environment

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Hybrid Trucks Get Stuck in Neutral
Hybrid Trucks Get Stuck
in Neutral
Nov 12, 2007 4:50 PM CST

Hybrid Trucks Get Stuck in Neutral

Technology remains too expensive, leading to low demand, higher prices

(Newser) - Hybrid truck sales are sputtering because the technology is too expensive, and companies ordering vehicle fleets won’t pay extra for environmental benefits alone. But without bulk orders, economies of scale aren’t kicking in. One truck company president says government tax breaks or subsidies are needed to boost hybrid...

Gore Joins VC to Invest in Green
Gore Joins VC to Invest in Green
Nov 12, 2007 3:23 PM CST

Gore Joins VC to Invest in Green

Ex-VP will work with Kleiner Perkins to invest in clean technology

(Newser) - Al Gore is joining Silicon Valley's leading venture capital firm in an initiative to invest in green technology. Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, traditionally focused on IT, recently moved into the area of environmentally friendly businesses. Gore will be an active partner with the firm, which has already invested $270...

Slow Response Slammed in SF Bay Oil Disaster

Cleanup lags as contamination sprawls, area residents try to rescue seabirds

(Newser) - As Bay Area residents braved noxious oil to rescue oil-covered seabirds, officials asked why the emergency response to Wednesday's spill had been "unusually slow." The oil slick spread dozens of miles along the San Francisco and Marin coastlines, contaminating beaches and coating marine life, in the hours before...

83% Back Sacrifice to Fight Warming

But global survey mixed on higher fuel taxes

(Newser) - Four out of five people worldwide indicated they're ready to make personal lifestyle changes to combat global warming—even those from the worst carbon dioxide spewers, China and the US, according to a BBC poll of 22,000 people. Support was mixed, however, on increasing taxes on coal and oil,...

Green Groups Oppose Plan to Curb CO2 With Plankton

Company's project to fertilize oceans with nutrients 'risky,' environmentalists say

(Newser) - An environmental coalition today came out against a project that hopes to slow the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, by stimulating ocean plankton to consume the global warming-linked greenhouse gas. The groups decried the plan by an Australian company to pump nutrients into the sea between the Philippines...

UN Report Paints Grim Portrait of Planet's Future

Environmental decline spurs poverty, disease

(Newser) - A major UN report says the health and wealth of millions of people around the world are at risk because of worsening environmental problems, BBC reports. The UN report cited deforestation, overfishing, shortages of drinking water, and rising greenhouse gas levels among the biggest problems. And it criticized a "...

West's Water Woes May Be Permanent
West's Water Woes May Be Permanent
Oct 21, 2007 3:22 PM CDT

West's Water Woes May Be Permanent

Diminishing snowcap, shrinking reservoirs could 'wipe out' states

(Newser) - Officials out West are worried about water, the New York Times reports, and not just for the short-term. In what the Times calls the "other water problem" caused by global warming, snowcaps that feed the the Colorado River—which quenches the thirst of 30 million people in seven states—...

Gore Inspires ‘Deranged’ Righty Hatred

Krugman speculates about why he drives conservatives so batty

(Newser) - Conservatives are incensed over Al Gore’s Nobel prize, and the Times' Paul Krugman says he knows why: The former veep “keeps being right.” The reactions range from the Journal's refusal to mention his name while rattling off more worthwhile contenders to a National Review suggestion that climate-sensitive...

EPA Wins Record $4.6B Acid Rain Settlement

Power company must install equipment to drastically reduce emissions

(Newser) - American Electrical Power will spend $4.6 billion to drastically reduce  harmful emissions at coal-burning plants in five states in the largest pollution settlement in Justice Department history, CNN reports. Under the deal, to be announced today, the Ohio-based company must also pay an additional $60 million on cleanup and...

Tech Wraps Growing Web Around World

Some worry about cultural loss as cell phones, e-mail spread

(Newser) - Global cellphone and computer usage is up dramatically as inequalities in technology drop. Cellphone ownership has grown 20% in the US, where 80% of the population uses computers, third in the world behind Sweden and South Korea. Computer usage is up in 26 of 35 countries in a new Pew...

China Getting Serious About Environment

Polluting businesses told to clean up or get lost in many provinces

(Newser) - When its lake turned green and sludge poured from taps, the longtime home of China’s chemical industry closed 1,340 polluting factories, becoming the standard-bearer for a green wave now sweeping China, the Washington Post says. For the first time, the central government has given its provinces weapons to...

Feds Pursue Fewer Polluters
Feds Pursue Fewer Polluters
Sep 30, 2007 8:15 AM CDT

Feds Pursue Fewer Polluters

EPA cuts down on criminal cases, says focus is on biggest offenders

(Newser) - The EPA has taken a decidedly less aggressive tack in criminal cases, the Washington Post reports, a trend advocates fear will embolden polluters. The number of prosecutions, new investigations, and total convictions have all dropped by more than a third. One ex-official, who resigned in protest, blamed the Bush administration,...

In China, Thirst for Growth Leaves Land Parched

Blistering development laps up water supply

(Newser) - Economic growth, rampant contamination, vast crops and a population explosion are sapping China's groundwater supply at an unprecedented pace. And with 20% of the world's population but only 7% of its water supply, the Chinese government is hard-pressed for solutions, the New York Times reports. "They will run out...

Frisco to Go Dark&mdash;on Purpose
Frisco to Go Dark—on Purpose
Sep 20, 2007 4:03 AM CDT

Frisco to Go Dark—on Purpose

City plans voluntary brownout to show how easy it is to save electricity

(Newser) - In a move initiated by a local environmentalist, San Francisco will launch a voluntary brownout next month to show people how easy it is to save electricity. Lights Out San Francisco is asking everyone to switch off unnecessary lights for an hour on October 20. Activist Nate Tyler got the...

Just 2&deg;C, but a Different World
Just 2°C, but a Different World
Sep 19, 2007 4:21 PM CDT

Just 2°C, but a Different World

Climate change conference insists that humans will have to adapt to survive

(Newser) - The European Union set itself an ambitious goal when it pledged to rein in global rises in temperature to below 2 degrees Celsius. That goal is now unlikely to be met, reports a UN-established group that presented its findings in London today. Martin Parry, who leads the Intergovernmental Panel on...

World's 10 Most Polluted Places
World's 10 Most Polluted Places
Sep 16, 2007 8:32 AM CDT

World's 10 Most Polluted Places

Presenting the world's most polluted places.

(Newser) - Millions around the world live in soot-blackened cities and toxic wastelands. Time offers a reverse travel guide to the most polluted places on Earth:
  1. Linfen, China
  2. Tianjin, China
  3. Sukinda, India

Auto-Emission Ruling Boosts States' Rights

Federal judge rules against carmakers on standards for greenhouse gases

(Newser) - Vermont can set its own greenhouse emissions standards to curb gases that contribute to global warming, a federal judge ruled yesterday in a decision that boosts states’ rights. Automakers sued the state after it adopted standards originally made law in California, saying the regulations were impractical and would upend the...

'Extinction Crisis' Threatens 40% of Species

Watchdog group sees serious danger to one in four mammals

(Newser) - More than 16,000 species are in serious danger of extinction, including one in four mammals and one in three amphibians being monitored by a global conservation group. With 40% of 40,000 surveyed species facing the highest levels of threat, “We’re at code red,” a top...

Climate Change Can Even Muck Up Deepest Sea Creatures

Ocean life in the dark still relies on sunlight

(Newser) - Scientists have discovered that even the bizarre creatures that live on chemical ooze in the blackest, deepest parts of the ocean aren't safe from environmental disasters. It turns out that larvae of tiny deep-sea shrimp live on microscopic plants that rely on sunlight and filter down from the surface.

Hudson River Gets Ready for Its Close-Up

Scientists set out to uncover 315-mile waterway's secrets

(Newser) - The Hudson River is about to go on display. The 315 miles of New York (and New Jersey) water will be outfitted with sensors that collect data and track environmental threats, the Christian Science Monitor reports. The effort will improve understanding of human impact on ecology and will direct resource...

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