News Archive

Navy Sonar Threatens Marine Mammals

1/10

Earlier this week, President Bush exempted the U.S. Navy from parts of an environmental law so it could continue to use mid-frequency sonar off the California coast. Mid-frequency sonar has been linked to deafness, beachings, and other injuries of marine mammals. Responding to Bush's move, the federal judge who earlier this month ordered the Navy to adopt restrictions on its use of the powerful sonar has temporarily suspended two of the precautions the Navy most despises. link

Norway to be Carbon Neutral by 2030
1/17	Norway has announced it aims to be carbon neutral by 2030, 20 years earlier than its previous goal set last spring. Up to two-thirds of the emissions cuts will be made in Norway itself (though officials aren't sure precisely how yet). The other third will be offset by about $550 million a year in carbon credits, earned through combating deforestation in developing countries. link

Removing Klamath River Dams for Salmon

1/16

The Klamath River near the California-Oregon border has been a hotspot in the clash over endangered salmon runs and the irrigation needs of area farmers, but a formal deal reached yesterday suggests a way out of the long-standing disagreements. The plan -- agreed to by a diverse group of stakeholders in the region including Indian tribes, government agencies, farmers, fishers, and a number of conservation groups -- advocates for removal of four dams on the Klamath and outlines clear water-sharing guidelines. It would open up some 300 miles of river that's been inaccessible to imperiled salmon, and restore 60 miles of current reservoir to unblocked river. link

Send in the Clones

1/15

In a nearly 1000-page report, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has concluded that food from cloned animals and their offspring "is as safe to eat as that from their more conventionally bred counterparts." The report effectively removes regulatory barriers to cloned food being offered to U.S. consumers, but practical barriers still remain, and it will be at least three years until the average shopper encounters a cloned product in the supermarket. link

World's cheapest car in India

1/11

The world's cheapest car was unveiled in India today by Tata Motors, which hopes that its new $2,500 subcompact will help make car ownership a reality for tens of millions of people. The Tata Nano gets respectable gas mileage, up to 58.8 miles per gallon, and meets India's emissions standards, but its introduction was met by protests from greens fearful that more-accessible autos will have a negative effect on the country's pollution and greenhouse-gas emissions. link

Newest Air Jordan shoe will be made to sustainable standards, says Nike
1/9	The 23rd version of Nike's iconic Air Jordan basketball shoe was designed with sustainability in mind, says the company. The Air Jordan XX3 will be manufactured with some recyclable materials and without solvent-based glues, while still meeting the performance standards demanded by pro-ball endorsers link

Uranium Cuts a Tragic Path Through the Navajo Nation
12/24	Uranium has been a dual presence in Navajo life, as well, first providing jobs in the late 1930s and early 40s, when the people were starving and the economic outlook bleak – and now today, having left in its wake a trail of death, disease and heartbreaking loss, as the Navajo Nation copes with the ravages of uranium mining. link

Solar Up 50%
12/31	"Production of photovoltaics (PV) jumped to 3,800 megawatts worldwide in 2007, up an estimated 50 percent over 2006," says Jonathan G. Dorn... "Growing by an impressive average of 48 percent each year since 2002, PV production has been doubling every two years, making it the world's fastest-growing energy source." link

China Cleans up Air for Olympics

1/1

The good news: Beijing narrowly achieved its air-pollution goal of 245 "blue sky days" in 2007. The bad news: Skepticism abounds that the city will offer wholly breathable air when it hosts the upcoming Summer Olympics. "We're definitely hoping for the best," says Jon Kolb, a member of the Canadian Olympic Committee, "but preparing for the worst." While Beijing has undertaken significant environmental initiatives in the lead-up to hosting the Games, it has also emphasized rapid urbanization. link

Multiple states will sue over EPA decision to not let California regulate vehicle emissions

12/26

Riled up about the U.S. EPA's decision not to allow California to regulate vehicle greenhouse-gas emissions, Golden State Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared he will sue the agency "within the next three weeks." At least eight other states that would have adopted the stricter emissions standards had the EPA allowed it have said they've got California's back and will co-sue. Congressional Democrats, led by House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), plan to launch an investigation into the EPA's decision. There's gonna be a rumble! From Grist. UPDATE, 1/20/08 the EPA refuses to release the documents behind their decision link update [http://www.grist.org/news/2008/03/07/epa/index.html UPDATE 3/7

PG&E to Buy Wave Power

12/19

The utility Pacific Gas & Electric this week became the first power company in the United States to sign a deal agreeing to purchase electricity generated by wave power. The wave-power farm that would generate said electricity is still years from completion -- not to mention government approval -- but securing a power buyer is seen as an important step. In the first phase of the project, slated for completion by 2012, eight specially equipped buoys located two and a half miles off the coast of Northern California will together generate up to two megawatts of power. If all goes as planned and the project is granted the necessary approvals, it could be expanded to produce up to 100 megawatts. In other renewables news, the largest photovoltaic solar array in the U.S. opened this week at Nellis Air Force Base near Las Vegas, Nev. The 140-acre farm is expected to generate up to 30,000 megawatt-hours of electricity a year, or about 25 percent of the base's power use. link

Japan Limits Whale Hunt

12/26

Under pressure from, well, most of the world to stop targeting humpback whales, Japan has announced it will hold off on its hunt for the imperiled humpback -- at least for now. "Japan has decided not to catch humpback whales for one year or two, but there will be no change in our stance on research whaling," said spokesguy Nobutaka Machimura. The decision was in large part a compromise with the head of the International Whaling Commission who is attempting to calm debate at the IWC and focus on managing whaling instead of acting to largely discourage or ban it. Japan was also under heavy pressure from European countries, the United States, and Australia, among others, to curtail the planned humpback hunt. Australia had recently dispatched a ship to tail the whalers and has been conducting flyovers of the whaling fleet to collect evidence of wrongdoing to present to an international court. Japan still intends to hunt two other whale species this season, aiming to land over 900 of them in what could be the country's largest hunt. link

The New Kyoto Protocol Meeting in Bali
12/4	Plenty is going on at the United Nations climate conference in Bali, Indonesia, where delegates from nearly 190 nations are gathered to lay the groundwork for a post-Kyoto climate treaty. Conference leaders have said they aim to have a new treaty ready to go by 2009. link

US Senator Markey was negotiating energy bill here, so attended virtually via Second Life
update; dramatic overtime events.

NPR coverage in audio and text, including talk by Gore.

Australia Ratifies the Kyoto Protocol
12/3	On his very first official day in office today, new Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd ratified the Kyoto Protocol, committing his country to deep emissions cuts and putting ever more peer pressure on the United States -- the only industrialized nation still holding out on Kyoto ratification. link

New 35 MPG Standards for Cars

12/4

Democratic leaders in the U.S. House reached a deal late Friday night to raise fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks to an average of 35 miles per gallon by 2020 -- a 40 percent increase from today's standard of 27.5 mpg for cars and 22.2 mpg for SUVs and pickups. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who's been pushing for an increase, came to agreement with House Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.), a longtime defender of automakers in his state. Dingell called the new standards "both aggressive and attainable." link

12/15 update

OIL SPILL IN SAN FRANCISCO BAY
11/9	A Cosco freighter collided with a bridge, spilling 58, 000 gallons of crude oil; 8,000 have been cleaned up Volunteer to help birds here newspaper account Info on latest count of birds affected Channel 4 has good coverageincludes video NPR radio show Forum (audio) audio and images A much larger spill threatens dolphins Russian spill

UCSC Treesit Protest
11/8-	Students protesting the Long Range Development Plan have established a presence on Science Hill as well as a website with activities.

Newspaper account written in part by Paul Rogers, who will speak at the Plenary in a few weeks. Here is the City on a Hill article on event and one on Chancellor's response

Congress Passes Water Bill over Presidential Veto
11-12/16/	34 Republicans (led by Inhofe, who was instrumental in delaying awareness and action of Global Warming) passes a bill which would include coastal wetlands restoration ENN

California Sues Feds to Allow Cleaner Air
11/8	ENN Update: CA beats Bush Administration on gas mileage standards, which means a dozen or so states will adopt our stricter standard, and it sets a precedent that we have the right to protect ourselves. Update: Washington Post story on how the Bush Administration is trying to quash CA efforts. Sept. 25, 2007 see Website

Progress on Fuel Cells for Cars
11/8	"The average price for all types of gasoline is holding steady around $2_95 per gallon nationwide, but the pain at the pump might be short-lived as research from the University of Houston may eliminate one of the biggest hurdles to the wide-scale production of fuel cell-powered vehicles."ENN

Australian Scientists Decode Whale Sounds
11/8	"Australian scientists studying humpback whales sounds say they have begun to decode the whale's mysterious communication system, identifying male pick-up lines and motherly warnings."ENN

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