Monday. Workers at the plant began removing unused nuclear fuel from the fourth-floor storage pool at the damaged
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BREAKING: Today's Illinois Tornadoes
Tornado watches and warnings in the Midwest, Sunday, November 17, 2013. On their way to Chicago. Peoria. Jennifer Wojcicki ☈ @WxWithJenny 20m RT @TomPurdyWI: Beautiful wall cloud near Harvard, Illinois earlier, inflow screaming in on right side there. #ilwx pic.twitter.com/8JvW8Hwfiq Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune 58m Tornado touching down in LaSalle County http://trib.in/1bwjOO7 pic.twitter.com/zBOT9eyAH8 ChuckGoudieABC @ChuckGoudieABC7 Twister
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"Lousy, Spoilt, and Defiled Planet" Climate Talks Begin In Warsaw
Officials open the 2013 UNFCCC meetings with determination and louder warnings…. (Photo source: http://ow.ly/qL43P) It’s time for the governments of the world to struggle with climate change policy again. Every year, late in November and early in December, representatives of 195 nations gather for two weeks to try to negotiate global responses to the increasingly
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U.S. To Aid TEPCO In Moving Hot Fukushima Fuel
Preparing to decommission the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, TEPCO recently dismantled the damaged roof parapet of Unit 4 and removed debris there. (Screenshot source: Enformable.com/Lucas W. Hixson.) As early as next Friday (November 8), the scariest decommissioning work at the ruined nuclear power complex may begin. Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO), the largest electrical utility in
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Make-believe "Polarization" In 1st Hearing On Climate Plan
President Obama’s Plan to Fight Climate Change has an initial Congressional hearing (whitehouse.gov). Here’s what happened: Perhaps the second great step the Obama Administration has made this year with respect to climate change–after the President’s June 25 iteration of his sketchy but essentially solid outline for a new climate plan–happened this past week. The House
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Shutter 1.2% Of Power Plants, Cut Carbon Costs By 20%
The nation’s most-polluting power plant, Georgia Power Company’s Plant Scherer in Juliette, Georgia, emits more carbon dioxide than all of Maine’s energy emissions. Here’s more from Environment America: On September 10, the Environment America Research & Policy Center, an independent nonprofit, and the Frontier Group presented a mighty appealing fast track toward limiting the U.S.
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Solar Array Will Light A Long Norwegian Winter
It’s pretty dim in Rjukan, Norway, for five months of the year. Between the capital of Oslo to the east and the famous Norwegian fjords on the west coast, the town of about 3000 lies in a narrow valley at the foot of Gaustatoppen, the highest mountain massif in Telemark County. Winter sports attract many
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Rapid Environmental Changes May Have Driven Human Evolution
New research from Penn State and Rutgers University has reshaped the idea of what drove human evolution 2 million years ago, pointing the finger at a series of rapid environmental changes in East Africa rather than one single environmental change. “The landscape early humans were inhabiting transitioned rapidly back and forth between a closed
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Predicting Environmental Collapse
Predicting when an ecosystem is likely to collapse has benefits for foretelling crises in agriculture, fisheries and even social systems, and scientists from the University of Southampton in the UK are pioneering a new technique that may be able to do just that. The research applies a mathematical model to a real world situation, in
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Tar Sands Opposition Escalates: Human Blockade, Tree Sit-In "Village," And Police Violence In Texas Forest
Protest against the controversial Keystone XL “Tar Sands” Pipeline has escalated dramatically in recent days, largely unreported in the national media. Protesters have established a human blockade in front of the construction path of the pipeline, in an old oak forest outside of Winnsboro, Texas. The confrontation is shaping up to be a defining
Is Escaping the Urban Jungle to the Wilderness Good for the Wilderness?
Here’s an interesting question to ponder: You want to escape life in the city and take a break. You jump in your car, or on a plane, and head out to “the unspoiled environment” to relax and “be at one with your surroundings.” Ask yourself, is this any good for that unspoiled environment? New research
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Obama, Declaring "we must learn from history," Praises Chevron at A-bomb Memorial Service
President Obama, speaking at the annual “Chevron remembers Nagasaki” memorial service, today praised the US oil giant for its role “in helping all of us learn from history.” Speaking in San Fransisco moments before the crowd-pleasing pyrotechnic recreation of the 1944 blasts in Japan, Obama cited the role of the oil industry in working
Shell: A Series of Broken Promises Spells Trouble for the Arctic
This is a guest post by Dan Ritzman, Senior Campaign Representative for the Sierra Club. “We recognize that industry’s license to operate in the offshore is predicated on being able to operate in a safe, environmentally sound manner. Shell’s commitment to those basic principles is unwavering. Our Alaska Exploration Plans and Oil Spill Response Plans
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Second-Generation Biofuels — Cellulosic Ethanol
The need to save the world from the abundance of environmental problems is increasing apace. The daily wave of Armageddon-type scenarios thrust upon us from the minute we switch on our electronica is so unnerving it requires a significant amount of denial to prevent constant anxiousness. However, denial can only get one so far —
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