Green Building: It’s not pretty, but it runs clean
| Power stations need fuel efficiency standards, argue greens. New power stations in the UK should be required to comply with a tough greenhouse gas efficiency standard, according to environmental campaigners. |
| Toyota promises plug-in hybrid vehicle by 2010. Toyota is introducing a plug-in hybrid with next-generation lithium-ion batteries in Japan, the U.S. and Europe by 2010. |
| Diesel Cars- Finally for Everyone in the US, or Too Late to the Party? Conflicting forces buffet the world of diesel-powered cars just as their greatest fuel efficiency successes are achieved. |
| Science academies urge 50 pct CO2 cuts by 2050 Major economies should aim to halve world emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 and work out ways to bury gases in a wider assault on climate change, the science academies of 13 nations said on Tuesday. “Progress in reducing global greenhouse gas emission has been slow,” the academies of the Group of Eight (G8) nations and China, India, Brazil, Mexico and South Africa said in a statement targeting leaders at July 7-9 summits in Japan. |
| Is LEED green enough? Conversations from Dwell on Design LA 2008 At this past week’s Dwell on Design LA conference and expo, one of the most striking conversations centered on whether LEED standards are enough to meet the growing climate challenge. Energy consumption by buildings contribute to almost half of carbon emissions in the U.S. As a result, many city governments, including Los Angeles, have created ordinances for new buildings to comply with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards. |
| Legislating home-grown electricity. Less than 12 years from now, California home builders could be forced to construct only houses, condominiums and apartments that supply their own power. |
| The Triac: An Affordable Electric Car California based company Green Vehicles recently began selling an affordable $20,000 electric car called the Triac. The small but efficient 3-wheeled car has a range of 120 miles and can travel up to 70mph on the highway. Charging the lithium-ion batteries that power the 20kw electric motor takes about 6 hours, and there is [.] |
| Press Release: 2008 Farm Bill A Disappointment
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Sean Crowley – (202) 550-6524-o, scrowley@edf.org
Sara Hopper – (202) 572-3379–o, shopper@edf.org
(Washington D.C. - May 21, 2008) – The 2008 farm bill that Congress is nearly certain to enact into law over a presidential veto provides some badly needed new funding for conservation programs over the next five years, and makes improvements to some of these programs. However, these benefits are overshadowed by the lack of meaningful subsidy reform, the addition of an environmentally damaging new subsidy program and last-minute changes made to the bill by the conference committee that undermine the effectiveness of the bill’s conservation provisions, according to the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).
The House this afternoon voted 316-108 to override the president’s veto of the bill earlier today and the Senate is expected to follow suit tonight or tomorrow. The Senate originally passed the bill by an overwhelming margin of 81 to 15.
“The good news is that the 2008 farm bill includes $4 billion in new money for conservation, and makes changes to some conservation programs that will make them more effective in helping farmers deliver environmental benefits like cleaner water to the public,” said Sara Hopper, an attorney with EDF who was a staff member of the Senate Agriculture Committee during the 2002 farm bill. “The bad news is that the bills that both the House and Senate passed last year provided more money and included stronger conservation policies. Unfortunately, the conferees worked behind closed doors to make this a weaker bill for the environment.”
Like the versions of the farm bill passed by both the House and Senate last year, the final bill makes important improvements to, and increases funding for, two programs that help farmers improve stewardship of working agricultural lands. It also retains a new initiative designed to assist groups of farmers willing to work together to address specific environmental issues and leverage the resources of states, local government and other partners.
Unfortunately, the conference committee reduced the size of programs that reward farmers for taking environmentally sensitive lands out of production and restoring wetlands. Conferees also added new provisions to restrict participation in existing conservation programs that were not originally included in either bill. Finally, they gutted a “Sodsaver” provision included in both bills that would have barred crop insurance and disaster payments to any producers who plow up native grasslands in order to plant crops.
The House and Senate versions of the farm bill each included approximately $5 billion in new funding for conservation, but conferees reduced this amount, in part to pay for a new, environmentally damaging “permanent disaster” program. Both the Government Accountability Office and USDA’s Economic Research Service have found that disaster payments provide incentives to convert grassland to crop production.
“Cutting conservation spending to help fund a new subsidy program that will encourage intensive crop production on grasslands and other environmentally fragile lands represents a double blow to the environment,” concluded Hopper.
In addition to providing $3.8 billion for the new disaster program, the 2008 farm bill increases support levels for some crops, adds new crops to the subsidy roll, and fails to make any significant reduction in direct payments. Direct payments will cost over $5 billion a year for the next five years and mostly flow to producers of corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton and rice regardless of how high prices are or whether the farmer needs the assistance.
President Bush cited these increases in farm subsidies when he vetoed the 2008 farm bill today.
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| Green Building: It’s not pretty, but it runs clean Anyone who thinks all green buildings are shimmering towers of glass and steel can be forgiven for that mistake. Landmarks for the movement, after all, are soaring temples of natural daylight and engineering wizardry.But experts say most U.S. commercial buildings can be turned green without spending tons of money, bringing in construction cranes or making any change that can be seen from the street. |
| Bloggers Unite for Human Rights Amnestry International and BlogCatalog are sponsoring today as a day to focus on human rights around the world.I’ll add a few personal thoughts in support of this effort. First, I would like to emphasize the value of people’s lives, no matter what they believe and where they live. When the historical changeover occurred [.] |
| Press Release: EPA Misusing Science, Jeopardizing Childrens Health, Testifies EPA Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee Member
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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