ENN rounds up the most important and compelling environmental news stories of the week. In the news March 19th - 23rd: Edited climate papers, IBM's new conservation pledge, a chemical threat facing the Great Barrier Reef, investors hop on the emissions-slashing bandwagon, and much more.
Top Ten Articles of the Week
In the news March 19th - 23rd: Edited climate papers, IBM's new conservation pledge, a chemical threat facing the Great Barrier Reef, investors hop on the emissions-slashing bandwagon, and much more.
1. Former White House Official Defends Editing of Climate Papers
A former White House official accused of improperly editing reports on global warming defended his editing changes Monday, saying they reflected views in a 2001 report by the National Academy of Sciences. House Democrats said the 181 changes made in three climate reports reflected a consistent attempt to emphasize the uncertainties surrounding the science of climate change and undercut the broad conclusions that man-made emissions are warming the earth.
2. IBM Pledges to Adopt Energy Conservation Methods, Cut Greenhouse Emissions Seven Percent by 2012
IBM Corp. is pledging that by 2012, it will have reduced its greenhouse gas footprint by 7 percent since 2005, primarily through energy conservation. The technology company made the vow Thursday as part of the Environmental Protection Agency's voluntary "Climate Leaders" program, in which more than 100 companies have committed to reducing their output of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases.
3. Global Warming Boosts Arctic Shipping, Oil, Report Claims
Global warming, blamed for melting polar bears' icy Arctic habitat, could be a boon to the shipping and oil industries in the far north, according to a new U.S. report. The dramatic decrease in sea ice above the Arctic Circle means formerly impenetrable shipping routes are now or soon could be open for much of the year, the U.S. Arctic Research Commission said in a report released last week at a summit of Arctic scientists in Hanover.
4. Big Investors Urge U.S. To Slash CO2 Emissions
Big investors Monday called for the U.S. government to pass rules slashing emissions of global warming gases by up to 90 percent, joining a corporate chorus seeking to put money into clean energy. Dozens of investors, who together manage nearly $4 trillion in assets, called on Congress and the Bush administration to pass rules aimed at cutting emissions of heat-trapping gases 60 to 90 percent under 1990 levels by 2050.
5. WWF Says Australian Barrier Reef Faces Chemical Threat
Australia's Great Barrier Reef, already threatened by climate change, faces a new danger from farm chemical run-off which may accelerate its destruction, environmentalists said on Thursday. Climate scientists have already warned that the 2,300 kilometres (1,400 miles) coral reef -- the world's largest living structure -- could be functionally extinct by 2050.
6. Gore Find Solar Plans Thwarted by Neighborhood Rules
Zoning rules in Al Gore's upscale Tennessee neighborhood have prevented the former vice president and environmental activist from installing solar panels on his roof. Gore bought his multimillion dollar home in 2002 in Belle Meade, an exclusive city encircled by metropolitan Nashville, and he has embarked on an ambitious renovation. But his contractors ran into a legal barrier last summer when they sought to apply for a permit to install solar panels on the roof.
7. Global Warming and New Technology Heat Up Race for Riches in Melting Arctic
The latest report by the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change says the ice cap is warming faster than the rest of the planet and ice is receding, partly due to greenhouse gases. But some see a lucrative silver lining of riches waiting to be snatched from the deep.
8. Eurythmics' Dave Stewart Helps Hollywood Go Green
Songwriter and music producer Dave Stewart is collaborating with activist group Greenpeace to come up with ways that Hollywood can promote environmental causes. Stewart, who along with Annie Lennox formed pop group "The Eurythmics," Wednesday night will unveil an initiative called "Greenpeace Works."
9. Mexico Inaugurates Mexican Sewage Treatment Plant to Avoid Cross-Border Pollution
A waste water treatment plant that Mexican officials say will help prevent pollution of U.S. waterways was inaugurated Saturday in the city of Mexicali, across the border from Calexico, California. The Arenitas plant will treat waste water and discharge it into the Hardy River, a tributary of the Colorado River in Mexico, rather than dumping it untreated into waterways that run into California's Salton Sea.
10. Chef Wolfgang Puck Joins Natural-Food Movement
Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck has decided to be kinder to the animals he cooks. In an announcement made with the cooperation of the Humane Society of the United States, Puck launched a program to bar animal cruelty from his $300 million-a-year business empire.
Photo: A lone Weddell seal pup lies on the sea ice in McMurdo Sound. Scientists who study seal populations have noticed a decline in the number of pups in recent years. Credit: Steven Profaizer/National Science Foundation/Antarctic Photo Library.
Contact Info:
