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BP And The Gulf Oil Spill – Do We Have Pinocchio In Our Midst?

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 31 August 2010 in Oil Spill

I have to admit that I am rapidly becoming a believer that every time a see a BP or government official spew forth the latest update, I see their nose’s grow. BP had to remove Tony Hayward, his nose would no longer fit on the CNN TV set! The well is capped, well sort of. Oil is no longer sp...

Environmental and Animal Rights Activist Returned to Prison for Facebooking

Posted by ep-admin on Monday, 30 August 2010 in Environmental Heroes

“When friends are outlawed, only outlaws will have friends.”–Mike Roselle Ummm, yeah. Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t watching. We knew it would happen sooner or later. The surveillance state is not only watching social media sites, the social media sites are the surve...

Fortune 500 Companies Flex Market Muscle, Reject Tar Sands

Posted by ep-admin on Monday, 30 August 2010 in Sustainable Development

The pen is mightier than the sword, but the purse may sometimes be mightier than the pen. Major US corporations are adding market pressure to the growing wave of opposition against tar sands expansion, giving tar sands producers a fresh reason to consider the consequences of their poor envir...

Solar Array Design: Parallel Wiring Opens New Doors

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 29 August 2010 in Solar

The advent of parallel wiring architectures for solar arrays promises to create new levels of freedom and flexibility for designers. by Michael Lamb, VP, Business Development, eIQ Published: August 30, 2010 Tulsa, Oklahoma, United States -- For decades, designers of sola...

Meatless Monday is gaining support

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 28 August 2010 in Food

Chefs across the nation have embraced the Meatless Monday movement, and in turn customers, critics and the media have celebrated their success. Just this week TIME magazine took a look at six chefs that are pushing plant-based entrees and reaping the rewards. Special attention was given to Mario Bat...

Ocean Thermal Energy in hawaii

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 28 August 2010 in Agriculture

The Earth’s oceans are continually heated by the sun, creating a temperature difference between deep and shallow water. This temperature difference contains a vast amount of solar energy, which can potentially be harnessed to generate electricity. Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC), invo...

the Rachel Carson Contest

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 28 August 2010 in Environmental Heroes

A panel of judges has pre-selected the finalists for each category based on creativity, originality, and the ability to capture a sense of wonder for the environment. The judges also selected entries which incorporate an inter-generational team in their production. The contest is meant to ...

Why Has Extreme Weather Failed to Heat Up Climate Debate?

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 28 August 2010 in Climate Change

We've had so much record heat around the world lately that the records themselves are setting records: 17 nations have reached new temperature highs, a new record for records in a year. Pakistan hit (129F) 54C, a new record for all of Asia. Moscow had never hit 100F (38C) before; lately it's...

Forget the Country Club. Give us an organic farm instead.

Posted by ep-admin on Thursday, 26 August 2010 in Sustainable Development

The Canyons Organic farm central to new residential community By Molly Miller Forget the Country Club. Give us an organic farm instead. Hoping to reach out to home buyers seeking a green lifestyle, Denver developer Lee Alpert & Co' s new 3,500-acre development near Castle Pines, CO...

Study shows deepwater oil plume in Gulf degraded by microbes

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 25 August 2010 in Oil Spill

In the aftermath of the explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, a dispersed oil plume was formed at a depth between 3,600 and 4,000 feet and extending some 10 miles out from the wellhead. An intensive study by scientists with the Lawrence Berkeley National Labor...

A team of Berkeley Lab researchers led by microbial ecologist Terry Hazen (seated in middle) determined the physical, chemical and microbiological properties of the BP deepwater oil plume in the Gulf of Mexico and found faster than expected biodegradation rates. (Photo by Roy Kaltschmidt, Berkeley Lab Public Affairs)

Scientists hope to collect electricity from the air

Posted by ep-admin on Wednesday, 25 August 2010 in Climate Change

Nikola Tesla once dreamed of being able to harness electricity from the air. Now, research being conducted at Brazil’s University of Campinas (UC) is indicating that such a scenario may indeed become a reality. Professor Fernando Galembeck, a UC chemist, is leading the study into the ways in which e...

Reinventing the City

Posted by ep-admin on Tuesday, 24 August 2010 in Sustainable Development

Our cities play a vital role in the quest to achieve global ecological sustainability. They are the largest contributors to greenhouse gases and climate change. However, if we can achieve sustainable construction and use of urban infrastructure, our cities could become a critical leverage po...

Waves of Deforestation Across East Africa

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 22 August 2010 in Forestry

A new study co-authored by a World Wildlife Fund scientist documents waves of forest degradation advancing like ripples in a pond 75 miles across East Africa in just 14 years. Scientists from 12 organizations in Europe, Africa and the US demonstrated that forest exploita...

Batteries Are the Shocking Truth about Electric Cars

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 22 August 2010 in Transportation

Can white elephants come in green? President Barack Obama flew to Holland, Mich., on Thursday to attend groundbreaking ceremonies for a new lithium-ion battery plant, which the White House advertised as an example of federal stimulus grants at work and a gateway to a clean-energy future. G...

Ocean Acidification – The Other Carbon Problem

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 22 August 2010 in Ocean/Seas/Coastlines

Humankind's assault on the oceans continues apace. A short time ago, we considered the loss of 40% of the phytoplankton in the oceans since 1950. In my post How We Wrecked The Oceans, marine ecologist Jeremy Jackson explains why he believes the sea will be devoid of fish and other large...

iPads and Kindles are better for the environment than books

Posted by ep-admin on Sunday, 22 August 2010 in Recycling

E-readers are everywhere, even at my local library. But what about the trees? You told us about reading the newspaper online vs. getting the print edition, so now tell us about e-books. Does reading on my Kindle represent a win for the environment? Environmental analysis can be an endless balancing...

Residents of Wyoming Fracking Community Report Illnesses

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 21 August 2010 in Human Health

Residents of Pavillion, Wyoming may be getting sick because of hydraulic fracturing, also called fracking. According to an Associated Press report, the group Earthworks Oil and Gas Accountability Project says that four out of five people who have returned a health survey report symptoms that could b...

September Slated for Final Kill of BP Oil Spill

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 21 August 2010 in Oil Spill

It now looks like BP’s blown well in the Gulf of Mexico won’t be completely killed until September. BP engineers are conducting a series of tests in preparation for a procedure called a bottom kill to ensure the well can withstand the pressure from the operation. No oil has leaked from the well sin...

4 Die in Asthma Attack - Is Your City Next?

Posted by ep-admin on Saturday, 21 August 2010 in Air Quality

Alberta health officials are investigating after four people died due to asthma attacks during a two-week period last month. Two men in their 20s and a man and woman in their early 50s died in the second and third weeks of the month, said Dr. Marcia Johnson, acting medical officer of health with Alb...

In Grip Of Drought, Floods, Niger Faces Hunger Crisis

Posted by ep-admin on Friday, 20 August 2010 in Food

At the epicenter of a hunger crisis in West Africa's Sahara Desert region, Niger is in desperate need of food aid for nearly 8 million people — more than half the country's population. Yet a cash-strapped U.N. food aid agency has had to make a difficult choice: For now, only children younger than 2 ...

A farmer waits for food distribution near Dakoro, in northern Niger, in May