Theenergynet's Favorite Links on ecology from Diigo

A Blind Man's Guide to Energy Policy - Business - redOrbit

Fri, 16 May 2008 18:28:29 -0000

The broad vision needed to transform the energy system will develop only when narrowly focused constituencies learn to see through the eyes of others. The United States has seemingly reached a consensus that energy is a serious problem. Unfortunately, there is no consensus on the solution. Three major constituencies are dominating discussion of the problem, and each approaches the issue from a different viewpoint. The constituency that is worried about climate change sees profligate use of fossil fuel that has dramatically changed our atmosphere. The energy security group sees dangerous reliance on foreign oil held by countries hostile to the United States. The economic vitality group sees high energy prices and market volatility threatening the economy and the U.S. standard of living. These three are certainly not the only constituencies, but they are the three that define the public interest aspects of the current policy debate in the United States, and more important, they are each pushing an agenda that does not mesh with that of the others.

Tags: energy energy.news ecology

Posted by: theenergynet

The Pentagon Is America's Biggest Polluter | Environment | AlterNet

Fri, 16 May 2008 07:35:35 -0000

The nation's biggest polluter isn't a corporation. It's the Pentagon. Every year the Department of Defense churns out more than 750,000 tons of hazardous waste -- more than the top three chemical companies combined.

Yet the military remains largely exempt from compliance with most federal and state environmental laws, and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Pentagon's partner in crime, is working hard to keep it that way.

Tags: ecology n-waste perchlorate us nuke.news

Posted by: theenergynet

Alan Farago: Nuclear Florida

Wed, 14 May 2008 07:35:42 -0000

There is a reason Miami-Dade County in Southern Florida is the first place where America's utility industry is moving forward with new nuclear capacity in three decades.

In Miami, Florida Power & Light found public officials malleable as silly putty, willing to allow a local agreement with a wink to substitute for solid facts that the public had the right to know: where the cooling water will come from at a time of chronic drought, where the water--more than 50 million gallons per day-- will go when it is evaporated, and what will its effects be on public health and the environment

Tags: nuclear energy economics climatechange fl

Posted by: theenergynet

EcoGeek - 6 Stupidly Simple Steps to Saving Billions of Gallons of Gas

Mon, 12 May 2008 08:10:39 -0000

OK...gas prices are getting out of hand, and carbon emissions have been out of hand for a long time. So let's kill two birds with...well...five stones. We generally focus on high-technology here at EcoGeek, and how we can save energy with smart designs. But sometimes, there are simpler ways. In fact, an absolutely tremendous amount of gasoline could be saved in America with some very simple measures. We break it all down and figure out how much gas can be saved with some stupidly simple techniques.

Tags: energy energy.news oil conservation ecology

Posted by: theenergynet

Don't be deceived, there's no such thing as 'clean coal' - Salt Lake Tribune

Tue, 06 May 2008 08:24:47 -0000

Let's be real: "Clean coal" is a marketing slogan not a technological reality. Coal does currently provide us with a reliable source of electricity but at an astronomical price that is hidden from us consumers.
Maybe you pay for it with your child's asthma. Maybe you paid for it with your father's heart attack or your grandmother's stroke that took her speech away. Maybe you lost a baby to SIDS on a particularly bad air day.

Tags: energy energy.news coal ecology

Posted by: theenergynet

BBC NEWS | Science/Nature | Nature's carbon balance confirmed

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 23:27:33 -0000

Scientists have found new evidence that the Earth's natural feedback mechanism regulated carbon dioxide levels for hundreds of thousands of years.

But they say humans are now emitting CO2 so fast that the planet's natural balancing mechanism cannot keep up.

Highlights and Sticky Notes:

Scientists have found new evidence that the Earth's natural feedback mechanism regulated carbon dioxide levels for hundreds of thousands of years.

But they say humans are now emitting CO2 so fast that the planet's natural balancing mechanism cannot keep up.

Tags: climatechange ecology energy energy.news

Posted by: theenergynet

Eight Reasons Our Changing World Will Turn You Into an Environmentalist, Like It or Not | Environment | AlterNet

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:38:29 -0000

The challenges our society faces with depleted energy resources, water shortages, soaring food costs all point to environmental solutions.

Tags: ecology energy energy.news eco.news

Posted by: theenergynet

Hold the Carbon: Cafeterias Focus on Green Fare : NPR

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 18:37:04 -0000

From production to processing, transport to trash can, meals and snacks can leave a large environmental footprint. One company aims to slow this trend with a new low-carb menu. Carbs — as in carbon.

Tags: ecology climatechange energy energy.news

Posted by: theenergynet

Insects left disfigured by nuclear radiation - earth - 24 April 2008 - New Scientist Environment

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 08:44:27 -0000

No one wants to live too close to a source of artificial radiation, not even insects. Cornelia Hesse-Honegger has spent 20 years travelling around the world, mostly in Europe, capturing and studying over 16,000 insects, many living in the vicinity of nuclear power stations, or other artificial sources of radiation. Her conclusion, not surprisingly, is that exposure to radiation increases the chances of deformity.

She made particularly detailed studies

Tags: nuclear energy radiation safety ecology

Posted by: theenergynet

Uranium bonfire: Air Force incinerated radioactive waste - Salt Lake Tribune

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 18:54:06 -0000

Officials at Hill Air Force Base inadvertently orchestrated a uranium bonfire in a waste incinerator at Layton.
Over the past eight months, Hill sent a nine-ton batch of obsolete military hardware to the burn plant, unaware that the items contained "trace" amounts of depleted uranium. And when you're burning nine tons of waste, "trace" amounts add up. All told, five pounds of uranium went up in smoke.
The Weapons System Program Office at Hill is at fault. The documents spelling out the contents of the materials to be burned, according to a Hill press release, "were not readily accessible." So, instead of taking the time to track down the paperwork, officials callously threw it on the fire, and Utahns be damned.

Tags: nuclear safety incineration ut ecology

Posted by: theenergynet