Needless to say, all of us here in the U.S. are glad that the 2012 election is behind us and that we no longer have to deal with the incredible level of rancor and lies that were embodied in the campaigns. And if you’re asking why I would want to dredge any of that up again, I don’t have a good answer. Having said that, I thought I’d comment on the Romney campaign’s
Tag:
Consumption
Given the failure of international climate negotiations, a tax on carbon consumption is the most effective way of lowering CO2 emissions. If nations are serious about addressing climate change, then they must pay for the carbon pollution caused by what they consume.
Now That the Cleantech Hype is Gone, the Real Venture Investment Opportunity Begins
written by Walter Wang
The bubble has burst. The hype and euphoria of 2008 and 2009 is a distant memory. Fueled in part by the externality of the stimulus handouts from the stimulus package, and the (now fleeting) spike of natural gas and oil prices, cleantech has experienced its own mini dotcom era now followed by a dot bomb phase.
The politicization of Solyndra, the fracking revolution
In recent years, scientists and environmentalists have noted that wasteful human practices and shoddy public infrastructure has led to an unhealthy spike in overall water consumption. To amend this problem, many communities are turning to sustainable construction techniques – and rewarding households that implement them on a regular basis.
The 2012 edition of WWF’s Living Planet Report warns that our way of life is way beyond the Earth’s capability to restore itself, that is, it is unsustainable. It says in order to have a future, we need to reduce waste, introduce smarter water management techniques and adopt renewable energy such solar and wind power.
China installed a record 18,000 megawatts of new wind energy in 2011, boosting its total capacity to nearly 63,000 megawatts and widening its lead in the global wind energy sector, according to the Earth Policy Institute (EPI).
The U.S., which was passed by China for total wind
A family trip recently brought me back to China for a few weeks. I was in a small provincial capital — quieter than Beijing or Shanghai and the kind of place that has seen explosive population growth in the past ten years.
I spent some time this trip trying to understand the
There is a good deal of worry about the robustness of our nation’s economy. And rightly so. Especially since we have about 5 million fewer jobs today than in 2007, even as we have about 10 million more people to support with those available jobs.
In an effort to understand why economic
Water is one of our planet’s most precious resources. It is ubiquitous: we drink it, wash with it, swim in it, and sail on it. We also use it to produce things like food, paper, and cotton clothing, among others.
But what is “virtual water?” Is it invisible? Sort of. But it is equally – if not more – omnipresent.
If you had proof that you use more energy than 78% of your neighbors, would you take steps to cut back?
Turns out that most of us would.
Through a pilot with OPower, Xcel Energy has been sending customized home energy reports to 50,000 customers in Minnesota.
Urban centers both here in the U.S. and abroad are often densely populated. Naturally, therefore, such areas may be a huge source of carbon dioxide emissions from all kinds of sources, but a principal one is transportation due to the consumption of fossil fuels from driving, taking a taxi, or even riding on a bus that may not be eco-friendly. Yet, many cities at
Since the 1970s when environmental concerns first hit the political front, we have made great attempts to encourage sustainable development. These attempts include things such as recycling, carpooling, using energy efficient lights and purchasing products which do not emit harmful chemicals. What is still not being taken into account are things such as
Use of plastic shopping bags in China has dropped 50 percent since the government required stores to charge customers for the bags, according to a new study. Researchers at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden conducted surveys that found that consumers in Beijing and Guiyang used an average of 21 new plastic
Environmentalist David Orr says the easy part of helping the United States live within its ecological limits may be passing laws, such as one that puts a price on carbon. The hard part, he maintains in an interview with Yale Environment 360, is changing a culture of consumption that causes extensive environmental damage — and unhappiness.
Long before buzzwords like “carbon footprint” entered the general lexicon, David W. Orr was working on ways to help humanity lighten its impact on the natural world. A professor of environmental studies at Oberlin College and the author of six books, including Ecological Literacy, Orr has focused on how to best educate students about using the Earth’s resources prudently. He also has been a leading proponent of sustainable design on the country’s college campuses, and was the driving force behind building Oberlin’s $7 million Environmental Studies Center, considered a model of green architecture in the U.S.