Greenday + NRDC November 30, 2006
Posted by Moderator in : Alternative Fuel, Global Warming, NRDC, Oil, Bush, Activism, Carbon, Sustainability, Environment, politics, greenhouse, Energy, Technology , add a commentEnvironmental Defense vs.Duke Energy November 2, 2006
Posted by Moderator in : News, Environmental Defense, Global Warming, EPA, Bush, Activism, Carbon, Environment, politics, greenhouse, Supreme Court, Air Pollution, Energy, Technology , add a comment
Environmental Defense took Duke energies to the Supreme Court today on charges that the North Carolina power giant failed to comply with the Clean Air Act requirements to add pollution reduction mechanism when they upgraded their plants. For a change, the Bush administered EPA was on the side of Environment Defense. In an earlier appeals court ruling, the judges sided the industry and today, a similar tone was prevalent at the Supreme Court. It makes no sense why Duke would rather throw money at the lawyers than spend it on pollution control, after all, they need to breathe too.
‘Dead Zones’ On the Rise: Economic Impact of Pollution October 19, 2006
Posted by Moderator in : News, EPA, Activism, Environment, politics, UN, Chesapeake Bay, flush tax , add a comment.jpg "bills")
According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the number of ‘dead zones’ or low oxygenated areas in the world’s seas and oceans may now be as high as 200, the new scientific estimates were released at an international marine pollution meeting this week in Beijing.
The low levels of oxygen in the water make it difficult for fish, oysters and other marine creatures to survive as well as important habitats such as sea grass beds. The cause is attributed mostly to fertilizers in the form of farm run-offs and sewage plants, but most often the utility consumers end up bearing the cost of clean up in the form of higher water usage charges.
In the US, particularly in areas with sensitive water bodies like the Chesapeake Bay, states have imposed additional duty for water usage dubbed the “flush tax”. Utility bills are expected to increase continually until 2014 to meet the demand for plant upgrades. This is due in part the US EPA mandate to reduce pollutant load enter such managed watersheds.
Does it mean the utility business will flourish? Usually not, the technology cost of clean up could run in millions of dollars. As an example, a plant that never required to meet Nitrogen pollutant limits would now need to spend millions to bring the levels down to below 3 mg/L (Parts Per Million) by the year 2010. So will the technology providers benefit from this crisis, probably a little, but cutting edge technology comes at a cost, and research consumes the majority of the profits.
So who is making the money? Clearly the only winners are the farmers, they pollute while benefiting from it, yet they never pay for the clean up. Why you may ask, faming is not a profitable business for one, with more than 50 percent of the world population involved in farming, the net GDP from farming is less than 4 percent, so there is no point going after those who can never pay, so the farming community weasels out, resulting in a bigger bill for you am I.
Scientists Believe that Explosion May Not be Nuclear October 10, 2006
Posted by Moderator in : News, Nuclear, Sustainability, politics, War , add a comment
According to an Associated Press release, the explosion may be resultant of a failed nuclear test or from a smaller explosion. The seismic data thus far are conflicting and no clear determination of the nature of the explosion is possible at this time.
Read the rest of the story.
The Washington Stock Exchange October 5, 2006
Posted by Moderator in : Stocks, Activism, Economics, politics, Technology, WSX , add a comment
When there is money at stake, people tend to be more calculative and careful in critical decision making, this human psyche is collectively harnessed to predict future political outcomes by Washington Stock Exchange. The way it works is quite simple, anyone can sign up for free and receive W$1,000,000 Washington dollars (not real of course) to start trading in stocks linked to uncertain political outcomes. You buy and sell stocks based on your opinion about likelihood of the underlying event. The resulting price corresponds to the probability that it will happen, according to the collective wisdom of the market. According to the site, by harvesting the collective intelligence of all the traders, the market generates very accurate forecasts about the events in question.
This is not just a great concept but something I personally urge everyone try, this in a way is the democratic back channel process that not only predicts potential outcome, but also help those in policy making steer key legislation to make it favorable to the collective for a change.