Tag Archives: wind power

Bad News For Obama: Fracking May Be Worse Than Burning Coal

Mother Jones

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN” “http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd”>

If you’re a politician, science is a bitch; it resists spin. And a new set of studies—about, of all things, a simple molecule known as CH4—show that President Obama’s climate change strategy is starting to unravel even as it’s being knit. To be specific: most of the administration’s theoretical gains in the fight against global warming have come from substituting natural gas for coal. But it looks now as if that doesn’t really help.

In a very real sense it’s not entirely the president’s fault. When Obama took office in 2008 he decided to deal with health care before climate change, in essence tackling the biggest remaining problem of the 20th century before teeing up the biggest challenge of the 21st. His team told environmentalists that they wouldn’t be talking about global warming, focusing instead on ‘green jobs.’ Obama did seize the opportunity offered by the auto industry bailout to demand higher mileage standards—a useful move, but one that will pay off slowly over the decades. Other than that, faced with a hostile Congress, he spent no political capital on climate.

Continue Reading »

More: 

Bad News For Obama: Fracking May Be Worse Than Burning Coal

Posted in Anchor, FF, GE, Hagen, LAI, LG, ONA, PUR, Radius, solar, solar panels, Uncategorized, Venta, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Bad News For Obama: Fracking May Be Worse Than Burning Coal

Texas Is Wired for Wind Power, and More Farms Plug In

green4us

White Dwarf Issue 24: 12 July 2014 – White Dwarf

The saga of Sanctus Reach continues with the release of the fantastic Stormclaw boxed set, and Adam and Andy play through all the missions you get in the box in a very special Battle Report. Jervis Johnson returns with a new Rules of Engagement feature which adds stratagems and events to your games of Warhammer, while we present a new and very exclusive data

iTunes Store
Travels With Casey – Benoit Denizet-Lewis

A moody Labrador and his insecure human take a funny, touching cross-country RV trip into the heart of America’s relationship with dogs. “I don’t think my dog likes me very much,” New York Times Magazine writer Benoit Denizet-Lewis confesses at the beginning of his journey with his nine-year-old Labrador-mix, Casey. Over the next four months, thirty-two stat

iTunes Store
The Damnation of Pythos – David Annandale

In the aftermath of the Dropsite Massacre at Isstvan V, a battered and bloodied force of Iron Hands, Raven Guard and Salamanders regroups on a seemingly insignificant death world. Fending off attacks from all manner of monstrous creatures, the fractious allies find hope in the form of human refugees fleeing from the growing war, and cast adrift upon the tide

iTunes Store
Oogy – Larry Levin

In the bestselling tradition of Rescuing Sprite comes the story of a puppy brought back from the brink of death, and the family he adopted. In 2002, Larry Levin and his twin sons, Dan and Noah, took their terminally ill cat to the Ardmore Animal Hospital outside Philadelphia to have the beloved pet put to sleep. What would begin as a terrible day suddenly go

iTunes Store
Inside of a Dog – Alexandra Horowitz

The bestselling book that asks what dogs know and how they think, now in paperback. The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human. Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs’ perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draw

iTunes Store
The Art of Raising a Puppy (Revised Edition) – Monks of New Skete

For more than thirty years the Monks of New Skete have been among America’s most trusted authorities on dog training, canine behavior, and the animal/human bond. In their two now-classic bestsellers, How to be Your Dog’s Best Friend and The Art of Raising a Puppy, the Monks draw on their experience as long-time breeders of German shepherds and as t

iTunes Store
How to Raise the Perfect Dog – Cesar Millan & Melissa Jo Peltier

From the bestselling author and star of National Geographic Channel’s Dog Whisperer , the only resource you’ll need for raising a happy, healthy dog. For the millions of people every year who consider bringing a puppy into their lives–as well as those who have already brought a dog home–Cesar Millan, the preeminent dog behavior expert, says, “Yes,

iTunes Store
How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend – Monks of New Skete

For nearly a quarter century, How to Be Your Dog’s Best Friend has been the standard against which all other dog-training books have been measured. This new, expanded edition, with a fresh new design and new photographs throughout, preserves the best features of the original classic while bringing the book fully up-to-date. The result: the ultimate trai

iTunes Store
White Dwarf Issue 25: 19 July 2014 – White Dwarf

The new Sector Imperialis Realm of Battle board is here, and that means an amazing new battleground for your games of Warhammer 40,000. We show you exactly how cool it is with a very urban Battle Report, along with painting guides and tips, the return of Dark Vengeance, Hall of Fame and much more besides. White Dwarf is Games Workshop’s weekly magazine,

iTunes Store
Warhammer 40,000 (Interactive Edition) – Games Workshop

In the nightmare future of the 41st Millennium, Mankind teeters upon the brink of extinction. The galaxy-spanning Imperium of Man, beset on all sides by ravening aliens, foul traitors and Warp-spawned Daemons, looks once more to its greatest heroes to stave off the encroaching darkness. There is no time for peace. No respite. No forgiveness. There is only wa

iTunes Store

See the original article here: 

Texas Is Wired for Wind Power, and More Farms Plug In

Posted in alo, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, Monterey, ONA, solar, solar power, Uncategorized, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Texas Is Wired for Wind Power, and More Farms Plug In

Dot Earth Blog: White House Stresses Widespread Energy Progress Ahead of New Climate Rule

The White House hawks its energy policies ahead of a move to restrict carbon dioxide from power plants. Continue at source: Dot Earth Blog: White House Stresses Widespread Energy Progress Ahead of New Climate Rule Related ArticlesGovernments Await Obama’s Move on Carbon to Gauge U.S. Climate EffortsDot Earth Blog: Americans’ Varied Views of ‘Global Warming’ and ‘Climate Change’Americans’ Varied Views of ‘Global Warming’ and ‘Climate Change’

Read the article: 

Dot Earth Blog: White House Stresses Widespread Energy Progress Ahead of New Climate Rule

Posted in ALPHA, Citadel, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, LAI, Monterey, Naka, ONA, solar, solar power, Uncategorized, Vintage, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Dot Earth Blog: White House Stresses Widespread Energy Progress Ahead of New Climate Rule

The Appraisal: Turbines Popping Up on New York Roofs, Along With Questions of Efficiency

Two new wind turbine installations have gone up recently, and at least half a dozen more are on the horizon, though it remains to be seen how popular they will become. Original source: The Appraisal: Turbines Popping Up on New York Roofs, Along With Questions of Efficiency Related ArticlesDot Earth Blog: Gavin Schmidt on Why Climate Models are Wrong, and ValuableNear-Average Hurricane Season Is Predicted for U.S. as El Niño Develops in the PacificNational Briefing | South: North Carolina: Deal Reached on Cleanup of Utility’s Toxic Spill

From – 

The Appraisal: Turbines Popping Up on New York Roofs, Along With Questions of Efficiency

Posted in alo, Citadel, eco-friendly, FF, G & F, GE, Holmes, Monterey, ONA, solar, solar power, Uncategorized, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Appraisal: Turbines Popping Up on New York Roofs, Along With Questions of Efficiency

IKEA makes big investment in wind energy (some assembly required)

WINDË Power

IKEA makes big investment in wind energy (some assembly required)

ShutterstockLet’s hope that couch holds up in a stiff breeze.

IKEA — though not exactly a friend to forests, and way too fond of dubious meatballs for our taste — still wins greenie points for having a Scandinavian way with alternative energy. Ninety percent of its massive warehouse stores will soon host rooftop solar panels, including sunny south Florida’s largest solar array, and Brits will be able to buy solar panels in U.K. stores starting this summer. On Thursday, the company one-upped its own clean cred by announcing its investment in a giant wind farm in Illinois.

Hoopeston Wind is the most recent in a series of wind investments by IKEA, including several farms in Canada, where the furniture behemoth is the largest retail wind investor. The Illinois farm will produce 98 megawatts of electricity when it comes online in 2015, or enough to power 34,000 Expedit-enhanced homes. That’s more than twice the electricity that all of IKEA’s U.S. operations consume, and about 18 percent of the company’s global consumption. All of those megawatts will be sold locally, and IKEA will count them toward its overall renewable energy goal: to be totally carbon-free by 2020.

When it comes to putting up wind power, IKEA is actually lagging. (Maybe they were struggling to read the instructions?) The American Wind Energy Association credits Walmart, of all companies, with kicking off the airy trend when it started buying a lot of energy from a Texas wind farm in 2008. Microsoft and Facebook both made flashy commitments to wind energy last year, while Google has been steadily ratcheting up its wind game for years.

This wind rush could be about, yes, corporate responsibility and a commitment to a more sustainable world. It’s also about the bottom line. Volatile fuel prices are driving smart companies to make long-term investments in more reliable power — and we’re OK with that, as long as they fix those wasteful bookcases, too.

Right now, IKEA’s new farm is saddled with the very Midwestern name Hoopeston Wind, but the company already stole our punchline about rebranding it:

“We haven’t figured out if it will say ‘IKEA’ on the blades,’’ [Rob Olson, chief financial officer of IKEA U.S.,] said. “Or maybe we’ll use the iconic names for our products on the wind turbines? We’re not sure.’’

WINDË coming soon to a utility near you.


Source
IKEA investing in Illinois wind farm, Chicago Tribune
IKEA Buys Illinois Wind Farm in Global Renewables Push, Bloomberg

Amelia Urry is Grist’s intern. Follow her on Twitter.

Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Business & Technology

,

Climate & Energy

,

Living

Original link: 

IKEA makes big investment in wind energy (some assembly required)

Posted in alternative energy, Anchor, Brita, FF, G & F, GE, Landmark, LG, ONA, organic, solar, solar panels, Uncategorized, wind energy, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on IKEA makes big investment in wind energy (some assembly required)

Oil companies would rather let trains explode than cooperate with feds

Oil companies would rather let trains explode than cooperate with feds

PHMSA

As federal officials work frantically to reverse an uptick in explosions and oil spills from crude-hauling trains, the companies that are fracking the crude and transporting it by rail are responding with an unhelpful collective shrug.

Lawmakers and regulators want information from the oil companies about their rail shipments. The oil companies initially made helpful-sounding noises and pledged to cooperate. Now, however, it seems they’re more worried about keeping corporate secrets than protecting Americans from their explosive loads. From The Hill:

“Just last month before the Commerce Committee, the crude oil industry assured us they were focused on safety and willing to work on this issue,” [Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.)] said in a statement. “Since then, I’ve seen nothing to convince me this was more than just lip service.”…

Rockefeller said he and other legislators had received assurances from the American Petroleum Institute (API) that the crude industry was on board with the push to increase the safety of oil trains.

But the West Virginia senator said on Monday that Congress was still waiting to see the promised assistance.

Rockefeller’s frustrations mirror those of top rail regulators. As Reuters reported last week:

Cynthia Quarterman, chief of the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, or PHMSA, specifically cited the American Petroleum Institute, the industry’s top lobbying group, for not keeping its promise to share data about oil-by-rail shipments. …

“More than two months ago, we received assurances from industry that the safe transport of crude oil across the country was a top priority and, to that end, API would begin sharing important testing data,” she said in a statement.

“To date, that data has not been shared.”

The oil industry isn’t keeping its word? We’re shocked, shocked.


Source
Senate Dem: Oil industry paying ‘lip service’ to freight rail safety, The Hill
Oil industry balks at sharing crucial rail data, U.S. regulator says, Reuters

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Business & Technology

,

Climate & Energy

,

Politics

See the original article here: 

Oil companies would rather let trains explode than cooperate with feds

Posted in Anchor, FF, Free Press, GE, LG, ONA, Uncategorized, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Oil companies would rather let trains explode than cooperate with feds

Proposed Bill Seeks to Boost Clean Energy Curriculum in Public Schools

Photo: Flickr/calmenda

A proposed Senate bill seeks to expand “green” energy curriculum to public middle and high schools across the country.

Proposed by Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the bill would provide grant funding to colleges with green energy curriculum to expand their programs to middle and high schools, reports local Wisconsin paper Manitowoc Herald Times. The goal, the paper reported, is to get students interested in green jobs earlier in their educational careers.

Speaking in favor of the legislation, the paper asserted: “That is a good idea, regardless of where one stands on the controversial issue of expanding green energy in the future. It is not a given that wind, solar and other forms of alternative energy are the panacea advocates claim.

“Baldwin’s legislation, however,” the reporter goes on, “will help broaden educational opportunities for middle school and high school students, which is what those schools are supposed to do.”

Dubbed the Grants for Renewable Energy Education for the Nation (GREEN) Act, the bill asks for $100 million in federal funding for grants, which would be administered by the U.S. Department of Education. The bill is a companion to the House GREEN Act, sponsored by Rep. Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.).

Introduced to the Senate floor in late January, the bill has already been endorsed by the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE).

ACTE Deputy Executive Director Steve DeWitt said the bill, “offers students exposure to the range of sustainable energy career options available today, while providing the education and training necessary to ensure that our nation’s workforce is prepared for the green jobs of the future.”

The fate of the bill is still to be decided, but Baldwin rightfully notes that jobs created in the clean energy field pay better than the average American job, with compensation rates 13 percent higher than the national average, meaning its passage may mean good things for the next generation.

earth911

Read this article:  

Proposed Bill Seeks to Boost Clean Energy Curriculum in Public Schools

Posted in alo, alternative energy, FF, G & F, GE, green energy, LAI, ONA, solar, solar power, sustainable energy, Uncategorized, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Proposed Bill Seeks to Boost Clean Energy Curriculum in Public Schools

Pesticide in frozen food sickens hundreds in Japan

Pesticide in frozen food sickens hundreds in Japan

Rebecca Siegel

Some of the food that’s been sold out of freezers in Japan recently has had a strange smell to it — a fishy odor that has nothing to do with seafood.

It’s the smell of malathion, an insecticide.

More than 1,000 people have been sickened so far by eating frozen foods laced with the pesticide, according to some media reports. From the BBC:

[Food company Maruha Nichiro Holdings] is recalling at least 6.4 million food packages manufactured at a factory in Gunma prefecture, north of Tokyo.

It started the food recall last week, recovering more than one million packages so far.

“The products will have a strong smell and eating them may cause vomiting and stomach pain,” Maruha said in a notice to consumers.

How did the insecticide end up in pizza, chicken nuggets, and the like? That’s something the nation’s law enforcers are desperately trying to figure out. Bloomberg reports that police are interviewing hundreds of factory workers:

The matter was referred to police after prefectural health officials found no evidence of contamination during production at the facility where the food was made. …

“The company is partly to blame because they weren’t testing,” said Edwin Merner, president of Atlantis Investment Research Corp. in Tokyo, which manages about $3 billion in assets. “You’ll see a big drop in sales of the food.”

Calls to mind this classic moment from the presidency of George H.W. Bush. Maybe there was malathion on his sushi?


Source
Hundreds report symptoms amid Japan food pesticide scare, BBC
Over 1,000 ill as Japan tainted food scandal widens: report, Agence France-Presse
Japan Police Query Workers in Tainted Food Investigation, Bloomberg

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Business & Technology

,

Food

Link to article:  

Pesticide in frozen food sickens hundreds in Japan

Posted in ALPHA, Anchor, FF, GE, LG, ONA, Uncategorized, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Pesticide in frozen food sickens hundreds in Japan

Tar-sands mining in Canada is unleashing mercury pollution

Tar-sands mining in Canada is unleashing mercury pollution

Shutterstock

Care for some mercury pollution with your tar-sands carnage?

Drilling for tar-sands oil in Alberta has long been recognized as a driver of climate change, helping to nudge the mercury up in thermometers around the world. Now, it appears that it’s also dousing the Canadian province with straight-up mercury pollution.

Canadian government researchers have discovered that oil-sands operations have puffed out mercury over 4.7 million acres of northeast Alberta, boosting levels to as much as 16 times higher than background levels. Mercury is a potent poison that’s frequently emitted by mining and fossil-fuel burning. It can harm the brains, hearts, kidneys, lungs, and immune systems of children and adults alike.

The Montreal Gazette reports:

The federal scientists stress the mercury loadings around the oilsands are low compared to the contamination seen in many parts of North America, including southern Ontario and southern Quebec.

But they say the mercury is “the No. 1 concern” when it comes to the metal toxins generated by oilsands operations. It is also a major worry for aboriginal and environmental groups concerned about the oilsands’ impact on fishing, hunting and important wildlife staging areas downstream of the oilsands.

Environment Canada scientists are sampling everything from snow to lichens to bird eggs as part of the federal-provincial joint oilsands monitoring program.

Allowing the Keystone XL pipeline to be built would only boost the worldwide market for the volatile spoils of Alberta’s oil boom, making the mercury pollution problem all that much worse.


Source
Mercury levels found to be rising in area around Alberta oilsands, Montreal Gazette

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Climate & Energy

See the original article here: 

Tar-sands mining in Canada is unleashing mercury pollution

Posted in ALPHA, Anchor, FF, GE, LG, ONA, Uncategorized, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Tar-sands mining in Canada is unleashing mercury pollution

North Dakota’s oil is more flammable than other crudes, feds warn

North Dakota’s oil is more flammable than other crudes, feds warn

Vectomart

The oil that’s being fracked out of North Dakota and Montana may pose a “significant fire risk,” federal regulators warned yesterday.

This news comes after three trains carrying crude oil from Bakken shale formation derailed and exploded last year. The most deadly derailment occurred last summer in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, killing 47 people. Then, in November, there was a fiery crash of rail cars into an Alabama wetlands area. And finally, this week brought an accident in eastern North Dakota, which lead to the evacuation of the nearby town of Casselton.

“[R]ecent derailments and resulting fires indicate that the type of crude oil being transported from the Bakken region may be more flammable than traditional heavy crude oil,” the U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration wrote in a safety alert released Thursday.

Stock markets took the warning seriously. From Reuters:

Shares of Whiting Petroleum Corp , Continental Resources Inc and other top crude oil producers in the Bakken shale formation plunged on Thursday after the U.S. government said oil produced there may be extra flammable.

Here’s more on the hazards of Bakken crude from the Associated Press:

Light, sweet crude oil generally has higher levels of lighter hydrocarbons, which have a tendency to become gaseous and are more easily flammable, said Ramanan Krishnamoorti, a professor of engineering and chief energy officer at the University of Houston. Analysis of oil from the Bakken Shale shows high levels of light hydrocarbons like propane, butane and pentane, which are highly flammable, Krishnamoorti said.

The composition of the crude is similar to other types of light crude oil, he said. Heavy crude oil, such as that from Canada’s oil sands fields, is much less flammable. …

Companies could reduce the risks involved with moving the oil by putting it through an additional processing step before loading it onto rail cars, he said. That step would separate out some of the lighter hydrocarbons that could become gaseous and more easily flammable in the incident of a crash or derailment, Krishnamoorti said.

“Perhaps just adding an extra separating step might help lower the gas or vapor concentration, or the vapor forming components, and that can automatically lower the flammability of the crude,” he said.

The agency said it would continue to collect samples of Bakken crude and measure their explosiveness and other chemical properties, with an eye to publishing additional information in the future.


Source
Preliminary Guidance from OPERATION CLASSIFICATION, U.S. Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration
Train explosions prompt regulator warning on Bakken oil flammability, AP
Shares of Bakken oil producers plunge after U.S. warning, Reuters

John Upton is a science fan and green news boffin who tweets, posts articles to Facebook, and blogs about ecology. He welcomes reader questions, tips, and incoherent rants: johnupton@gmail.com.

Find this article interesting? Donate now to support our work.Read more: Climate & Energy

See original article:  

North Dakota’s oil is more flammable than other crudes, feds warn

Posted in alo, ALPHA, Amana, Anchor, FF, GE, LG, ONA, Uncategorized, wind power | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on North Dakota’s oil is more flammable than other crudes, feds warn