Just the Tip of the Bloomberg
Mayor has big clean-energy goals for NYC
Posted at 10:54 AM on 20 Aug 2008
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg touted clean energy Tuesday at, aptly, the National Clean Energy Summit. He said his city has issued a formal request to companies for ideas on how to source electricity from the wind, sun, and waves. "Perhaps companies will want to put wind farms atop our bridges and skyscrapers, or use the enormous potential of powerful offshore winds miles out in the Atlantic Ocean," Bloomberg said, adding, "I think it would be a thing of beauty if, when Lady Liberty looks out on the horizon, she not only welcomes new immigrants but lights their way with a torch powered by an ocean wind farm." He also touted less-sexy smart power grids, increased transmission capacity, and carbon taxation. Bloomberg can't, of course, snap his fingers and create a Green Apple; plenty of obstacles remain, including potential expense, resident resistance, permitting, and the fact that less than 18 months remain in his mayoral term. Unfazed, Bloomberg declared, "When it comes to producing clean power, we're determined to make New York the No. 1 city in the nation."
sources: The New York Times, Daily News, New York Post, Reuterssee also, in Gristmill: NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg announces plans for renewable generation in his citysee also, in Grist: NYC government plans 30 percent carbon cuts by 2017, New York City mayor unveils ambitious sustainability plans
What the Helmet?
Anti-bike crusader halts San Francisco's cycle-friendly plans
Posted at 8:45 AM on 20 Aug 2008
With a claim that bike lanes increase pollution, a San Francisco resident has managed to put the brakes on the city's pro-biking plans. In 2004, San Francisco unveiled a proposal to create more bike lanes and bike parking, aiming to have 10 percent of city trips taken on two wheels by 2010. Enter Rob Anderson, who doesn't own a car but is no fan of cyclists. "The behavior of the bike people on city streets is always annoying," he says. "This 'Get out of my way, I'm not burning fossil fuels.'" Anderson sued the city to make it do an environmental impact review, saying that giving more street space to bicyclists will lead to more air pollution from cars idled in traffic jams. He won, halting the city's plans. Officials are moving slowly on the review, hoping to cover all their bases to keep Anderson from suing again -- as he's already pondering. "Regardless of the obvious dangers," he wrote on his blog, "some people will ride bikes in San Francisco for the same reason Islamic fanatics will engage in suicide bombings -- because they are politically motivated to do so."
source: The Wall Street Journal
A Rig Deal
Visiting oil rig, McCain calls again for more offshore drilling
Posted at 6:56 AM on 20 Aug 2008
Sen. John McCain visited an oil rig off the coast of Louisiana Tuesday, reiterating his call for more offshore drilling and bashing Barack Obama for not sharing his enthusiasm. "Sen. Obama opposes new drilling," said McCain, who himself opposed new offshore drilling until this summer. Actually, to the chagrin of enviros, Obama said recently that he'd consider voting for offshore drilling within a larger package that included alternative-energy incentives. Though the McCain campaign has downplayed the environmental risks of offshore drilling, the rig the senator was stumping on had to be given Coast Guard protection in 2002 because of the "potential for loss of life and damage to the environment" if an accident were to occur there. We've said it before, but we'll say it again: even the American Petroleum Institute says it would take about a decade for new offshore drilling to affect gas prices -- though McCain says he's heard from oil execs that results could come much sooner.
sources: The Washington Post, Associated Press, Dallas Morning Newsnew in Muckraker: McCain visits an oil rig, repeats call for more offshore drillingsee also, in Grist: Hurricane Dolly cancels McCain's earlier plans to visit an offshore oil rig
In Brief
Snippets from the news
Posted at 2:13 PM on 19 Aug 2008
• Beijing air is peachy keen. • California utility snaps up wind power. • Ship pollution kills thousands each year. • Volkswagen delivers " clean diesel." • Coal makes Arctic unhappy.
Heart Monitor
Court tosses federal rule that limited air-pollution monitoring
Posted at 2:01 PM on 19 Aug 2008
States can enact tougher-than-federal monitoring requirements for air pollution from factories and power plants, after a federal appeals court tossed out a U.S. EPA rule keeping them from doing so. Primary plaintiff Sierra Club celebrated the victory; defendants were the U.S. EPA and the American Petroleum Institute, which should seem like an odd pair, but somehow just doesn't surprise us. The tossed-out rule aimed to "decrease the amount of information available to the public and the amount of information that polluters are going to have to report," says Josh Dorner of the Sierra Club, thus "greatly lowering the likelihood they would be held to account for violating the Clean Air Act or any other environmental laws." But the court's decision, says Sierra Club Executive Director Carl Pope, "will give states back the tools they need to hold polluters accountable and help ensure that everyone has clean, healthy air to breathe."
sources: Common Dreams, Dow Jones, Sierra Clubstraight to the court opinion: On Petitions for Review of an Order of the Environmental Protection Agency [PDF]
Sip 'n' Skip
California won't ban BPA in baby bottles, sippy cups
Posted at 12:58 PM on 19 Aug 2008
With 22 legislators abstaining, the California Assembly voted 31-27 Monday not to ban chemical bisphenol A in baby products. BPA is one of those things you'd like to keep out of your kid; the bill would have banned it from bottles, sippy cups, and other containers for tots. Legislators also voted 36-33 (with 11 abstentions) against a bill that would have banned equally icky chemical PFOA from food packaging. The Food and Drug Administration released a draft report Friday concluding that BPA in food containers poses no health threat, and critics questioned whether it was timed to influence California legislators. In addition, Big Chemical had lobbied hard against both bills, papering districts with brochures insinuating that every item in a full grocery bag would be kaput if the legislation passed; another ad depicted an empty grocery bag on a dry lake bed. The wee bright side: Both bills were granted reconsideration, and could be resurrected for another vote this month.
sources: Sacramento Bee, KCBS, Los Angeles Times, Environmental Working Group
Full Steam Ahead
Google.org invests in geothermal energy
Posted at 10:58 AM on 19 Aug 2008
Google.org, the philanthropic arm of the search giant, has announced a $10.25 million investment in geothermal energy technology. The money will back two start-up companies that specialize in enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), the process of pumping water underground to crack hot rocks and use the resulting steam to power a turbine and create electricity. "EGS could be the 'killer app' of the energy world," says Dan Reicher of Google.org. "It has the potential to deliver vast quantities of power 24/7 and be captured nearly anywhere on the planet. And it would be a perfect complement to intermittent sources like solar and wind." Geothermal currently supplies a mere 0.5 percent of global energy supply and 0.4 percent of U.S. supply. The investment is a part of Google.org's RE<C effort, which has an end goal of making renewable energy cheaper than coal. We hope coal is quakin' in its dirty black boots.
sources: Reuters, CNET News, Forbes, Google Inc., Earth2Techsee also, in Grist: Google.org invests in plug-in hybrids and solar thermalsee also, in Grist: An interview with Google's green energy czar
Charge!
Electric-car visionary would overhaul the way we get around
Posted at 7:55 AM on 19 Aug 2008
Could the global auto infrastructure be overhauled in a way that's profitable for business, cheap for drivers, and easy on the planet? Meet Better Place's Shai Agassi and his plans for an electric-car future, featured in the latest issue of Wired. In Agassi's vision, gas stations are replaced with omnipresent recharging spots for electric cars. Vehicles are cheap, perhaps even free; money is made off electricity, and renewable energy is incentivized. Drivers purchase electricity on subscription, paying for unlimited miles, a certain number of miles per month, or pay-as-you-go. No time to recharge? Head to your nearest battery exchange station and swap in a fully charged one. An onboard system is energy monitor, GPS unit, help center, and personal assistant in one. Think it could never happen? Think again: 100,000 electric cars will roll out in Israel by the end of 2011, and Denmark will also provide a testing ground. And wherever Agassi goes, he convinces CEOs, mayors, investors, and statesmen that the world could become a Better Place.
source: Wired
Highway Near the Danger Zone
One in three schools too close to highways for clean air, study says
Posted at 5:38 PM on 18 Aug 2008
One third of American public schools are in an "air pollution danger zone," researchers at the University of Cincinnati found in a new study to be published in the Journal of Environmental Planning and Management. They defined danger zones as areas within a quarter-mile of heavily trafficked highways. Diesel particles and other pollutants from highways can heighten kids' risk for asthma and respiratory problems later in life. "This is a major public health concern that should be given serious consideration in future urban development, transportation planning, and environmental policies," said lead investigator and UC enviro health prof Sergey Grinshpun. Past research in this area has focused on where kids live, not taking into account the fact that they spend a third of their day at school. Grinshpun says schools need to be built further from highways, and those currently in danger zones should get good air-filtration systems. California, always on the ball, has already passed a law forbidding the construction of schools within 500 feet of busy roads.
source: University of Cincinnati press release
In Brief
Snippets from the news
Posted at 2:28 PM on 18 Aug 2008
• One-third of U.S. schools are in "air pollution danger zone."• Forever 21 to be built on site of L.A. community garden. • Beehives harbor 70 different pesticides. • Chinese media guidelines: don't mention carcinogenic water. • Happy World Water Week!
Boone Companion
T. Boone Pickens gets face time with both prez candidates
Posted at 1:40 PM on 18 Aug 2008
T. Boone Pickens, the former Texas oilman who has turned his focus -- and substantial funding -- to renewable energy, breakfasted with both of the presidential candidates in past days. (But is he still a slim Pickens?) The billionaire met with John McCain on Friday; Pickens has said that he supports the Republican candidate, but disagrees with some of McCain's proposals for lowering gas prices. Pickens' Sunday meeting with Barack Obama raised some eyebrows, since Pickens heftily funded the swift-boating of John Kerry in 2004. But Obama brushed that off his shoulders, calling Pickens a "legendary entrepreneur" and adding, "I think we have to unify the country around ... an intelligent energy policy." For his part, Pickens said that he "assured Sen. Obama that [the Pickens Plan] is a nonpartisan campaign.'' In statements released after the klatches, Pickens said he told both candidates that "any credible domestic energy policy must reduce our dependence on foreign oil by at least 30 percent in the next 10 years."
sources: The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Agence France-Presse, Chicago Tribune, All Headline Newsstraight to the Pickens: T. Boone's Statement on Meeting with Sen. Barack Obama, T. Boone's Statement on Meeting with Sen. John McCain
Party of 55
Advocates push for return to 55-mph speed limit
Posted at 11:18 AM on 18 Aug 2008
Platform shoes and high-waisted pants came back into fashion -- could the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit be the next '70s trend to reemerge? Advocates point to potential money and fuel savings, noting that fuel efficiency drops significantly above 60 mph. The Drive 55 campaign calculates that taking a daily 30-mile trip at 55 mph instead of 80 mph saves $1,100 per year; Sen. John Warner (R-Va.), who has called for a study on the effects of a 60-mph limit, points out that the 55-mph limit reduced oil use by 167,000 barrels per day. But that may not be enough to make drivers jive to the 55, which was yanked in 1995 after 21 years of low compliance and high complaining. A return to that speed limit, says Jim Baxter of the National Motorists Association, would merely "generate a lot of tickets, a lot of insurance surcharges, and give a little boost to the radar-detector industry." According to a recent Rasmussen poll, 34 percent of Americans support a return to the "double nickel," while 59 percent oppose it.
sources: USA Today, Logistics Management, Star Tribune, Times Unionsee also, in Grist: Truckers slowing down to increase fuel efficiency, Umbra advises on speed limits
Splitting Airs
N.Y. wind rush brings corruption complaints, divides rural communities
Posted at 8:28 AM on 18 Aug 2008
Lured by generous state subsidies, the wind industry is having its day in the sun breeze in upstate New York. But the scramble for turbine-friendly land has led to complaints of corruption and caused schisms in rural communities. At least two wind companies are being investigated for shady dealings, and evidence of possible improper influence or conflicts of interest have emerged in at least 12 counties. Some residents decry what they say is a none-too-polite, get-out-of-my-way mentality by Big Wind, and say the turbines spoil views, ruin the quiet, threaten land and wildlife, and cause unnecessary conflict. "Is it worth destroying families, pitting neighbor against neighbor, father against son?" says electrician John Yancey. "Is it worth destroying a whole way of life?" Others, however, see job growth, tax revenue, clean energy, and much-needed money. It's a "once-in-lifetime chance at prosperity," says retired dairy farmer Bill Burke. "[Y]ou would have to be a fool not to participate, to be excited and take advantage of it."
sources: The New York Times, Associated Press
BPA: A-OK?
Common chemical in food containers not a health threat, says FDA
Posted at 7:15 AM on 18 Aug 2008
Food containers made with common chemical bisphenol A pose no health threat, according to a draft assessment by the Food and Drug Administration. More than 100 government- and university-funded studies have linked BPA to cancer, diabetes, behavioral disorders, and reproductive problems, and an April report from the National Toxicology Program declared there was "some concern" about infant exposure to the chemical. But relying largely on two industry-funded studies that say the chemical is just peachy, the FDA found that "an adequate margin of safety exists for BPA at current levels of exposure from food contact uses." Advisers will review the draft report in September. BPA is found all over the damn place, from sunglasses to CDs to car interiors; it rears its head in can linings, baby bottles, and many food containers made of hard, clear plastic #7. Canada and San Francisco have banned BPA in baby products, and California voters are set to vote on a ban soon.
sources: The Washington Post, Associated Press, Bloombergsee also, in Grist: Nalgene, Wal-Mart back away from BPAstraight to the report: Draft Assessment of Bisphenol A for Use in Food Contact Applications [PDF] In Brief
Snippets from the news
Posted at 4:16 PM on 15 Aug 2008
• Oil and gas leases on Colorado's Roan Plateau sell for record amount. • High fuel prices mean ramped up drilling and mining. • Climate change, past forest management make western U.S. susceptible to fire. • Electric bikes sell like hotcakes. • Invasive snail could hurt Lake Michigan. • New species of robin found in Gabon.
Boxer Beefs
Sen. Boxer none too happy about feds' attack on ESA
Posted at 3:35 PM on 15 Aug 2008
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) wrote a letter Friday to Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne expressing "great concern" over the Bush administration's sneaky attack on the Endangered Species Act. The change would allow federal agencies to green-light many projects with no independent review of impact on endangered species -- which, uh, kind of defeats the purpose. Boxer asked that the feds "discontinue further action" on the proposal or, at the very least, schedule public hearings and extend the 30-day comment period to six months. "[Y]our office appears to be attempting, in effect, to make changes to the Endangered Species Act that the Administration has been unable to achieve through legislation," she noted. The Interior Department says the rule change is no big deal, and that it only relaxes regulations for projects that have "no effect, an insignificant effect, a beneficial effect, or an indeterminable effect" on endangered species. Which, apparently, federal agencies will just magically know.
source: The Hillstraight to the smackdown: Boxer's letter to Kempthorne [PDF]
Make a Rudd for It
Australia continues to deal with epic drought
Posted at 1:46 PM on 15 Aug 2008
Longstanding drought has wreaked havoc across Australia, drying up lakes into shallow, acidic puddles and threatening drinking-water supplies. Unable to coax rain from the sky, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has fast-tracked a plan to buy back water entitlements from the heaviest irrigators in the Murray-Darling basin, an agricultural stronghold which produces all of the country's rice, nearly all of its oranges, most of its pigs, half of its wheat and apples, and much of its cotton. The region covers 14 percent of the Australian continent but consumes 52 percent of its water. Environmentalists applaud Rudd's plan on paper, though point out that there is, in fact, little water to buy back. "I don't want to say that there's some magic solution here," admits Rudd. "I am trying to turn around a situation which has evolved over many years ... and we are dealing with the real consequences of climate change."
sources: The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, ABC News, The Guardian, The AustralianMaking a Plug
Chevy Volt gets prettied up, almost ready for testing
Posted at 11:59 AM on 15 Aug 2008
The design phase of the plug-in hybrid Chevy Volt is "essentially finished," General Motors declared Thursday. The new design is more aerodynamic than the concept Volt unveiled in Jan. 2007, allowing the car to travel solely on battery power for at least 40 miles, according to GM. The automaker hopes to have a few prototypes ready for testing within the next 10 days, and 50 available by the end of the year. But the 37,333 (and counting) people who have signed up to an unofficial waiting list for the Volt will still have to wait two years, as GM continues work on the actual technology that'll make the car run. A GM exec notes that the company wants to conjure up "battery packs about half the size, twice the robustness, and half the cost" as exist currently. When the Volt does debut, GM says it will be priced between $30,000 and $40,000.
sources: Associated Press, Reuters, Detroit Free Press, The New York Timessee also, in Grist: 15 Green CarsTakin' a Shine to You
Ginormous solar plants to be built in California
Posted at 8:34 AM on 15 Aug 2008
Two gigantic solar plants will be built in California under deals announced Thursday between utility Pacific Gas & Electric and companies OptiSolar and Sun Power. Together, the plants could generate 800 megawatts of electricity at peak capacity, enough to power 239,000 homes. (Perspective: The total peak capacity of every photovoltaic panel in the U.S. as of last year was 750 MW.) The largest plant will cover nine square miles with solar panels, but it will be "very visually unobtrusive," says OptiSolar CEO Randy Goldstein; with panels only three feet high, "It almost looks like a lake." Both plants aim to be up and running by 2011, dependent on state and local approval and a renewal of tax credits currently stalled in Congress. Photovoltaic power has until now been constrained to rooftops, considered too inefficient for utility-scale use; the PG&E deals are "monumental," says Julia Hamm of the Solar Electric Power Association. "I really think it demonstrates that the time for solar has come."
sources: San Francisco Chronicle, Financial Times, The Mercury News, The New York Times, San Francisco Business Journal
I Dream of Oxygenie
Number of ocean dead zones increasing dramatically, study says
Posted at 4:48 PM on 14 Aug 2008
As if fish didn't have enough to worry about, now those near coastal areas are threatened by an unprecedented number of dead zones, says a study being published Friday in the journal Science. The number of dead zones -- oxygen-deprived areas that can no longer support marine life -- has doubled every decade since the 1960s, and the zones have been getting bigger and badder. Researchers counted over 400 dead zones worldwide, the combined area of which is bigger than the state of Oregon. "We can say that human activities really screwed up oxygen conditions in our coastal areas," said Robert J. Diaz, the study's lead author. Up where they spray all day in the sun, chemical fertilizers from farms send nitrogen-rich runoff downstream and out to sea, where it spurs the production of algae; as the algae sink to the bottom and decompose, huge amounts of oxygen are sucked up. The resulting dead zones in turn kill huge amounts of sea life. The researchers say fertilizer pollution needs to be reined in.
sources: The New York Times, The Washington Post
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