Monday, December 27, 2004

[Schools] Now With Bill Moyers Companion site to the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) news program hosted by Bill Moyers, who retired in December 2004. Browse information about past shows by topic areas such as politics and economy, science and health, arts and culture, and society and community. The topic index provides access to stories on specific issues, such as Iraq and the 2004 U.S. elections. Includes show transcripts, video clips, educational materials, interactive features, and related resources. Searchable. [Librarians' Index to the Internet] Click on Science & Health for links to environmental stories. 4:36:33 PM Google It!    [Recycling] Couple Finds Attractive Way to Recycle Shopping Bags The reactions are usually shock, then disbelief, then a thorough inspection and finally a quick feel when the Morins tell people the material of their crocheted handbags. [ENN Recycling Channel] 4:33:12 PM Google It!    [Schools] Students Give New Life to Unwanted Computers Don't tell Santa, but a workshop in Colorado Springs is filled with young people happily hacking electronics to bits. [ENN Recycling Channel] 4:32:48 PM Google It!    [Alternative energy] Avocado Oil, Taco Grease Fuel Eco-Bus in Mexico Ecologists toured Mexico City taco stands and sushi bars Wednesday to refuel an old school bus with waste cooking oil that will power the next leg of a green-awareness tour from California to Costa Rica. [ENN Recycling Channel] 4:32:18 PM Google It!    [Wildlife & environment] Male Fish Growing Eggs Found in Potomac Male fish that are growing eggs have been found in the Potomac River near Sharpsburg, a sign that a little-understood type of pollution is spreading downstream from West Virginia, a federal scientist says. [ENN Water Channel] 4:31:08 PM Google It!    [Meetings] 2005 National Environmental Partnership Summit, April 11-14, 2005, Chicago, IL The 2005 National Environmental Partnership Summit, "Advancing Environmental Stewardship Through Collaboration," will be held at the Fairmont Hotel in Chicago, Illinois, April 11-14, 2005. The four day program will focus on sharing innovations in pollution prevention, compliance assistance and environmental leadership. The 2005 Environmental Summit will merge the annual meetings of the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable, the Compliance Assistance Providers' Forum and the Performance Track Participants' Association. The summit will consist of plenary sessions, interactive workshops, educational breakout sessions, onsite exhibitors, and offsite events and site visits. The summit is co-sponsored by the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable; the Performance Track Participants' Association; the EPA's National Environmental Performance Track Program (Performance Track); the EPA Office of Compliance(OC); and the EPA Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT). [ChemAlliance Environmental News] 4:23:42 PM Google It!    [Flame retardants] Regulatory Action to Complement Phase-Out of Two Flame Retardant Chemicals To complement a voluntary phase-out of the manufacture of two common flame retardant chemicals scheduled for the end of this year, EPA is taking action to ensure that no new manufacture or import of two flame retardant chemicals occurs after Jan. 1, 2005, without first being subject to agency review. The two chemicals, Penta and Octa, are part of a chemical group called polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs, and have been used as flame retardants in commercial products such as furniture foam and structural plastics in small electronic appliances and computers. For more information on PBDEs, visit the Significant New Use Rule and the Furniture Flame Retardancy Partnership. For additional information regarding this notice, contact Enesta Jones 202-564-7873 / jones.enesta@epa.gov. [ChemAlliance Environmental News] 4:22:43 PM Google It!    [Corporate sustainability] Article Highlights Dupont Case Study of EHS Organizational Quality A recent article published in the Winter 2004 issue of Environmental Quality Management, "EHS Organizational Quality: A DuPont Case Study – Best practices in corporate environmental, heath, and safety organizational design,” focuses on the Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) organizational best practices of DuPont as an "Organization in Transition". Written by Richard MacLean, President of Competitive Environment Inc. and the Center for Environmental Innovation, the article presents research from interviews of key individuals in DuPont's organizational structure and explores the elements of a balanced and robust EHS organization. This study is part of ongoing research program at the Center for Environmental Innovation called "Organizations in Transition." An online version of the article is available at http://www.Competitive-E.com. [ChemAlliance Environmental News] 4:21:04 PM Google It!    [Chemical industry] Chemical & Engineering News Article Discusses Successes and Current Concerns of High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge Program The Chemical & Engineering News journal online published a December 7, 2004 article that discusses the challenges faced by the High Production Volume (HPV) Challenge Program, a cooperative effort between the environmental group, Environmental Defense, the American Chemistry Council, the EPA and industry trade groups. The initiative was launched in 1998 to address concerns that there was a lack of publicly available information regarding chemicals produced or imported in the greatest quantities by U.S. manufacturers. The goal of the program is for industry to provide information on basic health and ecological effects, environmental fate and physical properties for HPV chemicals. The C&EN article discusses current concerns over the HPV Challenge program such as the 330 “orphaned chemicals,” those substances for which no company has volunteered data. This is seen by many as the number one issue facing the Program today. The EPA earlier this month published a report on the status of the HPV Challenge Program (see ChemAlliance news item at http://www.chemalliance.org/News/news_detail.asp?StoryID=1547). [ChemAlliance Environmental News] 4:15:38 PM Google It!    [Air quality] EPA Announces Final Designations for First Fine Particle Standard Twenty governors were told by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today that certain areas of their states do not meet the nation’s first fine particle (PM2.5) air quality standards. While the great majority of the nation’s counties meet the new health-based standards, all or part of 225 counties nationwide, as well as the District of Columbia, are not in attainment with the standards. For more information on the particle pollution, visit http://www.epa.gov/pmdesignations/ . For more information on the 2004 Clean Air rules, visit http://www.epa.gov/cleanair2004 . For more information on particulate matter trends, visit http://www.epa.gov/airtrends. [ChemAlliance Environmental News] 4:14:35 PM Google It!    [Air quality] 2003 Particle Pollution Report Shows Major Improvements in Air Quality Levels of fine particle pollution, also known as PM 2.5, were the lowest in 2003 since nationwide monitoring began in 1999, according to an EPA report released December 14. The improved air quality can be largely attributed to EPA’s Acid Rain Program, along with other programs that reduced emissions that contribute to fine particle formation. The report, The Particle Pollution Report: Current Understanding of Air Quality and Emissions through 2003, looks at recent and long-term trends in air quality and emissions, explores the characteristics of particle pollution in the United States, and takes a close look at particle pollution in 2003 (the most recent year for which data are available). The full report is available at http://www.epa.gov/pmdesignations/. [ChemAlliance Environmental News] 4:13:46 PM Google It!    [Schools] It Blinded Me With Science Songs Were you looking for information on over 1700 songs of science and math, you want the MASSIVE database. The MASSIVE (Math And Science Song Information, Viewable Everywhere) database covers the silly to the sublime, the basic to the seriously advanced. It's available at http://www.science-groove.org/MASSIVE/.  [ResearchBuzz] 4:10:46 PM Google It!    [Government policy] Funding innovation: Pull Beats Push Dave Pollard expands on a New Yorker article by James Surowiecki, which describes a novel approach to funding research to develop vaccines and treatments for third world diseases like malaria, tuberculosis and AIDS, by extending it to alternative energy technologies. [How to Save the World] 4:01:03 PM Google It!    [Online resources] TIME Magazine Archives Now Available on TIME.com TIME magazine has now made its 81 years of archives available, over 266,000 articles. The archives have their own domain at http://www.timearchive.com. [ResearchBuzz] 3:54:41 PM Google It!    [Environmental policy] 'I see it feelingly' Bill Moyers on the environment. 3:51:37 PM Google It!    [Recycling] Web server running on a Newton MessagePad Today's MacGyver Computing Award. The Unofficial Apple Weblog reports on a web server running on a Newton MessagePad 1200! Talk about 'reduce, reuse, recycle'! Something to consider before you think about 'recycling' that 'obsolete' computer -- you know, the one you would have drooled over just a few years ago, but that's 'just too slow' now... [Gil Friend] 3:49:51 PM Google It!    [Climate change] Tree Planting Could Ease Global Warming, California Scientists Say As scientists sounded alarms about global warming at an international forum in Argentina this week, local research scientists announced that the solution may be as simple as planting trees. [ENN Climate Channel] 3:46:21 PM Google It!    [Climate change] Santa Workshop Said Under Threat from N.Pole Thaw Reuters - Santa may have to move his workshop from the North Pole because global warming is thawing the ice beneath his elves' and reindeers' feet. [Yahoo! News: Science] 3:43:21 PM Google It!    [Grants] Biomass Research and Development Initiative The US Dept. of Agriculture and US Dept. of Energy jointly announce the announce the availability of FY05 funds and solicit applications for financial assistance addressing research, development, and demonstration of biomass based products, bioenergy, biofeuls, biopower, and related processes.  This funding opportunity, herein referred to as the “solicitation,” is intended to promote greater innovation and development related to biomass, and to support Federal policy calling for greater use of biomass-based products, feedstock production, and processing and conversion. This joint USDA/DOE solicitation for FY05 is more focused and defined than in previous years in order to assist USDA and DOE in developing a more balanced portfolio of work products under this financial assistance program.  This year’s focus is on development and demonstration projects that lead to greater commercialization.  Future solicitations under this initiative may emphasize similar or differing aspects of biomass research, development, and demonstration to assure that USDA and DOE continue to obtain an appropriate portfolio mix of investments.  However, this solicitation is limited to Technical Topic Area covered in this announcement. Pre applications are due no later than and must be received by 6:00p.m., Eastern Standard Time on 2/15/2005; All applicants are requested to use an express mail service (e.g., Fed-Ex, USPS, UPS, or other) to submit their pre-applications.  No hand-delivered, email or fax pre-applications will be accepted. The full announcement can be viewed at http://www.bioproducts-bionergy.gov and http://e-center.doe.gov. 3:37:33 PM Google It!    [Schools] Storm Water and Aquatic Communities Summary of a science fair project entitled Ecotoxicology of Stormwater Pollution in Our Aquatic Communities. [Source: Science News for Kids] 3:32:40 PM Google It!    [Schools] The Birds are Falling It's time to start paying close attention to birds. That's what a group of scientists and students from Stanford University in California says. [Source: Science News for Kids] 3:27:56 PM Google It!    [Grants] Research interests of the Air Force Office of Scientific Research The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR) invites proposals for basic research in support of the Air Force Defense Research Sciences Program. This program is described in the document entitled Research Interests and Broad Agency Announcement 2005-1. This document will guide proposers through AFOSR's research program and facilitate their preparation of research proposals. It is available on the AFOSR web site at http://www.afosr.af.mil/. The general areas of interest are: (1) Aerospace and Materials Sciences; e.g., structural mechanics; mechanics of materials and devices; unsteady aerodynamics and hypersonics; turbulence and rotating flows; combustion and diagnostics; space power and propulsion; metallic materials; combustion and diagnostics; space power and propulsion; metallic materials; ceramics and nonmetallic materials; organic matrix composites. (2) Physics and Electronics; e.g., electroenergetic physics; space electronics; atomic and molecular physics; remote sensing and imaging; optoelectronics: components and information processing; laser and optical physics; quantum electronic solids; semiconductor materials; sensors in the space environment; high density optical memory. (3) Chemistry and Life Sciences; e.g., polymer chemistry; surface and interfacial science; theoretical chemistry; molecular dynamics; chronobiology; biomimetics, biomaterials, and biointerfacial sciences; cognition and decision; sensory systems; biological response profiling and assessment. (4) Mathematics and Space Sciences; e.g., dynamics and control; physical mathematics and applied analysis; computational mathematics; optimization and discrete mathematics; signals communication and surveillance; software and systems; artificial intelligence; electromagnetics; space sciences. (5) Education and Outreach Programs; e.g., United States Air Force Resident Research Associateship Program; National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship Program; United States Air Force-Summer Faculty Fellowship Program; Engineer and Scientist Exchange Program; Window on Science Program; Window on Europe, Window on Asia, and Window on the Americas Program. 3:24:36 PM Google It!    [Grants] Fiscal Year (FY) 2005 Multi-media State and Tribal Assistance Grant (STAG) Program The Office of Compliance (OC), within EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance (OECA), is soliciting porposals and partial grant applications for states and tribes to strengthen their ability to address environmental and public health threats, while furthering the art and science of environmental compliance. 3:22:00 PM Google It!    [Climate change] Climate Change Affecting Species, Study Shows Assessment says rising temperatures are altering migration routes and breeding patterns. The report, entitled Global Climate Change and Wildlife in North America, is available for $7 from The Wildlife Society. [Source: Washington Post] 3:19:22 PM Google It!    [Climate change] Climate change issues clouded by ozone Air pollutants like ozone are fundamentally changing the way clouds form, by destroying organic compounds that usually coat airborne particles and slow droplet formation. This newly discovered mechanism could be having "large climate effects", according to the researchers who discovered it. The trouble is nobody knows whether the effect will speed up global warming or slow it down. [Source: New Scientist] 3:12:58 PM Google It!    [Alternative energy] Pliable solar cells are on a roll Imagine wearing a jacket or rucksack that charges up your mobile phone while you take a walk. Or a tent whose flysheet charges batteries all day so campers can have light all night. Or a roll-out plastic sheet you can place on a car's rear window shelf to power a child's DVD player. Such applications could soon become a reality thanks to a light, flexible solar panel that is a little thicker than photographic film and can easily be applied to everyday fabrics. The thin, bendy solar panels, which could be on the market within three years, are the fruit of a three-nation European Union research project called H-Alpha Solar (H-AS). [Source: New Scientist] 3:11:52 PM Google It!    [Green Building] New Report Shows Benefits of Solar Panels Contrasting the commonly held belief that solar panels are too expensive for the average homeowner, a new Environment California Research & Policy Center report quantifies the economic benefits of installing solar photovoltaic (PV) systems on California homes. The report, The Economics of Solar Homes in California: How Residential Photovoltaic Incentives Can Pay Off for Homeowners and the Public, was released at the Solar Summit hosted by the state Department of Resources and the California Environmental Protection Agency discussing Governor Schwarzenegger's Million Solar Roofs Initiative. [Source: Environmental Protection Magazine] 3:10:50 PM Google It!    [Meetings] NCSE Conference on Forecasting Environmental Changes: Building Connections Among Institutions, Scientific Fields, and Users The 5th National Conference on Science, Policy and the Environment: Forecasting Environmental Changes will develop recommendations for creating an integrated environmental forecasting capacity.  It will feature a robust set of breakout sessions and symposia that are designed to build connections among institutions, scientific fields and users.  Organized by the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE), the conference will take place on February 3-4, 2005 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, DC.  3:09:19 PM Google It!    [Environmental health] Report ties some herb remedies to toxic metals South Asian herbal remedies sold next to curry powder and basmati rice in Boston-area ethnic food markets may contain harmful amounts of lead, mercury, and arsenic, according to researchers who have analyzed their contents. [Source: Boston Globe] 3:07:49 PM Google It!    [Solder] Get the Lead Out: Effects of Lead-Free Soldering on Solvent Cleaning, Desoldering Braid and Temporary Solder Mask The transition to lead-free solder has been the topic of constant discussion in electronic industry magazines and tradeshows. For good reason – a wide variety of processes in the manufacture of printed circuit boards (PCB) are affected. Late 2002, the European Union (EU) released The Waste From Electrical And Electronic Equipment (WEEE) and The Use Of Certain Hazardous Substances In Electrical And Electronic Equipment (RoHS) directives. Among other heavy metals, lead solder is banned in the manufacture of new electronic equipment starting July 1, 2006. This change to lead-free has brought on new challenges in manufacture and rework in the areas of aerosol defluxers, desoldering braid, and temporary solder mask. [Source: CleanTech]  3:04:40 PM Google It!    [Solvents] PARIS II: The Search for Cleaner Solvent Replacements for RCRA Chemicals Solvents used throughout industry are chosen to meet specific technological requirements such as solute solubility, cleaning and degreasing, or being a medium for paints and coatings. With the growing awareness of the human health effects and environmental risks of solvent use, the replacement of solvents with more benign solvents is increasingly important. Initially, the elements of a solvent design theory are outlined in this article. Then, based on this theory, the PARIS II (Program for Assisting the Replacement of Industrial Solvents) solvent design algorithms and software are presented that design technologically effective and environmentally benign substitute solvents. Finally, several cases of finding substitutes for solvents that appear in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) chemicals list are discussed. [Source: CleanTech] 3:01:35 PM Google It!    [Solvents] Contamination Measurement Each year the need for stricter cleanliness levels for cleaned parts is discovered. One professional may work in the semiconductor industry, where critical dimensions are shrinking every hour, or so it seems. Another professional may work in the automotive industry where it is being learned that the initial operation of an engine will determine its life expectancy. In all cases, the tolerable level of contamination is constantly decreasing. The problem is, how to measure this contamination? With the exception of the semiconductor wafer, most contamination sensitive parts are complex in shape and therefore do not lend themselves to traditional scanning techniques; therefore, different methods need to be used when testing these items. This article reviews the three more common techniques currently used and discuss the advantages, disadvantages and benefits of each. [Source: CleanTech] 3:00:05 PM Google It!    [WMRC] FY2006 Research Solicitation Announcement Proposals are being sought in three major focus areas: Industrial Ecology and Pollution Prevention; Environmental Contamination and Risk; and Sustainable Illinois Proposals are due by  February 11, 2005 at 5 pm CST. For more information, contact  Julie Hafermann, Project Officer, at 217/244-7269 or e-mail julieh@wmrc.uiuc.edu. 2:40:25 PM Google It!    [Green Building] U.S. Green Building Council Creates New Rating System for Commercial Interiors The U.S. Green Building Council is pleased to introduce the brand new LEED Green Building Rating System for Commercial Interiors (LEED-CI). Previously in pilot, the rating system has been balloted by the USGBC membership and is now a fully launched product. LEED-CI is the third green building rating system that has been developed by the USGBC following the LEED for Existing Buildings (LEED-EB) and LEED for New Construction (LEED-NC) green building rating systems. 2:34:19 PM Google It!    [Green Building] Report: Which New Building Technologies Save Energy, Money? The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) has published a new report, "Emerging Energy-Saving Technologies and Practices in the Buildings Sector as of 2004." This analysis reviewed 200 technologies and practices (T&Ps) in order to select those that promise to save at least 0.25% of national electricity use; avoid "lost opportunities" in new construction, rehab, or equipment replacement; or capture important regional opportunities. The report features short summaries of 66 T&Ps complement text that describes their collective impact. Appendices offer a California-specific analysis and California climate sensitivity studies for national measures. 2:33:03 PM Google It!    [Schools] Bruce Trail Enviro P.I. Story Contest The Bruce Trail Enviro P.I. Story Contest launches January 17, 2005, inviting boys and girls (K-4) to submit story ideas for a "Bruce" book. Bruce Trail Enviro P.I.'s mission is to empower children worldwide to "3-R" every day--Reduce, Reuse, Recycle--to help keep their communities clean and, by doing so, make a difference every day. The story contest will be promoted with radio station promos, newspaper articles, and color flyers posted in over 1,000 libraries in over 70 cities. If you would like to help promote the contest in your library, contact Donny Young at donyou@brucetrail.com. 2:30:18 PM Google It!

© Copyright 2005 Laura L. Barnes. Last update: 10/25/2005; 12:08:16 PM.