Taxing Banks to Fight Climate Change: The Robin Hood Tax (Video)
Image credit: The Robin Hood Tax
The UK’s top bankers may be using G-Wiz electric cars to get around these days, but that’s not enough to make them popular. In fact there is as much public anger over bank bailouts in the UK as there is in the US. And while higher taxes may, in general, be a tough sell—taxing bank profits may be a little more palatable to your average man on the street. That’s why activists are calling for a Robin Hood Tax on speculative banking transactions, and they want to use that money…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Organic Wines Taste Better Than Conventional, But Still Seen as Inferior ‘Hippy Wine’
photo: Mr. T in DC via flickr.
Organic produce and textiles may fetch a premium compared to their non-organic counterparts, are certainly better for the planet and your health, and often proudly proclaim their eco-friendly status. But when it comes to wine a new UCLA study finds that even though organic wines fare better in tastings than non-organic, if you label them such they actually command lower prices. He…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Are Solar Feed-In Tariffs a Rip Off?
Image credit: Solarcentury
With the launch of the new UK renewable energy feed-in tariffs, the Government will now be paying every homeowner that installs solar panels and other renewables a guaranteed income in addition to the energy savings they are likely to reap. But some environmentalists are less than happy about it. In fact George Monbiot, who has previously called for a 100% cut in carbon emiss…Read the full story on TreeHugger
The World’s 50 Most Innovative Companies in 2009
And one of them is Iron Man. Image via Fast Company
Which company would you bestow the honor of ‘Most Innovative’ upon for its performance in 2009? Would it be a mammoth like Google, for continued innovation and investment in technologies of the future like clean energy and smart grids? Would it be a decades old entertainment company like Disney? A social media service like Twitter, which allowed protesters in Iran some much needed freedom of press? A solar technology company? A utility? Okay, enough with the speculation–here are <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/mic…Read the full story on TreeHugger
What are the Top 5 Cities for Clean Energy Jobs?
Photo via Ning
We talk a lot about the growing economic importance of the clean energy sector, the employment opportunities it will provide, etc–hell, so does pretty much everyone these days. But there still seems to be a bit of a perceived disconnect between the concept of clean energy jobs or green jobs and their actual existence: they seem like something that perpetually linger on the horizon,…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Obama’s ‘Green’ Stimulus: Did it Work?
Photo via Huffington Post
We made a lot of noise about Obama investing heavily (or at least more heavily than US presidents are typically wont to do) in ‘green’ ventures when the stimulus bill was passed last year. It depends on how you tally it, but there was some $60-80 billion in there for R&D for clean technology, green jobs and energy efficiency initiatives, and a number of related <a…Read the full story on TreeHugger
MicroEnergy Credits Help Speed Adoption of Clean Tech Worldwide
One family shows off a new Solar Water Heating system; Photo via Abri Beluga
Described as “providing the handshake” between the carbon market and the microfinance industry, MicroEnergy Credits is a business solution that holds the potential to speed along clean tech adoption globally by making it much more accessible. The company has used the business model of microfinancing – handing out small l…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Agricultural Free Trade & Market Fundamentalism Increased Poverty for Millions of Africans
photo: IRRI Images via flickr.
That headline may sound like anti-globalization rhetoric, and I suppose in a way it is, but based on a new report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences we now have some more proof that the enforced market reforms on the mid 1980s in Africa have, rather than bring prosperity as planned, have backfired and just brought increased poverty, increased hunger and food riots:…Read the full story on TreeHugger
The Pros (and Cons) of the Non-CO2 Case for Sustainability
Image credit: Global Spin
From my musings on whether environmentalism is a movement or not to Brian’s piece on why religious language on Global Warming is a mistake, it’s common for commenters to argue that greens focus too much on climate change. After all, everyone can get behind energy efficiency, cleaner air and water, and prestine nature—whether or not they beli…Read the full story on TreeHugger
Is Environmentalism Socialist? Comrade, please…
Image credit: Cafe Press
Perhaps one of the most confusing things about the recent attacks on the green movement by some of the wackier climate conspiracy theorists (as opposed to legitimate concerns over certain scientists’ behavior, or less than optimal citations at the IPCC), have been accusations that climate change is both a socialist conspiracy and a scam to make Wall Street rich. We already know that fossil fuel interests are vastly …Read the full story on TreeHugger
