Monthly Archives: March 2011

Japanese Seismologist in 2004 on Risk of Nuclear Accident: “It’s Like a Kamikaze Terrorist Wrapped in Bombs Just Waiting to Explode” In 2004, Leuren Moret warned in the Japan Times of the exact type of nuclear catastrophe that Japan is now experiencing: Of all the places in all the world where no one in...
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Telegraph – “This sort of greenwashing grandstanding adds nothing and merely highlights their grandiose ambitions.” The European Commission on Monday unveiled a “single European transport area” aimed at enforcing “a profound shift in transport patterns for passengers” by 2050. Siim Kallas, the EU transport commission, insisted that Brussels directives and new taxation of fuel...
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Daily KO’s – The recorded impact of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill on wildlife may have severely underestimated the number of deaths of whales and dolphins, according to a new report. An unusual mortality event has been declared by NOAAfor cetaceans in the northern Gulf of Mexico. However, the actual number of dead...
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One week after an international military coalition intervened in Libya, the cost to U.S. taxpayers has reached at least $600 million, according figures provided by the Pentagon.
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H.R. 910 would amend the Clean Air Act to prohibit the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from regulating greenhouse gases (GHGs) to address climate change. The bill would create exceptions for various programs in current law, including emission standards for vehicles and EPA’s renewable fuel standard. Because certain EPA activities associated with regulating GHGs would...
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Pay $1,000 to hand over your or your companies million dollar idea to someone else?As part of the Obama Administration’s Startup America Initiative, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the “America’s Next Top Energy Innovator” challenge, which will give start-up companies the opportunity to license groundbreaking technologies developed by the national laboratories for...
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“China is set to overtake America in scientific output as soon as 2013 — far earlier than expected. Chinese research spending has grown by 20% per year since 1999, now reaching over $100bn, and as many as 1.5 million science and engineering students graduated from Chinese universities in 2006. ‘I think this is positive,...
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“CNN reports that television networks in several European countries are reportedly reviewing episodes of ‘The Simpsons’ for any ‘unsuitable’ references to nuclear disaster, with an Austrian network apparently pulling two episodes: 1992′s ‘Marge Gets a Job’ and 2005′s ‘On a Clear Day I Can’t See My Sister,’ which include jokes about radiation poisoning and...
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a new report from the Congressional Research Service (CSR), the largest on earth. They eclipse Saudi Arabia (3rd), China (4th) and Canada (6th) combined – and that’s without including America’s shale oil deposits and, in the future, the potentially astronomic impact of methane hydrates. The energy facts in the CRS report should be making...
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Harris Interactive surveyed 3,171 adults during the week of Valentines, February 14 – February 21, and asked them all sort of questions about energy, energy efficiency, and power sources. I found some surprising information in the results — i.e., 56% of Americans have never heard the term “smart grid.” Perhaps even more astonishing, only...
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helping out in Haiti  Penn’s combination of hostility and principled fraternal feeling makes for a very odd, angry sort of philanthropy.  It is probably not a sort that is massively appealing to the American public. As a rule, we prefer it when our celebrity philanthropists make us feel warm and sweet about giving, and...
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A major spill of heavy crude oil from a wrecked freighter has coated an estimated 20,000 endangered penguins on a remote South Atlantic island chain, the local authorities and environmental groups said Tuesday. Three oiled rockhopper penguins on the Tristan da Cunha island chain. Thousands of endangered penguins have been coated with oil after...
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An antibiotic-resistant superbug once thought to be rare is spreading through health-care facilities in Southern California, health officials say. Roughly 350 cases of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, or CRKP, were reported in Los Angeles County between June and December of 2010, according to a study from the L.A. County Department of Public Health to be...
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“The UK’s Government Office of Science has released a report titled ‘The Future of Food and Farming‘ which takes a look at, among other related concerns, how to continue to feed a global population that is on pace to reach 9 billion by the year 2050. ‘The report calls for more innovation to increase...
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It gets worse… “The cumulative releases from Fukushima of iodine-131 and cesium-137 have reached 73% and 60% respectively of the amounts released from the 1986 Chernobyl accident. These numbers were reached independently from a monitoring station in Sacramento, CA, and Takasaki, Japan. The iodine and cesium releases are due to the cooking off of...
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The worst Texas drought in 44 years is damaging the state’s wheat crop and forcing ranchers to reduce cattle herds, as rising demand for U.S. food sends grain and meat prices higher. Texas, the biggest U.S. cattle producer and second-largest winter-wheat grower, got just 4.7 inches (12 centimeters) of rain on average in the...
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  GizMag “Of all the criticisms of electric vehicles, probably the most commonly-heard is that their batteries take too long to recharge – after all, limited range wouldn’t be such a big deal if the cars could be juiced up while out and about, in just a few minutes. Well, while no one is...
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Piles of garbage left by humans thousands of years ago may have helped form ‘tree islands’ in the Florida Everglades–patches of relatively high and dry ground that rise from the wetlands. They stand between 1 and 2 meters higher than the surrounding landscape, can cover 100 acres or more, and host two to three...
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Jetson Green »Today is World Water Day and it just so happens that Jerry Yudelson, noted green building authority and author, has released a new conceptual tool to help people understand where water will come from in the future.  The tool mimics the popular Pyramid of Conservation used by Minnesota Power and explains water...
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The recent earthquake in Japan unleashed a chain of events that shut down five to eight oil refineries and partially melted down three nuclear reactors. As the specter of energy shortages stalks the country, the Kremlin is riding to the rescue. As the scope of the tragedy became clearer over the course of last...
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 ”It reminded me of the first time we saw oil last summer, a brown reddish sheen.” The Coast Guard says it is mobilizing workers to lay fresh boom in environmentally sensitive areas and arranging for additional cleanup crews to help as oil comes ashore. …The Coast Guard is continuing its investigation of reports last...
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See how your county compares to the rest of the country. The Atlantic – Most stories about inequality in America miss an important point: rising disparities are not just about investment bankers versus auto workers. They’re about entire communities of “winners” and “losers.” And as these communities continue to diverge, the idea of “an...
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Source   http://www.rsoe.hu
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LePage said until scientists can prove BPA is harmful, the state should not rush to restrict its use. “BPA is one of the most well-studied chemicals, and it is just ludicrous to ignore the science,” said Susan Shaw, a toxicologist at the Maine Environmental Research Institute who has been studying the effects of toxics...
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With remnants of once-legal lead paint, leaded gasoline and other pollutants from the nation’s industrial past tainting land in U.S. cities, soil researchers warn that the growing number of urban farmers and community gardeners need to test their dirt and take steps to make sure it’s safe. They point to cities like Indianapolis, where...
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How do you make a better, greener product? It’s a question that businesses of all types are posing in light of growing calls by customers and stakeholder for greater environmental responsibility. This is leading some companies to examine their entire supply chains in order to get a full picture of the opportunities and challenges....
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“Google has awarded $1 million to Georgia Tech researchers so that they can develop simple tools to detect Internet throttling, government censorship, and other ‘transparency’ problems.” - Slashdot
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EERE Newsfor March 23rd U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 Participants Bring Innovation to D.C.’s Ward 7 – In honor of the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011—which challenges 20 collegiate teams to design, build, and operate solar-powered houses that are cost-effective, energy-efficient, and attractive—we are profiling each of the 20 teams...
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Markey: Well, we’re in Libya because of oil. Partial transcript -And I think both Japan and nuclear technology and Libya and this dependence we have on this imported oil have both once again highlighted the need for the United States to have a renewable energy agenda going forward.   …But it all goes back...
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TheHill.com Democrats complain Styrofoam cups in the House cafeteria could contain carcinogens. In a letter to Speaker John Boehner (Ohio) and other Republican leaders, the nine Democrats say the Styrofoam cups and other dining materials could hold chemical components that could cause cancer. The Democrats are upset with the switch to Styrofoam from recyclable...
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The Daily Mail UK has the details: Councils across the UK are refusing to pick up low-energy lightbulbs from homes as they contain toxic mercury, which gives off poisonous vapours. But confused consumers are putting the new bulbs — classed as hazardous waste — in their dustbins when they burn out, potentially putting the...
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A new assessment of US budget released Friday says the White House underestimates future budget deficits by more than $2 trillion over the upcoming decade. The estimate from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says that if Obama’s February budget submission is enacted into law it would produce deficits totaling $9.5 trillion over 10 years...
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“Using a complex model to perform a theoretical calculation based on a US Geological Survey, Richard Gross of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has determined that by changing the distribution of the Earth’s mass, the earthquake that devastated Japan last Friday should have sped up the Earth’s rotation, resulting in a day that is about...
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Uranium stocks plunge for second day… amid heightened fears of a nuclear meltdown in Japan following last week’s earthquake and tsunami. ”There’s just so much uncertainty. Nobody bar a few nuclear experts actually know what’s happening, which is the scary thing,” IG Markets market strategist Ben Potter said. ”Some reports are saying winds could...
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From BIgGav The Climate Spectator has an article on a company looking to make geothermal drilling a lot cheaper – Deeper, faster, cheaper.The transformation of Australian industry into a low-carbon economy is often said to depend on the development of smart and high technology, but some of the country’s most prospective clean energy resources...
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You can build a copy of this vertical wind turbine in a weekend and it won’t cost you all that much. Applied Sciences developed the hardware and they’re sharing all for the build details. You will be taken through every part of the build starting with the fin assembly which is made from stove-pipe...
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In her new element-14 video  explains some  concepts about “free to you” energy and features the LTC3109EUF, an Auto-polarity, Ultra low Voltage Step-Up Converter and Power Manager, along with the LTC3588EMSE a Piezoelectric Energy Harvesting Power Supply. Using the LTC3109EUF she is able to power a modified Nintendo Entertainment System, and LCD using...
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“Pepsi unveiled a new bottle yesterday made entirely of plant material. The bottle is made from switch grass, pine bark, corn husks and other materials. Ultimately, Pepsi plans to also use orange peels, oat hulls, potato scraps and other leftovers from its food business. ‘This is the beginning of the end of petroleum-based plastics,’...
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Russ Baker As the New York Times reported the other day, Mr. Obama is seeking tens of billions of dollars in government insurance for new nuclear construction, and the nuclear industry in the United States, all but paralyzed for decades after the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, was poised for a comeback. Now,...
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Meanwhile in the world… WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale prices jumped last month by the most in nearly two years due to higher energy costs and the steepest rise in food prices in 36 years. The Labor Department said Wednesday that the Producer Price Index rose a seasonally adjusted 1.6 percent in February — double...
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These numbers, from Wikipedia, may help: There are 442 nuclear plant units around the world. There are 139 in the U.S. There have been 99 nuclear plant accidents 56 of these have occurred in the U.S. There have been 57 since Chernobyl (1986)  So, roughly speaking, based on these numbers, there is about a...
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“A University of Arizona engineering team led by Roger Angel has designed a new type of solar concentrator that uses half the area of solar (PV) cells used by other optical devices and delivers a light output/concentration that is over 1000 times more concentrated before it even hits the cells. This comes as a...
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“According to experts on circadian rhythms, the hour shift in sleep schedule from Daylight Saving Time can have serious effects on some people’s health, particularly in people with certain pre-existing health problems. One study found that men were more likely to commit suicide during the first few weeks of Daylight Saving Time (DST) than...
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California is closely monitoring efforts to contain leaks from a quake-damaged Japanese nuclear plant, a spokesman said Saturday, as experts said radiation could be blown out across the Pacific. “At present there is no danger to California. However we are monitoring the situation closely in conjunction with our federal partners,” Michael Sicilia, spokesman for...
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CNN Money – The government takeover of Johnson & Johnson’s Tylenol-making factories is a serious step that could further hurt sales of the company’s well-known over-the-counter medicines. On Thursday, the Food and Drug Administration and the Justice Department announced an agreement with J&J (JNJ, Fortune 500)’s McNeil PPC division that put its plants —...
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Some Airport X-Ray Body Scanners Radiation Levels Are 10 Times Higher Than Expected “It is totally unacceptable to be bumbling such critical tasks,” Chaffetz said. “These people are supposed to be protecting us against terrorists.” TSA’s characterization of the maintenance mistakes “sounds like an excuse rather than the real facts.” “I’m tired of excuses,” Chaffetz...
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An emotional Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Saturday told international troops to “stop their operations in our land”, his strongest remarks yet over mistaken killings of civilians. Karzai’s comments came after a week in which a relative of his was killed in a raid by foreign forces and he rejected an apology by the...
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Reuters UN Report cites insect-trapping plants in Kenya and Bangladesh’s use of ducks in paddy fields, and resulting rise in crop yields A move by farmers in developing countries to ecological agriculture, away from chemical fertilisers and pesticides, could double food production within a decade, a UN report says.Insect-trapping plants in Kenya and ducks...
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The HS2 rail project is expensive, environmentally damaging, and badly thought through   Caroline Lucas, Guardian, UK - The government has finally launched its long awaited consultation on the high speed rail link between London and Birmingham known as HS2. This is a brand new railway line that is designed to run at 250mph...
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New York Times – About one in every 20 adults in the United States has survived cancer, including nearly one-fifth of all people over 65, according to new federal data. The numbers, released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute, indicated that the number of cancer survivors...
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Government payouts—including Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance—make up more than a third of total wages and salaries of the U.S. population, a record figure that will only increase if action isn’t taken before the majority of Baby Boomers enter retirement. Even as the economy has recovered, social welfare benefits make up 35 percent...
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U.S. drivers will pay another 10 cents a gallon for gasoline before the latest jump in wholesale costs is fully passed on at the pump, and yearly motor fuel costs will rise 28 percent from last year, the Energy Department said on Wednesday. The average U.S. household will spend about $700 more for gasoline...
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EERE News - Increasing global investment in geothermal power could result in a 134% increase in total geothermal capacity between 2010 and 2020, according to a report released on March 7 by Pike Research. Under a high-growth scenario, the amount could grow from 10.7 gigawatts (GW) to 25.1 GW in a decade, according to...
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Clean energy investment worldwide during 2010 totaled $243 billion, a rise of 30% from 2009 and surpassed all previous levels since records began in 2004, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The financial research group released the tally on March 2 when it announced the winners of its 2010 league tables of leading investors...
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EERE News – Building on their previous cooperation, DOE and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced on March 2 new steps between the two departments to strengthen national security through the continued development of advanced clean energy technologies. Furthering last summer’s memorandum of understanding (MOU), the new steps leverage better the expertise and...
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WDNR–  Every Drop Counts  Did you know that an American home can waste, on average, more than 10,000 gallons of water every year due to running toilets, dripping faucets, and other household leaks? Nationwide, more than 1 trillion gallons of water leak from U.S. homes each year. That’s why WaterSense reminds Americans to check...
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For years the Ogallala Aquifer, the world’s largest underground body of fresh water, has irrigated thousands of square miles of American farmland. Now it is running dry… But it was only in the 1940s, after the Dust Bowl (the result of a severe drought and excessive farming in the early 1930s), that the US...
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How Wisconsin Could Turn Austerity into Prosperity: Own a Bank   After three weeks of demonstrations in Wisconsin, protesters report no plans to back down. Fourteen Wisconsin Democratic lawmakers—who left the state so that a quorum to vote on the bill could not be reached—said Friday that they are not deterred by threats of possible...
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See them all at MJ
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Newsmax An TV exclusive interview, determined Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker on Friday began the legal notification process that could lead to 1,500 state employees losing their jobs in April. He also said that President Barack Obama should stay out of his state’s fiscal crisis and instead ought to focus on “the much, much graver...
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The E15 debate… Tens years ago (some links may not work so “google it Regardless of the “Pseudoscience” and misinformed media & marketers write articles about… There are people who have been monitoring this for decades and write real reports regarding viable options for sustainable fuel sources we can use NOW. But we again...
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Dan Sorkin …at the store, the cashier told the older woman that plastic bags weren’t good for the environment. The woman apologized to her and explained, “We didn’t have the green thing back in my day.” But that old lady is right, they didn’t have the green thing back in her day. Back then,...
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GAS3.0 – Joule Unlimited, has developed a genetically-modified organism (GMO) that can be “directed” to secrete usable forms of ethanol and diesel wherever it finds CO2 and water, using energy from the sun as a catalyst.  What’s more, Joule’s representatives are saying these renewable fuels can be created virtually “on demand” in both large...
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Washington Post – Groups representing 40,000 researchers and clinicians are urging federal agencies responsible for the safety of chemicals to examine the subtle impact a chemical might have on the human body rather than simply ask whether it is toxic. “Although chemical testing and risk assessment have long been the domain of toxicologists, it...
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I agree with Mr. Damon on many fronts… just wish we could have talked before he endorsed Obama (Rally with Matt Damon in Miami Beach) Matt I think you fall into the Obama group that was looking forward to great change in the world that you were hopeful of… that now feel they “Agree...
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NY Times – Florida Governor rejects $2.4 billion in federal money to build a high-speed rail link between Tampa and Orlando … wants no part of the project, calling it a “boondoggle.” As the proposed high-speed train line has so many stops that it would only cut the trip to around 54 minutes. WashingtonTimes...
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NASA’s Glory atmospheric research mission satellite crashed into the southern Pacific Ocean early today after a protective nose cone fairing failed to separate during launch aboard an Orbital Sciences Corp. Taurus XL rocket. The $424 million failure was the second in a row for the Orbital Sciences booster following the 2009 loss of another...
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Only a few decades ago, the U.S. stood tall in such rankings. No more. There are some areas in which we are still clearly No. 1, but they’re not ones we usually brag about. We have the most guns. We have the most crime among rich countries. And, of course, we have by far...
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Last month, I became an American citizen, a tremendous honor and no easy accomplishment, even for a Canadian…After years of steep filing fees and paperwork (including one letter from Homeland Security claiming that my fingerprints had “expired”), it all came down to a test. I passed, and, my fellow Americans, you could, too –...
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As part of RecycleMania, and our focused efforts in SARUP, Lindsay James, LEED AP of InterfaceFLOR will be presenting in the AUP Commons on Monday, March 7th, at 7pm.  Guest Speaker– Lindsay James, is the Manager of Strategic Sustainability at InterfaceFLOR, one of the leading edge businesses in sustainability.  Through lifecycle assessment, Lindsay will...
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The Detroit News “When you are looking at purely dollars and cents, it doesn’t really make a lot of sense. The Volt isn’t particularly efficient as an electric vehicle and it’s not particularly good as a gas vehicle either in terms of fuel economy,” said David Champion, the senior director of Consumer Reports auto...
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“The small earthquakes that struck north central Arkansas could be from a combination of natural and man-made activity. Some experts think that pumping water into the ground as part of the extraction process of natural gas could cause local seismic events.”
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WashingtonTimes – Evidence outlined in a Pentagon contractor report suggests that financial subversion carried out by unknown parties, such as terrorists or hostile nations, contributed to the 2008 economic crash by covertly using vulnerabilities in the U.S. financial system. The unclassified 2009 report “Economic Warfare: Risks and Responses” by financial analyst Kevin D. Freeman,...
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Bryce writes in The Wall Street Journal -  using biofuels to displace oil requires massive subsidies. Last year, Bryce points out, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported that the cost to taxpayers of using corn ethanol to reduce gas consumption by one gallon is $1.78. “This year, the corn ethanol sector will produce about...
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