February 2010
92 posts
Two Steps Simple to Really Reducing Your Carbon... →
photo: Flavio Ferrrari via flickr. The idea of trying to reduce the carbon footprint of your diet is almost yesterday’s news in the green community, as is talking about eating…
Walmart's SVP of Sustainability Fills in a Few... →
photo: D’Arcy Norman via flickr. Walmart today announced a major supply chain greenhouse gas reduction commitment of removing 20 million metric tons of emissions by 2015. Very good,…
Small Scale Tropical Farms Better For Preserving... →
photo: Samuel M Beebe/Ecotrust, Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 via flickr. One line of conservation thought believes that the best way to preserve remaining tropical forests is to…
Morning Coffee - 26 February 2010 →
Summary: Gaddafi calls for jihad on Switzerland
Top Story: SUU KYI LOSES ON APPEAL
Jailed Burman opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi lost her legal…
Whaling Increases Carbon Emissions... So Let's... →
photo: Chris via flickr. One more on the connection between whales and carbon sequestration: Scientists from the Gulf of Maine Research Institute have determined that 100 years…
Kris Allen and American Idol Help the UN Help... →
Last week, UN Foundation CEO Kathy Calvin and reigning American Idol Champ traveled to Haiti together. Tune in to American Idol tonight for special footage from the trip.
As Matt noted…
One-Third of Yemen's Population May Go Hungry.... →
At what point does the focus on military aid to the exclusion of humanitarian relief become yet another example of our myopic focus on the former to the detriment to our long term goals?
A…
Walmart Announces They Will Cut 20 Million Tons of... →
At a presentation at its Arkansas headquarters, mega-retailer Walmart announced a significant new sustainability goal for its supply chain: Reducing the greenhouse gas emissions from the…
20 Million Mongolian Cattle Could Be Dead by... →
Mongolian animal herds are being wiped out by bitter cold and deep snow. Photos: Bitterroot Badger. What’s dzud you ask? Well, it’s the Mongolian word for the sort of weather they are…
One Block Off The Grid Gets $5 Million to Expand... →
photo: Andy Wright via flickr. We’ve covered the progress of One Block Off The Grid on a number of occasions, and I think it’s safe to say that their innovative approach to enabling…
China's Fertilizer Fetish Making Soils More Acidic... →
photo: Simply Lori Ann Brian recently told us about how China’s water pollution problems are probably twice as bad as official government statistics show. Part of that is due to…
Arab Leaders Begin to Recognize Climate Change... →
Photo courtesy CPWF Basin Focal Project. A meter of sea level rise would pose serious economic damage to agricultural activities along the Nile Delta, such as aquaculture operations…
Iran: Demonstrations; New Human Rights Watch... →
Major demonstrations are underway in Tehran today. Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch gives fresh accounts of rights abuses in Iran.
Major demonstrations are underway in Tehran today, the 31st…
Urbanization & Export-led Agriculture Now Main... →
Indonesia was listed as a hot spot of this sort of deforestation. Jakarta skyline, photo: flydime via flickr. Think everyone moving to cities and global trade increasing incomes will…
Utah House of Reps Passes Resolution Calling... →
In an effort to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to “cease its carbon dioxide reduction policies, programs, and regulations until climate data and global warming science are…
Morning Coffee - 11 February 2010 →
Summary: Contractors eye Haiti; Construction at the UN; U.S. to cut the carp; Bolivia starts a space agency; U.S. frees Iraqi journo.
Top Story: CONTRACTORS SEE…
Don't Oversimplify Glacier Retreating (and... →
photo: Joe via flickr. With all the recent brouhaha over inaccurate and since retracted statements in the 2007 IPCC climate change report about the speed with which Himalayan…
UN Says Japan Violated Anti-Whaling Activist's... →
Junichi Sato (left), Toru Suzuki (right), and their lead counsel, Yuichi Kaido (center) face reporters at a press briefing following their first pre-trial hearing at Aomori District Court in…
Angelina Jolie Visits Haiti (Video) →
Among other places, the UN Goodwill Ambassador visited the orphanage from which 33 children were taken by Americans being held on kidnapping charges.
UN Good Will Ambassador Angelia Jolie…
The Humanitarian Sector Gets Graded: B- →
A major monitoring group just graded the humanitarian system at a B-.
ALNAP – the Active Learning Network for Accountability and Performance in humanitarian action – just released a…
Let's Deconstruct the Phantom China v US Cleantech... →
photo: David Schroeter via flickr. Now here’s an article I wish I wrote: While the US vs China rhetoric over who’s the bigger cleantech player, the China’s gonna eat our lunch talk…
Brazil's Biofuel Expansion Doesn't Directly Lead... →
photo: Eugeni Dodonov via flickr. Here’s an interesting one on the connection between biofuel expansion in Brazil, cattle ranching, and deforestation: Mongabay is…
Women on the Rise in (South) American Politics →
Laura Chinchilla’s recent victory in Costa Rica is part of a heartening trend running through South America, a widespread increase in political participation for women.
On the heels of Laura Chinchilla’s victory
Malaysian Indigenous People Paid by Poaching... →
Malayan tiger photo: B_cool via Wikipedia. Here’s one more on the organized crime and the illegal wildlife trade connection: Economic Times reports that Malaysia’s indigenous…
Geoengineering Inspired by Volcanoes? Not if You... →
photo: Roberto Zingales via flickr. Geoengineering comes in many forms from the benign (planting more trees to soak up carbon, biochar, etc.) to the downright dangerous. This is about…
How Can the Gates Foundation Leverage Their... →
Ruth Levine takes a new look at the Gates Foundation’s ten billion dollar vaccine promise, and identifies ways it can leverage that funding.
At the Center for Global Development’s Global…
India Suspends First GM Food Crop Introduction -... →
photo: Kirsten via flickr. Genetically-modified cotton has been grown in India since 2002, but until today it appeared that the nation’s first GM food crop would be introduced in 2010.
Take Action! Come Out to Support Monkeywrencher... →
Tim DeChristopher speaking last October at the International Day of Climate Action via It’s Getting Hot In Here. Remember Tim DeChristopher? The guy who punked the federal oil and…
There's a New Drive for Nuclear Power, But It's... →
photo: morisius cosmonaut via flickr. DC has been just showering love on nuclear power these days, and there’s been some on TreeHugger as well, but as recent articles over at …
Morning Coffee - 9 February 2010 →
Summary: Iran says maybe it won’t make that super-enriched uranium after all; Charges laid in Philippines election massacre; Survivor rescued nearly a month after Haiti quake.
Top…
The UN is NOT Trying to Take Your Guns Away.... →
A new online petition circulated by a gun owners advocacy group mongers in conspiracy theory.
One of the most persistent stories about the UN that is circulated by people, who, shall we…
New Clinton-Bush Haiti PSA →
Presidents Bush and Clinton team up for a new public service announcement for Haiti relief efforts.
Presidents Bush and Clinton team up for a new public service announcement for Haiti…
Corn Ethanol Back in the Game Under New EPA... →
photo: Randy Wick via flickr. New Environmental Protection Agency requirements for its Renewable Fuel Standards program have been released which raise an issue which has sat…
90% of Himalayan Glacier Melting Caused by... →
photo: Wonker via flickr. We’ve reported a number of times on the growing body of knowledge pointing to aerosols being a greater component of climate change than previously thought,…
New US Federal Climate Change Service Launching -... →
NOAA responds to millions of annual requests for climate data vital to planning and operations. In vulnerable areas, infrastructure can be designed with a better understanding of projected…
Historic Alaskan Glacier Melt Less Than Previously... →
photo: Frank Kovalchek via flickr. Here’s one with a decided twist: Scientists from France’s Laboratory for Space Studies in Geophysics and Oceanography are saying that previous…
Haiti Earthquake Facts and Figures, Latest Update →
The UN gives the latest facts and figures on Haiti recovery efforts, including mortality and displacement estimates.
The Haitian government has not issued a mortality estimate since January…
U.S. Global Aids Ambassador: HIV Budget for Africa... →
The Science Speaks blog interviewed Dr. Eric Goosby, the US global AIDS ambassador, on the newly released White House budget proposal.
The Science Speaks blog interviewed Dr. Eric…
3TIER Maps Show Effect of El Nino on US Wind... →
Wind speed variance from average across the United States for all of 2009 (above) and for the last quarter of the year (below). 3TIER was released a number of interesting maps and…
Morning Coffee - 8 February 2009 →
Summary: Disputed election in Ukraine; Iran threatens to make purer uranium; Costa Rica elects first female president in landslide; Reality TV show fined over rat-eating chef.
Top…
Arctic Melting Triple Threat: Less Winter Ice... →
photo: Ash via flickr. Three less than encouraging reports about the state of climate change in the Arctic via Reuters: 1) The director of the National Snow & Ice Date Center…
UN Plaza: Talking Haiti Reconstruction With Paul... →
The author of The Bottom Billion, Wars Guns and Votes sits down with me to talk about Haiti reconstruction
The author of The Bottom Billion, Wars Guns and Votes sits down with me to talk…
Saltwater Biofuel Production & Fish Farming... →
It’s been a while since saltwater-loving salicornia has made an appearance on these pages, but a new research effort by the Masdar Institute is bring it back. As Technology Review…
Survey Says Americans Support Carbon Tax More Than... →
There have been a slew of surveys coming out lately showing what Americans supposedly want or don’t want in terms of energy policy, climate policy and about climate change more broadly. I say…
Sea Shepherd's Bob Barker Collides With Japanese... →
At about noon today, Australia time, at a location about 180 miles off Cape Darnley in Australian Antarctic Territory the Sea Shepherd vessel Bob Barker collided with the Japanese…
CEDAW Committee: Protect Rights and Involve Women... →
United Nations human rights experts share the unease Afghan civil society representatives voiced in London last week about the protection of women’s human rights during peace negotiations with…
EU May Classify Palm Oil Plantations as 'Forests'... →
Oil palm fruit; photo: fitri agung via flickr. A leaked draft version of a European Commission report on implementation of EU sustainable biofuels plans would permit classification…
Correction: Greenpeace UK Not Calling for IPCC... →
photo: Greenpeace/Christian Aslund via flickr. Yesterday you may have seen on TreeHugger and elsewhere remarks by Greenpeace UK director John Sauven which implied that the…
Good News For Bluefin Tuna: CITES Scientists... →
France, Italy & Spain account for half of the world’s catch of bluefin, while Japan is the largest consumer. Photo: Stewart Butterfield via flickr. In a move which could bode well for…
Higher National Renewable Energy Standard Means... →
A new study is out on just how many new renewable energy industry jobs could be created in the United States by enacting a national renewable energy standard. The RES Jobs Study, conducted…