Photo via the New Republic It's a widely held notion that politicians have long been in the pocket of Big Oil. And there's good reason for that perception: oil companies' huge campaign donations, vast lobbying power, and close ties to politicians have ensured that their taxes remain low , that hidden subsidies are around to provide extra funding, and that they receive preferential treatment in US energy policy. But there could be a new, ... View original post here: The Next Big Oil: Big Smart Grid?
So there really isn't anything that deep to this image. It's just a (more or less) life-sized blue whale eye. And on the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society site you can educate yourself/be mesmerized/ waste some time for a while staring at it while the entire life-sized animal scrolls across your browser window. Believe me, it's way cooler than you might think:... Read more from the original source: Ever See a Blue Whale Life-Sized on Your Computer? Now You Can
published September 9, 2010 and has No Comments
Image: Wikipedia , CC This Document Was Not for Public Consumption A leaked study by the German military reveals that the Bundeswehr is taking the possibility of peak oil (the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, leading to a gradual decline) very seriously. The authors of the study, led by Lieutenant Colonel ...
Read more...published September 9, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo: Say goodbye to San Rafael Falls, Ecuador? (via listafterlist.com ) Ecuador made waves not too long ago as the first country to not only recognize the constitutional rights of ecosystems , but also for demanding money in exchange to not drill into their rich oil reserves -- located under their equally-rich rainforests. Now,... Read the full story on ...
Read more...published September 2, 2010 and has No Comments
Image: Google Maps Thankfully, No Deaths This Time An offshore oil platform exploded and caught fire today in the Gulf of Mexico. It is located about 80 miles off the Louisiana coast, west of the site of BP's massive oil spill. All 13 people who were on the rig were evacuated and only one was injured, reports the U.S. ...
Read more...published August 30, 2010 and has No Comments
photo: sbamueller via flickr Contradicting previous industry- and government-backed studies about the source of pollution occurring downstream from Alberta tar sands projects, a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences says that high levels of lead, mercury, cadmium, zinc and other pollutants are not naturally occurring. As Cree elders have said for some time, See ...
Read more...published August 26, 2010 and has No Comments
photo: Ben Carter File this one in the maybe someday category: At the national meeting of the American Chemical Society scientists have presented work on the potential of so-called 'dry water' to store gases, with an eye to store carbon emissions as well as act as a fuel carrier. Here's the gist of it: ... Read the full story ...
Read more...published August 19, 2010 and has No Comments
photo: Jennifer Woodard Maderazo via flickr TreeHugger has covered the uncomfortable and largely under-publicized topic of peak coal on a number of occasions, but David Roberts over at Grist just brought it up again--and it's a topic certainly worth revisiting as the future implications are great. I'll take the question out of R... Read the full story on TreeHugger ...
Read more...published August 18, 2010 and has No Comments
If you prefer to walk or bike instead of using a car, enjoy being outside, use reusable bags, avoid plastic bottles, eat meat sparingly or not at all, research makeup and cosmetic products for safety, carry a refillable water bottle, and generally avoid buying crap you don't need and using the stuff you do have as long as it ...
Read more...published August 16, 2010 and has No Comments
Arkansas Nuclear One power plant. Photo by Topato via Flickr.com. Guest bloggers Andrea Donsky and Randy Boyer are co-founders of NaturallySavvy.com . Nuclear power is exploding. Right now there are 50 nuclear reactors being built worldwide, and more than 100 are slated for construction over the next 10 years. But a View original here: Public Mistrusts Nuclear Power, Report Says
Read more...published August 12, 2010 and has No Comments
Images via Choi + Shine Who says that transmission towers need to be ugly? One of the biggest downsides of having easy access to energy has long been the unsightly way it's carried from place to place, but one US design firm hopes to revolutionize all that -- by giving electricity pylons a human touch. In a project entitled ...
Read more...published August 12, 2010 and has No Comments
photo: Stuart Seeger via flickr There are lots of things that go into making a city more environmentally friendly--from sufficient density, to adequate public transportation, to superior walkability, to good green spaces--but a key part of all that is frugal energy use and clean energy sources. Which is where NRDC 's 2010 Smarter Cities for Energy index comes into ...
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Image via Yanko Design A new concept design by Lee Ju Won is the ultimate middle man. It sticks to a window to harness the power of the sun to run LEDs that provide light to potted plants that ...
Photo via Designboom The Retroreflector Tie by Jasna Sokolovic and Noel O'Connell is a somewhat subtle fashion statement for the safety-minded cyclist. And it is one of thousands of entries in Designboom's Seoul Cycle Design Competition 2010. For this ...
