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Monday, August 15, 2005
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Charlotte known nationally for transforming contaminated sites
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The director of the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency stopped in Rock Island on Tuesday to give city leaders a $29,201 check to help clean up a "brownfield" that soon will become a children's garden at the Quad-City Botanical Center.
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Schools are using them, military bases are using them, and large corporations such as Pepsico are using them, too. It is an innovative system that harnesses natural sunshine through a skylight and diffuses it, illuminating an entire room rather than one small area as a regular skylight would, thereby eliminating the use of electricity during daylight hours. Called the Passive Daylighting System, it uses a prismatic dome, a reflective light shaft and diffusing lens to light a building's interior.
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Performance testing of the first European installation of Nanogel translucent aerogel daylighting panels in a school sports hall in Buchwiesen, near Zurich, have been carried out over the past year.
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Each week, hundreds of new cars roll out of the Subaru factory in Lafayette, Indiana. What doesn't come out of the plant is garbage. When the garbage truck rolls up to the curb in front of your house each week, it hauls away more trash than is generated by the manufacturing processes at the factory.
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Like the glint of a knife in the dark, a laboratory accident in 1998 helped scientists realize that some chemicals commonly used to make life more convenient can be health hazards. [Source: USA Today]
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Researchers at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts (PERI) announced that their ranking of top corporate air polluters will now be called the Toxic 100. [ENN Business Headlines]
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A survey conducted by Zogby International shows Connecticut voters overwhelmingly want to ban dental mercury (so-called "silver" fillings).
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"Green" cemeteries try to simplify an inevitable aspect of life while competing in America's roughly $15 billion funeral industry. By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN. [NYT > Science]
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To help achieve the Bush Administration's goal of increased use of solar and other renewable forms of energy, the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Science has released a report describing the basic research needed to produce "revolutionary progress in bringing solar energy to its full potential in the energy marketplace." The report resulted from a workshop of 200 scientists held earlier this year.
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Via sustainablog:
That's the opinion of economist John Whitehead at Environmental Economics. Whitehead's post deals specifically with "social costs" or externalities of gasoline, such as health costs and other costs related to pollution (I don't if/how global warming figures into this). Based on his calculations, which assume total social costs of about $33 billion (I assume that's per year based on later figures), Whitehead figures gas taxes should be raised about $.25 cents to cover these costs. I'm just summarizing -- make sure to take a look at John's more thorough explanation of his method.
We've discussed gas taxes before, and I remember Steve and romehater coming out against them. There's no doubt they're regressive, and that needs to be addressed when considering raises in gas taxes, but they demonstrate that the costs of using gasoline are higher than the just the prices of extraction, refinement and transport. With the amount of driving I do, I'd certainly hate to pay any more for gas, but isn't this just another example of how, despite all of our rhetoric of macho individualism in this country (regardless of one's actual gender), we kick and scream if we actually do have take full responsibility for our actions or pay the full price for our habits...? Yes, I'm stirring the pot... a little...
Technorati tags: gasoline, taxes, United States, economics By noemail@noemail.org (Jeff McIntire-Strasburg). [sustainablog]
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Via Sustainablog:
Back in February, I made a brief post about a lawsuit concerning the DEA's standards for labeling food organic. Now the Chicago Tribune (via Kentucky.com, which doesn't require registration) takes an in-depth look at how organic blueberry farmer Arthur Harvey's largely successful suit will affect "Big Organic." Harvey argued that "organic" should mean completely organic, while DEA regulations allow products to carry their organic seal if they're 95% organic, and "products with at least 70 percent organic ingredients can advertise that they are made with organic ingredients." The industry prefers the DEA standards, and it looks like well-known companies like Stoneyfield Farm, Annie's Naturals and Newman's Own Organics may have to settle for the less-desirable "made with organic ingredients" label. One consequence of this may be that such companies end up using less organic ingredients:
[Nancy Hirshberg, vice president of natural resources at Stonyfield Farm] said organic yogurt includes small quantities of non-organic inulin, which is made from Jerusalem artichoke root and increases calcium absorption, and synthetic pectin, a thickening agent that is made from fruit peel. Because no organic substitutes exist for either product, she said Stonyfield may be may be forced to label its yogurt as "made with" organic ingredients rather than organic. If that were the case, she said the company probably would only pay for organic milk, which makes up more than 70 percent of the total, and buy non-organic sugar and fruit because they are less expensive.
This is an interesting dilemma. On one hand, I tend to agree with Harvey that the organic seal should mean purely organic. At the same time, does an argument for that level of "purity" (the article actually labels Harvey at one point as a "small, idealistic purist") actually undercut the large-scale growth of organic food products in the US, and thereby limit these products availability and keep them priced high?[sustainablog]
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Birds--Database
Source: BirdLife International
Avibase
"Avibase is an extensive database information system about all birds of the world, containing over 2 million records about 10,000 species and 22,000 subspecies of birds, including distribution information, taxonomy, synonyms in several languages and more. This site is managed by Denis Lepage and hosted by Bird Studies Canada, the Canadian copartner of Birdlife International. Avibase has been a work in progress for nearly 12 years and I am now pleased to offer it as a service to the bird-watching and scientific community." Includes Bird Checklists of the World and a directory of global Bird Links. Nice! - gary [ResourceShelf]
10:36:40 AM Google It!
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Every year, Americans build about one and a half million single-family homes. One researcher says a lot of these houses are simply too big for American families and the environment. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium's Shawn Allee reports. Read | Listen
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Excellent series by the Detroit News on Great Lakes pollution.
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Structures that stand up to storms make sense for the environment. [Source: Orlando Sentinel]
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Deborah Baldwin of The New York Times says a new towel may be coming soon to a store near you. With its ability to fight off germs, it sounds like it can practically clean itself. Isn't that a good thing? Not necessarily, say some scientists and the EPA, 8/11/05. [SEJ: Environmental Journalism Today]
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Patty Henetz of The Salt Lake Tribune reports on more fallout from the new energy law. She finds those who want to speak out against the new law may be in for a shock: Its provisions include new limits on public participation in energy-related decisions, 8/10/05. [SEJ: Environmental Journalism Today]
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Jeff Bailey of The New York Times is talking trash. He reports landfill operators across the nation have found a remarkable way to save billions of dollars a year and keep the number of landfills down, 8/12/05. [SEJ: Environmental Journalism Today]
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The national highway bill that President Bush just signed into law allows states to let hybrids into carpool lanes. Not so fast, says California, which sets stricter standards. And that has at least one automaker hopping mad. Amanda Covarrubias and Wendy Lee of the Los Angeles Times explain, 8/12/05. [SEJ: Environmental Journalism Today]
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Flies are a big problem on farms everywhere. They can spread disease and decrease milk production. Aileen Humphreys of the Lancaster (Pa.) Intelligencer Journal reports some local farmers have teamed up with Cornell University experts -- dubbed the "Fly Guys" -- to learn how to combat the pests the natural way, 8/12/05. [SEJ: Environmental Journalism Today]
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Andrew C. Revkin of The New York Times has the results of new studies that poke holes in some long-held scientific beliefs about climate change. The discovery has triggered new debate over just how much of a threat global warming really is, 8/12/05. [SEJ: Environmental Journalism Today]
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Computers and their accessories contain toxins such as mercury and lead, causing massive environmental damage worldwide. But not all of the major computer companies are serious about reducing waste. [Source: Alternet]
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Seattle Central Community College rolls out a national certification exam for green building advisors. [Breaking News]
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Via sustainablog:
Seems like every time I check my feeds in the last month or so, there's another story about sustainable development and green building in India. Today, I came across this article from India's Financial Express gives an overview of green business development in the country, with a detailed overview of the Grundfos Pumps India Pvt Ltd new manufacturing plant. Among the plant's features:
-- Energy and atmosphere: Double skin brick wall with 25 mm air cavity, double-glazed low U glass to minimise the heat ingress into the building. HFC (hydrofluorocarbon)-based chillers of high COP thermal storage system to minimise energy consumption of the building and support electricity demand thereby enabling reducing the energy consumption by 25% as compared to conventional buildings.
-- Indoor environmental quality: Continuous monitoring and maintaining fresh air in all occupied areas — around 15 to 20 CFM (chloro- fluoro methane) per person. Sensors have been placed at various locations inside the building to monitor the carbondioxide level. Low emitting materials such as VOC sealant/ carpets/ composite woods/ paints have been used to maintain the indoor environmental quality. Smoking is not allowed in the entire building complex.
-- Built in a manner that 95% daylight penetrates through windows for at least 95% regularly occupied areas.
-- Under the material and resource feature, more than 10% of the building materials are refurbished/salvaged from old offices to minimise the use of virgin materials and more than 60% of the materials used in the building have got high percentage recycled content — acoustic ceiling, steel, glass, ceramic tile and MDF wood.
-- On the water efficiency, the company has enabled zero discharge building (100% water recycling and irrigating native plants) to minimise the water requirement. By installing sprinkler and drip irrigation system and dual flush toilets, sensor-based and waterless urinals, low-flow fixtures, the company has been able to save up to 43% of water consumption. One fact I found particularly encouraging:
According to [Chief Executive officer N.K.] Ranganath, following these dramatic changes at the manufacturing plant, Grundfos was not only able to provide a clean and green atmosphere to its workers, but also was able to generate 15% to 20% more productivity at its factory in Chennai. "At Grundfos, we understand the significance of responsibility to the environment and to the people we live, work and deal with," he says. In other words, it's "people-friendly," a feature of green building that we often overlook. [sustainablog]
9:57:33 AM Google It!
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© Copyright
2005
Laura L. Barnes.
Last update:
10/25/2005; 12:11:30 PM.
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