There are 2.5 million dams blocking U.S. rivers and streams and 85% of them are past their 50 year life expectancy. Popular Mechanics shows how the world’s biggest dam removal will return Washington’s Elwha River to its free-flowing state. In the fall of 2008, Lake Mills, the 415-acre reservoir above the Glines Canyon Dam, will [...]
environment
The River That Once Ran Through It
Canadian Geographic has a great article on how the South Saskatchewan River is in danger of running dry. The true danger is hard to know. A 2009 report by World Wildlife Fund Canada called it the country’s most-threatened river. Yet record rains this year have caused floods and widespread crop damage. Amid such climatic uncertainty, [...]
27,000 Potential Oil Leaks
In the proud tradition of BP More than 27,000 abandoned oil and gas wells lurk in the hard rock beneath the Gulf of Mexico, an environmental minefield that has been ignored for decades. No one — not industry, not government — is checking to see if they are leaking, an Associated Press investigation shows. The [...]
Worst Case Scenario for the Gulf Oil Leak
Over at Science Blogs Contrary to what most of us would think as logical to stop the oil mess, actually opening up the gushing well and making it gush more became direction BP took after confirming that there was a leak. In fact if you note their actions, that should become clear. They have shifted [...]
Green jobs to combat poverty
Using federal stimulus money, they are using it to winterize houses, cut down on carbon emissions, and helping people find jobs while doing it. While I really like the idea, the problem is that it is linked to ongoing federal funding, the kind that gets cut when you run massive deficits. Of course at the [...]
Tall Wind Turbine
In my regular e-mail from City Councilor Darren Hill, he mentions this Tall Wind Turbine — City Council approved a report from Administration that a consultant be hired to conduct a wind resource and environmental assessment for a tall wind turbine to be developed at the Landfill. This assessment is the next step in exploring [...]
Will Big Business Save Earth?
Jared Diamond thinks it is a possibility The embrace of environmental concerns by chief executives has accelerated recently for several reasons. Lower consumption of environmental resources saves money in the short run. Maintaining sustainable resource levels and not polluting saves money in the long run. And a clean image — one attained by, say, avoiding [...]
Will a $7 Billion Dollar Flood Gate Save Venice?
This is from NPR Venice rose from mudflats in the middle of a lagoon which forms the largest wetland in the Mediterranean. One of the world’s most endangered cities, it has been subject to increasing flooding due to sinking land — but also to rising sea levels. It’s known as "aqua alta" — high water [...]
How green is ethanol?
The Economist has a good article on what impact that farmers now growing corn for ethanol has on the global economy and also the environment. Adding ethanol to the traditional markets for maize (food and fodder) inevitably pushes the price up. That encourages farmers, including those in poor countries, to boost production. If some of [...]
Jared Diamond
Wendy, myself and about 1500 people went and saw Jared Diamond at TCU Place tonight. He was what I expected. Witty, gracious, concise, and profound. He talked mostly of his work in Collapse but offered up some thoughts on the global economic collapse and global warming. Sadly for a lot of defeated Liberal candidates, he [...]
White rooftops could slow global warming
From the Sustainablog The news broke yesterday at California’s Climate Change Research Conference. Hashem Akbari, attending the conference from the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, announced that replacing dark shingles on an average-sized household rooftop with a lighter color would offset 10 metric tons of carbon dioxide—comparable to taking two mid-sized cars off the road for [...]
Friedman on Sarah Palin
On John McCain’s extreme makeover With his choice of Sarah Palin — the Alaska governor who has advocated drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and does not believe mankind is playing any role in climate change — for vice president, John McCain has completed his makeover from the greenest Republican to run for president [...]
