The EPA and Harmful Gasses

Take a look at this article about the EPA's new direction in regards to heat-trapping gasses.

"The move is likely to have a profound effect across the economic spectrum, affecting transportation, power plants, oil refineries, cement plants and other manufacturers.
It sets the agency on a collision course with carmakers, coal plants and other businesses that rely on fossil fuels, which fear that the finding will impose complex and costly rules.

But it may also help the Obama administration’s efforts to push through a federal law to curb carbon dioxide emissions by drawing industry support for legislation, which many companies see as less restrictive and more flexible than being monitored by a regulatory agency. And it will lay a basis for the United States in the negotiations leading up to a global climate treaty to be signed in Copenhagen in December.

Once made final, the agency’s finding will pave the way for federal regulation of carbon dioxide, methane and other heat-trapping gases linked to global warming. "

The full article is below:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/science/earth/24epa.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Yours in not trapping gasses (haha),

-j.

Vampire power

If you've been keeping up with environmental issues, you know that vampire power is the power that your electronic gadgets use when they're turned off but still plugged in.

Good Magazine did a great graphic comparing amounts of vampire power used by common gizmos.

Easiest solution to stop losing power to the vampire effect: plug your electronics into a surge protector and turn off the surge protector when the gadgets aren't in use. Or you could get a fancy surge protector that does it by itself.

Green is Universal

Earth Day was this past Tuesday (the same day as our lovely banquet). While watching an enthralling episode of "Law and Order: Special Vicitms Unit" I saw a commercial for NBC Universal's Earth Week. With tv shows that give you tips on making your everyday life more green and ways that you can make a difference, Green Week promotes slogans like, "Big Ideas for a Small Planet," "Green is Universal," and "Awareness. Activism. Results." Check here for more information and their end-of-the-week update.

Happy Greenification!

Tiny Cars and a New Governor

Here are two interesting pieces, both with a connection to India, oddly enough:

1. Last week, the Tata Motors introduced the smallest, cheapest car on the market: the Nano. Anne Applebaum at Slate brings up an interesting conflict: the opposition of the anti-poverty movement and the environmental movement. As Applebaum correctly outlines, the technology that creates cheaper important goods--like the Nano, the world's cheapest laptop, new agricultural techniques that improve food production--will improve the quality of life of the poor.
   
   The company hopes that the car, available for only $2500, will be used by Indians who currently often pack an unsafe number of family members on scooters or bicycles. The car would never pass the safety regulations in most Western countries (including the U.S.), but the lack of extra safety features allows it to be sold for so cheap. While that trade off is certainly interesting, But those same technologies will also damage the environment very greatly. Thousands of Indians will now be able to drive around the Indian countryside with the Nano. But the increase in pollution and emissions from such a cheaply made car could be enormous. Likewise, many of the new agricultural techniques that are used to feed more people in the world have significant environmental drawbacks, too.
   
   Applebaum doesn't do much in her article except point out the conflict, and refute the central argument put forward by both sides (that the two sides are not actually in opposition to each other). I can see how environmental activism can help the poor, including advocacy for more fair location of power/manufacturing plants. But what about when correct environmental policy, such as clean air, directly conflict with the struggle to help the poor climb out of poverty?



2. Louisiana's new Governor, Bobby Jindal, was inaugurated yesterday. Even if you don't support him, you should at least have a clue about his plans for governing the state. His inauguration speech focused on ethics and economics, unsurprisingly. Here's the somewhat fluffy T-P editorial on the speech.

Brazilian Bishop Performs Hunger Strike

I found this article on the BBC website and to be honest it's the first time I have heard about it. In Brazil Dom Luiz Flavio Cappio had to be hospitalized after performing a hunger strike for 27 days. He was protesting the diversion of the Sao Francisco river citing the detrimental effects to the environment. The Vatican has tried to convince him to cease the strike for the sake of his health, but he refused.

Two rights don't make...

Think a little change can't make a big difference in reducing your carbon footprint? UPS reduced their carbon emissions by over 31,000 TONS by making a simple change to their fleet management software. The software change rerouted UPS trucks to make as few left turns as possible. By favoring right turns, the trucks spend less time idling, waiting for a green arrow or for traffic to break.

Amazing and simple.

Link (via digg)