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Biomass Energy – Mixed Signals

Posted by plantitfilm on Wednesday, 11 May 2011 in Biofuels

Standing in front of 200 New Hampshire loggers on a cold night last February, it was my job to explain electricity markets and why biomass power projects are facing a tough time. For these guys, it wasn't an academic discussion of the influence of natural gas prices on wholesale power prices...

Quebec to Spend Billions to Develop Northern Regions

Posted by plantitfilm on Monday, 09 May 2011 in Mining

By IAN AUSTENQuebec province, anticipating continued strong growth for its natural resources, has rolled out an ambitious 25-year plan to develop its vast but sparsely settled northern and Arctic regions. The region is well endowed with mineral resources, woodlands and potential hydroelectric devel...

Frack and ruin: the rise of hydraulic fracturing

Posted by plantitfilm on Saturday, 07 May 2011 in Fossil Fuels

Inflammable tap water, cancer threats and earthquakes: probably coming soon, near you. Sebastian Doggart reports from New York on the dangers of hydraulic fracturing, or 'fracking'. Go to your nearest tap. Light a match, and place it next to the running water. If it catches fire, as it has in many ...

Pesticides tied to lower IQ in children

Posted by plantitfilm on Tuesday, 26 April 2011 in Human Health

Children exposed in the womb to substantial levels of neurotoxic pesticides have somewhat lower IQs by the time they enter school than do kids with virtually no exposure. A trio of studies screened women for compounds in blood or urine that mark exposure to organophosphate pesticides su...

2011 Environmental Budget Cuts

Posted by plantitfilm on Sunday, 24 April 2011 in General Environment

The 2011 budget cuts and the environment. The good, the bad, and the ugly. News is coming out all over the place about what the 2011 budget deal means for different topics. Even within the environmental realm, different organizations, journalists, and bloggers with different agendas are focusing on...

A Billion Acts of Green: Earth Day 2011 Activities

Posted by plantitfilm on Thursday, 21 April 2011 in Environmental Heroes

Earth Day is a reminder about the importance of environmental protection and sustainability. Most importantly, it reminds us that we can a make a difference when it comes to our planet. The first Earth Day celebration was held in 1970 and it launched the modern environmental movemen...

Bureau of Land Management Hosts A Fracturing Forum

Posted by plantitfilm on Thursday, 21 April 2011 in Fossil Fuels

The Bureau of Land Management says there are 1,800 oil wells on public and tribal land in North Dakota and asked for public opinion Wednesday on the industry’s method of hydraulic fracturing those wells. Hydraulic fracturing is coming under increased public and government scrutiny and about 250 peo...

10 Green Jobs

Posted by plantitfilm on Thursday, 14 April 2011 in Sustainable Development

If there is one thing that our communities desperately need right now, it’s jobs. Power Shift will bring thousands of dedicated, energetic youth into Washington, D.C. this weekend to strategize about solutions for a clean energy future—but what impact will they have had on the D.C. community? Hope...

The Wind is Spain's Biggest Energy Source

Posted by plantitfilm on Tuesday, 05 April 2011 in Wind

Spain saw wind power become its main source of electricity generation last month, underscoring the country's progress in becoming one of Europe's greenest nations. Power network operator Red Electrica (REE) said Iberian wind farms generated 4,738 GWh of electricity in March to meet 21% of dema...

Dead whale on SC coast 'shocking'

Posted by plantitfilm on Wednesday, 30 March 2011 in Animals

A large pygmy sperm whale carcass that washed up by the Morris Island lighthouse near Charleston Friday was too decomposed to say what killed it, researchers concluded. The whale stranding follows a string of 13 bottlenose dolphin carcasses since late February. A marine mammal stranding crew was in...

Seafood Now a Concern for Japan

Posted by plantitfilm on Wednesday, 30 March 2011 in Fishing

TOKYO -- Fears about contaminated seafood spread Wednesday despite reassurances that radiation in the waters off Japan's troubled nuclear plant poses no health risk. Although experts say radioactive particles are unlikely to build up significantly in fish, the seafood concerns in the country that g...

Green Homes Get Rated on Energy Use

Posted by plantitfilm on Tuesday, 08 March 2011 in Green Design

More new homes now will come with energy labels that estimate monthly energy bills, allowing buyers a different way of shopping for homes. The energy labels have been compared to the miles-per-gallon ratings available for cars, which give insight into a car’s fuel efficiency. Likewise, more ...

Gas Prices Go Up, is a Solution in Sight?

Posted by plantitfilm on Tuesday, 08 March 2011 in Fossil Fuels

AS THE PRICE OF OIL roars above $100 per barrel and gasoline nears $4 per gallon, a cry for solutions understandably goes up. Higher gas prices amount to a regressive tax increase on the American consumer, with all that implies for the ability of the U.S. and global economies to sustain thei...

The snows of Mount Kilimanjaro?

Posted by plantitfilm on Monday, 07 March 2011 in Climate Change

The first piece of that research, which looked only at the month of July, found that deforestation is changing weather patterns around the mountain but not (at least in July) at the peak, according to Dr. Udaysankar Nair, a research scientist in UAHuntsville's Earth System Science Center. ...

A Call for a Coal-Free Future in Washington

Posted by plantitfilm on Monday, 21 February 2011 in Fossil Fuels

On Tuesday of last week more than 500 Washington citizens came together at the state capitol to push for legislative priorities selected by twenty-five leading environmental groups. Washington faces many challenges this year, from protecting waterways from oil pollution to defending environmen...

Youth activists testify at a hearing on the Coal Free Future bill

Obama Climate Adviser Leaving

Posted by plantitfilm on Monday, 24 January 2011 in General Environment

A key climate change adviser to President Barack Obama will step down soon, administration officials said on Monday, in the latest staff departure as the White House adapts to a shift in power in Congress. Carol Browner, White House coordinator of energy and climate policy, "will stay on as long as...

How The National Commision Let BP Get Away?

Posted by plantitfilm on Wednesday, 19 January 2011 in Oil Spill

What failures of the BP board of directors and its senior management led to the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico? Although the recent report of the National Commission on the catastrophe (http://www.oilspillcommission.gov/) purports to provide "thorough analysis and impa...

Richard Branson Calls For Global Carbon Taxes

Posted by plantitfilm on Wednesday, 08 December 2010 in Sustainable Development

Richard Branson, who was at the Cancún Climate Summit to launch a web-based initiative to reduce shipping emissions by as much as 25% over the next 20 years, said taxes could be useful. “Carbon taxes are fine if they are global. Everyone must be in the same boat. We would welcome it if the...

Cancun: your five-minute guide to the COP16 climate conference

Posted by plantitfilm on Friday, 26 November 2010 in Sustainable Development

What is it? This will be the 16th annual meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP), which meets every year to agree international efforts to address climate change. It was set up as part of a UN treaty on climate change, known as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).Where is ...

Chevron Must Think We're Stupid

Posted by plantitfilm on Thursday, 18 November 2010 in Earth Violators

Rainforest Action Network and the Yes Men have put together a great campaign focusing on Chevron’s efforts to green wash their poor environmental record: “Angry and frustrated that oil companies like Chevron think they can ignore their environmental and human rights abuses while cleaning up their im...