Florida Governor Wants Bailout for Drywall
HVAC heat exchanger corrosion associated with Chinese drywall presence. Image credit:Chinese drywall PSC
This headline is certainly the meta-story that hovers above the request by Florida’s Republican Governor for Federal money to cover the cost of re-repairing thousands of hurricane-damaged homes which were repaired, first, with Chinese drywall. Florida’s Governor wants Federal money because insurance companies won’t cover …Read the full story on TreeHugger
Good News: EU Is On Track To Meet Its Renewable Goals
photo via flickr
There’s a lot of grim climate news, of course, but the EU keeps moving forward. On Friday, the European Commission announced that the EU, which is made up 27 member countries, is on track to meet its goal of generating 20 percent of its energy from renewable resources by 2020. The Commission also says the EU will meet its other two goals of increasing energy efficiency by 20 percent and decreasing emissions by 20 percent of 1990 levels….Read the full story on TreeHugger
And Now For The Best Argument Against Global Warming . . .
Image via SF Gate
Over at the San Francisco Chronicle, Dr. Peter Gleick, the president of the Pacific Institute has come up with the most believable argument against global warming that I’ve yet encountered. And so, I’ll close out my Friday by sharing it….Read the full story on TreeHugger
Global Warming’s Evil Twin: Ocean Acidification – A Present And Measurable Danger
Acid ocean “SOS.” Image credit:Alaska Marine Conservation Council
US EPA has decided to consider ways that US states can, under already delegated authorities, curb pollutants that may otherwise add to the power of global warming’s evil twin: Ocean Acidification. (Note: many US States regulate stack emissions to reduce acid rain and also have the delegated Federal authority to limit the acidity of effluent discharges within their boundaries. So, this would be an extension of State’s rights, by interpretation of existing Federal and State la…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Confirmed: LG Chem to Build $303 Million Lithium-Ion Battery Plant in Michigan
Image: LG Chem
The Supply Chain for Electric Cars is Growing
About 6 months ago we wrote that LG Chem was thinking about building an advanced lithium-ion battery plant in Holland, Michigan, to supply battery packs to GM for the Volt PHEV. Now it’s confirmed, everything’s official and the groundbreaking is scheduled for this summer, with a 2012 target for the beginning of operations. LG Chem says that the plant will create over 400 jobs by 2013, and many people will be hired and trained in advance….Read the full story on TreeHugger
Report: European Companies Buying Their Way Out of Carbon Cuts
Photo via Guardian
Most cap and trade schemes proposed by governments include provisions that allow polluting companies to buy carbon offsets–initiatives that pay for tree planting in South America or solar panel installation in India and so forth–instead of cutting emissions exclusively from their own operations. So, surprise, surprise, a recent report from the AP in the Huffpo Green has revealed that companies pa…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Is Creating Green Jobs a “Sensible Aspiration” for Governments?
Photo via A Green Living
That’s the topic of an ongoing online debate over at the Economist.com. In one corner, green jobs advocate Van Jones, who argues that governments should engage in the active practice of creating green jobs, by, for example, incentivizing clean energy projects. In the other, Andrew P. Morriss, a professor of business and law at the University of Illinois, who argues that green job creation should be left to the marketplace. …Read the full story on TreeHugger
Massive Gap Widens Between Republican and Democrat’s Belief in Climate Change
All charts and graphs via EnviroKnow
I’ve written before about the ever-increasing politicization of climate change–the thesis that the scientifically backed consensus that human activity is warming the planet is now treated as a political belief isn’t a hard one to prove. But just in case I need to back the claim up with some hard numbers, Gallup has released the results of its most recent poll on climate change. In it, it’s revealed t…Read the full story on TreeHugger
New Gallup Poll Shows Global Warming Skepticism Growing – But Really Among Conservatives (Shocker!)
all images: Gallup.com
There have been a number of surveys released in the past few months about shifting attitudes of the American public regarding global warming. The general trend seems to be towards more climate skepticism and issue fatigue, and this latest one from Gallup just backs that up. It also correlates attitudes with political affiliation and ideology, again yielding …Read the full story on TreeHugger
Maldives Declares All Its Territorial Waters a Shark Sanctuary
photo: Christian Steen via flickr.
The Maldives definitely knows who’s paying the bills these days… The low-lying Indian Ocean nation has declared the entirety of its 90,000 square mile Exclusive Economic Zone a shark sanctuary, banning all fishing as well as imports and exports of shark fins. …Read the full story on TreeHugger
