published May 13, 2010 and has No Comments
Boston's "Big Dig" project, before and after. Image credit: UA, Tufts University. So far the claim that Cape Wind will produce electricity at uncompetitive rates is pure speculation, as the final construction bid estimates are not yet in. But that never stops a fossil fuel lover from making ridiculous claims (that CCS can be cost-effective, for example). Opponents are ...
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published May 12, 2010 and has No Comments
Image credit: Icanhazchezburgernow Earlier I wrote about how both US political parties were stuck in the box of strong popular opinion . At the time, polls indicated that a majority of Americans supported offshore drilling (so's they can keep on Truckin' like the Do Dah Man ). Recent events, however, seem to have made the box trap just a ...
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published May 12, 2010 and has No Comments
Image credit: Good "The natural world on film has never looked better," Good writes, "Which, in a way, is a pity." While spectacular nature documentaries inspire people to preserve threatened wildland, they go on, these same films can lull viewers into a complacent nonchalance as well. So are we better off with an audience rapt by Planet Earth , ...
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published May 12, 2010 and has No Comments
Up close with a Chytrid infection. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons "Happiness is like smallpox," Gustav Flaubert once wrote, "if you catch it too soon, it can completely ruin your constitution." Indeed, before the widespread distribution of the vaccine, smallpox was one of the leading causes of death in the Western World. Most vulnerable, were the naive populations—those which had ...
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published May 12, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via Flickr Marine protected areas are proven to work for rehabilitating a habitat , and b ringing a livelihood back to the people living near that area. So why is only about 1% of the ocean protected as a marine reserve? Enric Sala takes us back in time during this TED talk to explore what a pristine reef ...
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published May 12, 2010 and has No Comments
"Mobile Bay is Alabama's central estuary system and provides a transitional zone, where the river's freshwater meets tidally influenced marine waters." Image and caption credit: MobileBayKeeper.org A most painful demonstration of Murphy's Law - that which can go wrong will go wrong in a emergency - is holding true across the Gulf. The Alabama Press-Register is reporting,for example, that ...
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published May 10, 2010 and has No Comments
Darvaz: The Door to Hell, a drilling project gone wrong - collapsed natural gas dome burning 35 years in Uzbekistan. Image credit: English Russia blog People have a hard time accepting the fact that oil and gas deep in the earth is of biotic origin: pressure-stored plant material from the Carboniferous. So much so that there are crackpot alternate ...
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published May 10, 2010 and has No Comments
Photo via nDevilTV If you know us here at TreeHugger, you know how we feel about smart phone apps. We love them. They're often just so darn handy for living a greener life, from helping out with transportation to shopping to home energy management. And so, you'll probably guess that we're excited to watch iPad apps slowly roll out ...
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published May 7, 2010 and has No Comments
" Marks & Spencer is the first UK supermarket to convert its 25cl wine bottles to environmentally friendly plastic. Photo: Christopher Thomond " Image & caption credit: Guardian Alcoholic beverage distributors have long wanted to sell small bottles of wine into sports venues, at the beach, and for picnics. In part, it's been a hard sell because of the ...
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published May 7, 2010 and has No Comments
Michael Riley's over-the-top walls; Paul Costello for The New York Times Kristina Shevory writes in the New York Times that living walls are becoming increasingly popular in homes. "Avid and aspiring gardeners, frustrated with little outdoor space, are taking another look at their walls and noticing something new: more space." They are becoming quite the rage; Greg Garner of ...
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