Something Fishy? Counterfeit Foods Enter the U.S. Market
Pedal Power Dynapod A dynapod is a stationary pedal-powered device. The word ‘Dynapod’ comes from the Greek words for power and foot. The dynapod can be attached to any kind of device or tool and used to generate power for a multitude of activities. The first design for this type of unit was introduced in 1968.Although it was [.]Posted in: Human Power, Pedal Power |
| Environmentalists welcome changing of the guard After chafing under eight years of US President George Bush’s environmental policies, advocates supporting renewable energy and conservation gathered on Monday night at a glitzy ball to celebrate the greening of the White House under Barack Obama.The event, hosted by former vice-president and Nobel-laureate Al Gore, drew celebrities such as Will.i.am, Blair Underwood and Melissa Etheridge, many of whom made their entrance on a moss green carpet made partly of recycled fibre. |
| New Conservation Tool Guidance to Help Western Landowners Nationwide, farmers, ranchers and forest owners want to know the legal implications should endangered species settle on their property. The same holds true when wildlife on the waiting list for future Endangered Species Act protection take up residence. Whether the land is working lands—or simply a possible future income source—landowners seek regulatory certainty.For a species that is on the candidate list for future listing, legal assurances can be provided by a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances, a voluntary agreement between a landowner and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In return for volunteering to enhance or restore habitat for a candidate species, the landowner receives legal assurances that if the species is listed in the future, the voluntary habitat improvements will not result in further restrictions on the landowner’s use of the property. This conservation tool is analogous to Safe Harbor Agreements for endangered species, which also give landowners regulatory predictability.CCAAs have proven popular with landowners in much of the country. Yet in the public-land-dominated western states, where most ranches are comprised of both public and private lands, CCAAs are rare. That is because the regulatory assurances are limited to private land. For example, a rancher who volunteers to implement conservation measures for the greater sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) can secure regulatory assurances for the private land portion of the ranch, but faces uncertainty on the public lands should the grouse be listed as threatened or endangered.To give greater regulatory predictability to western ranchers willing to undertake significant conservation commitments, CCI helped the Cooperative Sagebrush Initiative explore ways that FWS could widen the use of CCAAs. With that input, in September 2008, FWS issued formal written guidance [PDF] that should enable more western ranchers to aid candidate species. Already the new approach has been reflected in a new CCAA for the lesser prairie chicken (Tympanuchus pallidicinctus) and sand dune lizard (Sceloporus arenicolus) [PDF] in New Mexico, an agreement that CCI helped develop.Michael Bean CCI Senior Attorney and Wildlife Program Director |
| Press Release: Breakthrough Climate Change Agreement Opens Door for Federal Action in 2009 Contact: Tony Kreindler, Environmental Defense Fund, (202) 445-8108or tkreindler@edf.org (Washington- January 15, 2009) Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) and a broad coalition of major companies and non-profit groups today unveiled a groundbreaking new blueprint for federal legislation to fight climate change and jumpstart economic recovery with a cap on global warming pollution. “This is an Obama Era blueprint — business and environmentalists working together for a bold, practical solution, and that solution is a cap,” said EDF President Fred Krupp, president of Environmental Defense Fund.
“The cap protects the atmosphere – it’s the legal guarantee that pollution goes down. The cap also creates customers. And if America has ever needed customers, at home and abroad, now is the time,” Krupp said.
The blueprint, two years in the making, represents a consensus agreement among a diverse group of companies from across the U.S. economy and leading non-profit organizations on the design of comprehensive climate legislation. USCAP is calling on Congress and the incoming administration to pass a cap and trade bill as soon as possible.
The centerpiece of the USCAP blueprint is a mandatory and declining economy-wide cap on global warming pollution from electric utilities, transportation fuels and industrial facilities. It calls for aggressive greenhouse gas emissions reductions with targets and timelines consistent with President-elect Barack Obama’s proposals.
“The cap is the key. It mobilizes private capital to build the clean energy technologies that will solve climate change, and it breathes new life into markets for the U.S. manufacturers who build them. That means more jobs for American workers and a safer climate for everyone,” Krupp said.
Key elements of the USCAP blueprint for legislative action include aggressive emission reductions targets and timelines that follow the science — including an 80 percent reduction from 2005 levels by 2050 – mechanisms to manage costs without undermining environmental goals, and provisions to address economic impacts on consumers.
Full text of the USCAP blueprint is online at www.us-cap.org.
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First Degree Program in Wind Energy Officials from Highland Community College (HCC) and EcoEnergy officially broke ground in early October for a facility to house the HCC Wind Turbine Technology Program, the first associates degree program of its kind offered in the state of Illinois. The event also included the donation of the facilitys first dedicated tool from Greenlee-Textron, the [.]Posted in: Industry, Wind Power, Wind Turbines |
| Something Fishy? Counterfeit Foods Enter the U.S. Market Some of your favorite foods may be fakes. Foods masquerading as something else - a more nutritious something else - have been big news in the past two years. Chinese food companies in particular have been blamed for making deadly alterations to dairy, baby and pet foods by adding melamine. The chemical makes it appear that the food or beverage has the required level of protein.But what about food producers in this country? What fraudulent foods do U.S. consumers have to fear from American companies? |
| Press Release: Highway 50 Settlement is Evidence California Can Stimulate Economy without Sacrificing Clean Air (Sacramento - January 16, 2009)—The announcement today of a settlement resolving air pollution concerns related to the Highway 50 expansion in Sacramento is evidence that California can stimulate the economy while also protecting clean air, land and water, according to state environmental groups. The settlement demonstrates that the state’s most popular environmental law, the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), can be used to bring parties together to negotiate better projects for Californians.
“We applaud the leadership of Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg and all sides for coming together to create a solution that provides more public transit and less pollution,” said Kathryn Phillips, director of the California transportation and air initiative at Environmental Defense Fund.
“This shows that rather than exempting similar transportation projects from environmental review, California leaders should see the Highway 50 resolution as an example of how CEQA can produce better, smarter plans to grow our economy without going backwards on our environmental progress,” said Warner Chabot, CEO of the California League of Conservation Voters. “Lawmakers should take CEQA, which has nothing to do with solving the state budget crisis, off the table.”
During the past several weeks, the environmental concerns about Highway 50 and several other controversial transportation projects have been a leading cause of the budget stalemate, with GOP leaders asking that the projects be exempt from environmental review. The environmental groups are hopeful that a positive settlement of the Highway 50 case will demonstrate the economic and environmental importance of keeping California’s environmental laws intact for the good of all.
“We are pleased to see a resolution that keeps environmental review intact, helps improve air quality and reduces greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming,” said Phillips. “Environmental review delivers a better product that allows California to create a 21st century transportation system.”
Background
Earlier today, a lawsuit between state highway officials and local environmentalists was settled to allow the state to move forward with plans for carpool lanes on Highway 50 in Rancho Cordova. Under the settlement agreement, the California Department of Transportation (CalTrans) will contribute $8 million to help the Sacramento Rapid Transit District fund a project to add a second track to the light rail system between Sacramento and Folsom. This project will increase the availability of green transit options and should significantly increase ridership. The project also will include improved pedestrian and bicycle access to the light transit system.
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| Companies and Environmental Groups Announce Blueprint for Climate Legislation Key players are getting right to work to move strong global warming legislation through Congress. This morning, an impressive lineup of CEOs and environmental leaders announced a consensus blueprint for U.S. climate policy. It’s built around a cap on the pollution that causes global warming. See details on the USCAP site.And right afterward, Congressman [.] |
| Winters warmer, spring earlier, UC study finds. Earth’s coldest days of the year are getting warmer, and scientists have seen winter temperatures rising at a much faster pace than summer temperatures. Now UC Berkeley researchers have figured out exactly how much. |
| Climate change ‘worse than first thought.’ The author of a key government report on climate change has said the situation is even worse than he previously thought. |
Alternative Fuel in the Aviation Industry While alternative fuels are being heavily studied for automobiles, were now seeing a push from a different direction. The aviation industry has taken an intense interest in the subject, and this might be enough to push biofuels over the edge into economic viability. The aviation industry produces only about one-ninth as much carbon dioxide [.]Posted in: Biofuels, Future Energy, Industry, Transportation |