The United States is now the only country in the world not committed to the carbon reduction goals announced in Paris at the COP21 climate change summit in 2015. But that doesn’t mean all Americans have abandoned the fight. At the COP23 climate conference in Bonn, Germany, last week, more than 100 people from the
The connection between the related systems in our life, known as the food, energy, and water Nexus– is key to a more sustainable future. An upcoming event in Idaho brings together experts on the subject.
Wave power could be one of the world’s most abundant source of renewable energy, as oceans cover more than 70% of the earth’s surface and hold onto a large amount of energy. But what needs to be done so that the world’s oceans can become attainable, sustainable energy resources? And how can wave power become competitive
A new law will now provide Massachusetts with the third US energy storage mandate. Look for storage legislation to gain favor in the upcoming years. “Irrespective of the eventual target, Massachusetts could become the first non-West Coast state to set forth a storage goal,” said Ravi Manghani, director of energy storage at GTM Research. “It
Originally published on the ECOreport. The oil train you see above may be one of the last to pass through Hood River, Oregon. Last month, a near-catastrophic derailment/fire occurred in the neighbouring town of Mosier. Though the town is still dealing with the aftereffects from a 42,000 gallon spill, they mayor acknowledges they were lucky. The Federal
LucidEnergy, a Portland, Oregon-based startup that launched in 2007, has devised a system to get hydroelectric power from city water supply pipes. A pilot project in Riverside, California is in operation and now a full scale project is beginning with the city of Portland, Oregon. Gregg Semler, president and CEO of LucidEnergy, said his team
Originally published on Eat Drink Better. By Jill Ettinger Long-time vegans would say it’s about time. And the wait is almost over for a store that only sells vegan food. That’s right. A vegan supermarket is coming to the U.S. But not until 2016. Called (ahem) “Veganz”, the German-based market opened in 2011 and is
The Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife keeps a fascinating Web page on their site to track the events in the lives of the Imnaha wolf pack. The December 29, 2011 entry says OR-7, a male, entered California. So far the page has not been updated to reflect the death of OR-5, the sister of
In a little-noticed breakthrough for sustainable, non-fossil-fuel electricity generation, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) last month issued the first-ever license for a wave power station in the United States. The license was issued to Ocean Power Technologies, a New Jersey–based private corporation specializing in wave energy. The first stage of the station, a
At over half a million years old, Mount Hood stands tall over the Oregon landscape, a volcano that has not erupted like so many of its cousins in the Cascade Mountains and throughout the Pacific Ring of Fire. Scientists have finally discovered why, and it has a lot to do with milkshakes. The research was
[Updated article, Jan. 18, 2012, with correction, see end note] Geothermal power has had a few setbacks in recent years: technical challenges and concerns that high-pressure pumping of water onto bedrock triggers earthquakes being the biggest ones (possibly two 2009 projects, one in California and one in Basel, Switzerland, were stopped over earthquake concerns). But,
A new study has found that the Northeast Pacific was not an important reservoir for the carbon that is believed to be responsible for the end of the last Ice Age, throwing scientists back to the proverbial drawing board as they digest this shift in their theories.
Top news & resources on Japan earthquake & tsunami
Great video of this year’s World Naked Bike Ride in Portland below. I wrote on the 2010 World Naked Bike ride awhile back here on Planetsave. Great, fun bicycling event. A friend of mine just shared this cool video of this year’s World Nake Bike Ride event in Portland. Too cool not to share. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qnw7mfujOig
Yes, that’s right, the 7th annual World Naked Bike Ride is approaching and you won’t need any cycling shorts or Lance Armstrong cycling clothes for this sexy (maybe) extravaganza. National Bike Month may have just ended in the US, but the World Naked Bike Ride is coming up — it will be on Saturday, June
[social_buttons] Oregon this summer became the first state to enact in law a product stewardship law for the collection of leftover consumer paint. The pilot program, which expires in 2014, involves a consumer fee that a nonprofit organization established by paint producers uses to pay for the collection and proper disposal or reuse of the
Nine monkeys escaped from an Oregon Health & Science University animal testing lab after a cage was left unlocked. Four were shortly re-captured and four others have been spotted on campus — but one has entirely eluded authorities. [social_buttons] “One of our cage cleaners accidentally left a lock off a cage,” said Jim Newman, a
The Humane Society of the United States has returned to court in attempt to stop the sea lion cull near the Bonneville Dam in Washington and Oregon. [social_buttons] Hundreds of sea lions may be trapped and killed in a program aiming to increase the salmon population in the river. The animal welfare group argues that
Why kill sea lions instead of lowering allowed fishing quotas? This question and others were left unanswered at a press conference today. Activists with In Defense of Animals and the Sea Lion Defense Brigade were awarded hard hats and badges before attending a press conference by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and the
Rogue prefers his steak medium-well. But when it comes to sniffing out a rare plant, this dog performs work that’s very well done, indeed.
The 4-year-old Belgian sheepdog is part of a Nature Conservancy collaborative project to test the efficacy of using dogs to sniff out the threatened Kincaid’s lupine. The plant is host to the endangered Fender’s blue butterfly, found only in Oregon’s Willamette Valley.
Probably you missed it, but last week there was a fascinating interview on the NPR program Talk of the Nation. The segment featured a scientist named David Goldberg, who answered questions about his research concerning the plausibility of storing massive amounts of carbon dioxide in basalt formations deep below the earth’s oceans. In a paper
Last December, EPA administrator Stephen Johnson denied California’s request to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Today, the Senate released documents putting Johnson squarely in opposition with the scientific and legal experts on his staff when he denied the request.The documents were requested by Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works chair Barbara Boxer (D-CA), who said:
