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Union Carbide plant in Bhopal 25 Years after the Disaster
December 3, 2009 06:43 AM - Nita Bhalla, Reuters
It was seen as a symbol of the new emerging India -- a factory that would not only generate thousands of jobs, but manufacture cheap pesticides for millions of farmers. But the Union Carbide plant in the central city of Bhopal left a more potent legacy when it accidentally released toxic gases into the air, killing thousands of people and causing many more to suffer in the world's most deadly industrial disaster.
Coca-Cola's New PlantBottle Sows Path to Greener Packaging
December 2, 2009 09:58 AM - By Marc Gunther, GreenBiz.com
In a podcast interview with GreenBiz.com Senior Writer Marc Gunther, Scott Vitters, the Coca-Cola Company's global head of sustainable packaging, takes the wraps off the company's new PlantBottle, a recyclable PET plastic container made partially from plants. (Gunther's blog on the PlantBottle's development is available at GreenBiz.com.)
Atlantic Hurricane Season Ends With Few Storms
December 2, 2009 08:50 AM - Roger Greenway, ENN
The 2009 Atlantic hurricane season officially ended at the end of November. This year there were the fewest named storms and hurricanes since 1997. Only nine named storms formed this year, including three hurricanes, two of which were major hurricanes at Category 3 strength or higher. These numbers fall within the ranges predicted in NOAA’s mid-season outlook issued in August, which called for seven to 11 named storms, three to six hurricanes, and one to two major hurricanes. An average season has 11 named storms and six hurricanes, including two major hurricanes.
California water allocation hits record-low level
December 2, 2009 07:08 AM - Steve Gorman, Reuters
California officials said on Tuesday that drought and environmental restrictions have forced them to cut planned water deliveries to irrigation districts and cities statewide to just 5 percent of their contracted allotments. Although the state Water Resources Department typically ends up supplying more water than first projected for an upcoming year, its 5 percent initial allocation for 2010 marks the smallest on record since the agency began delivering water in 1967.
Companies Are Committing to Reduce Toxic Footprints
November 30, 2009 10:51 AM - Richard Liroff, Green Biz.com
Companies need to move towards using greener chemicals because the principal drivers demanding such change -- science, regulation, and business-to-business environmentally preferable purchasing programs -- are surging and will intensify. Product toxicity reduction should be a core element of business strategy because it can reduce reputational and litigation liabilities, help companies avoid "toxic lockout" of their products from the marketplace, and drive innovation.
Commonwealth advances momentum for climate deal
November 29, 2009 12:11 PM - Pascal Fletcher, Reuters
Commonwealth nations representing one-third of the world's population threw their weight on Saturday behind accelerating efforts to clinch an "operationally binding" U.N. climate deal in Copenhagen next month. Leaders of the 53-nation Commonwealth meeting in Trinidad and Tobago used their summit to bolster a diplomatic offensive seeking wide consensus on how to fight global warming before December 7-18 U.N. climate talks in the Danish capital.
China Announces Carbon Intensity Target, Premier to Attend Copenhagen
November 27, 2009 07:03 AM - NRDC
China announced today that Premier Wen Jiabao will attend the Copenhagen climate summit and that China will commit to reducing its carbon intensity by 40 to 45 percent from 2005 levels by 2020.
Stolen E-Mails Raise Questions On Climate Research
November 26, 2009 10:35 AM - Richard Harris, NPR
A huge pile of e-mails were stolen from a British climate laboratory and posted on the Internet last week. The correspondence shows that some climate scientists are resorting to bare-knuckle tactics to defend the orthodoxy of global warming. In particular, a group of scientists who support the consensus view of climate change have been working together to influence what gets published in science journals. Journals are supposed to be impartial filters that let good ideas rise to the top and bad ideas sink to the bottom. But the stolen e-mails show that a group of scientists has decided that's not working well enough. So they have resorted to strong tactics — including possible boycotts — to keep any paper they think is dubious from reaching the pages of a journal.
Obama will offer U.S. climate cut in Copenhagen
November 26, 2009 10:14 AM - Jeff Mason, Reuters
The United States unveiled its proposal to cut greenhouse gases by 2020 on Wednesday and said President Barack Obama will attend U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen next month -- before other world leaders show up. Obama will go to the December 7-18 talks in Denmark on December 9, the eve of a ceremony in nearby Oslo, Norway, where he will collect the Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said.
Building Local Solar Markets, One State at a Time
November 25, 2009 10:47 AM - Adam Browning, Clean Techies
It’s that time of year again ”¦ no, not when turduckens appear on dinner tables nationwide and it becomes somehow acceptable to call the marshmallow a vegetable. It’s time for the 2009 edition of "Freeing the Grid," an annual report card to states on their net metering and interconnection standards. Together, these two key policies empower energy customers (that’s you) to go solar and reduce your utility bills.