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 March 3, 2011 and has No Comments
Photo: Esther Havens Ram Rati has been overcoming obstacles since she was a child. Married off at age 11, she escaped and made ends meet grinding wheat. But today Rati is a hero in her community. She was tired of the wells in her village breaking down so she decided to fix them herself. Now she's a trained well ...
Read more...published February 17, 2011 and has No Comments
Photo by Jaymi Heimbuch The topic of Peak Water is always top of mind here at TreeHugger, and we're constantly reading up on the subject, from what exactly "peak water" means, to the implications running out of water will have on humans and ecosystems. How are we running out of water, what happens when we do, and how can ...
Read more...published February 12, 2011 and has No Comments
Thirsty? An image from the documentary Gasland depicts the dangers of fracking. Of the worthy films up for Best Documentary at the Academy Awards this year, two focus on environmental issues. Though much interest involves British guerilla street artist, Banksy, showing up in a monkey mask for his Exit Through the Gift Shop , another film about an artist, ...
Read more...published February 4, 2011 and has No Comments
The December 2008 Tennessee coal ash spill. Photo Credit: Lyndsay Moseley, Sierra Club The words "hexavalent chromium" may not be ones you come across everyday, but they have made the news before. The deadly toxin first made headlines after Erin Brockovich sued Pacific Gas & Electric because of poisoned drinking water from hexavalent chromium . Now, new information from ...
Read more...published February 3, 2011 and has No Comments
Photo by Prince Roy via Flickr Creative Commons Water rights holders get paid to leave water in streams, businesses pay to clean up water... it sounds too good to be true, yet it's a solution that is already in practice and working today. Rob Harmon of the nonprofit Bonneville Environmental Foundation, explains the plan they put together for a ...
Read more...published January 19, 2011 and has No Comments
Photo by feserc via Flickr Creative Commons As groundwater supplies dwindle, it's only natural to start digging deeper, hoping to access more water the farther down we go. However, that could lead to some serious problems, as a new study of wells in Vietnam has shown. In tests of 512 private wells that reach from 33 to 164 feed, ...
Read more...published January 11, 2011 and has No Comments
Queensland floodwaters rearrange carpark. Photo credit: Sukhwindher Singh via ABC . Almost two years ago Australia endured its worst bushfire catastrophe , when over 400 wildfires engulfed the state of Victoria and claimed 173 lives, injuring over 400 people and destroying over 3,500 buildings. Because of the preceding drought, tinder dry forests erupted a force of destructive energy that ...
Read more...published January 5, 2011 and has No Comments
Photo credit: Kevin Krejci / Creative Commons The garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean, formed by discarded debris swept up by ocean currents, is frequently said to be "twice the size of Texas." This description conjures images of floating islands to trash , swirling in a remote part of the ocean, possibly even visible from space. The image is ...
Read more...published December 27, 2010 and has No Comments
Three Gorges Dam. Photo by Britrob via Flickr Creative Commons Knowing that China is hurting for water , it comes as no surprise that the country is setting aside a massive $30 billion for water conservation during 2011. China's rapid growth could be stalled by water shortages , which is needed for everything from manufacturing to mining to generating ...
Read more...published December 27, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via University of Washington Disinfecting water with the sun is an old idea. But students at University of Washington have come up with a clever way of checking whether or not the water being disinfected is finally ready to drink. Using simple parts, their cheap set-up is a solution for safe drinking water in poor areas, and it ...
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The office building, going for LEED Platinum, is built on top of a brick factory from another era. It rises to the challenge. Go here to read the rest: The Centre For Green Cities At Evergreen Brickworks Demonstrates How To ...
"The stakes are very high and scientists are not the best people to deal with the social, ethical or political issues that geoengineering raises." View original here: Geoengineering is a Technical Fix for a Political Problem
