The Conservation Report

Building a “network of battery-swap and recharging stations in Hawaii that would make the use of electric cars feasible” is a very practical solution for an island where gas is very expensive. In terms of conducting everyday activities, such as driving back and forth from work, electric vehicles have the ability to provide a great utility for the average American.

When gas prices were flirting around $5 per gallon, the average family’s budget in certain areas of the United States was being devoured by these high fuel prices. The cost of recharging an electric vehicle is far cheaper than paying these high gas prices.

Furthermore, if Obama carries out his plan to foster the renewable energy revolution and implement plans to update our electric power transmission infrastructure to a smart-grid electric power transmission system, then electric vehicles will become even more practical. Electric cars, renewable energy, and smart-grid technology are all no-brainer ideas.  It’s too bad that the Bush Administration never had the political will to advance any of these progressive ideas, and it’s too bad the auto industry has been slow in providing alternative, electric, and fuel-efficient vehicles. From Scientific American:

Better Place plans to build between 50,000 to 100,000 charging stations across the state by early 2012, and run them using renewable power it buys from Hawaiian Electric Co., according to the Associated Press. The plan will help the state cut its fossil fuel use by 70 percent by 2030, Gov. Linda Lingle told the AP.

Hawaii is an attractive test site for Better Place because of its size. Trips on the island are rarely longer then the 100 miles (161 km) electric cars will be designed to make before they need more juice, the Times notes. Renault-Nissan, whose eMegane vehicle would go that distance, is working with Better Place to deploy its e-car prototypes in Israel this winter, Wired Magazine said in an August profile of Agassi. The company is in talks with other automakers about whether e-cars they’re developing could be recharged at its stations.

Several car manufacturers, including Tesla and Chevrolet, are developing electric cars, but none have become widely available. Still, global-warming carbon emissions have given the idea urgency, and Agassi has managed to raise $200 million from investors to implement his plan.

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ANIMAL WELFARE: Houston Zoo elephant Mac, 2, dies of viral illness

ARCTIC MELTING: Arctic Ice Melt Sparks Plankton Blooms

AUTO INDUSTRY: Ford Scion Looks Beyond Bailout to Green Agenda

BIOFUELS: US Dept of Energy and Brazil to Commercialize Biofuels

BIOLOGY: Top 10 Useless Limbs (and Other Vestigial Organs)

BIOMASS: New Biomass Plants Called For in Obama’s Green Agenda

CAMPAIGN 2008: Challenged ballots: You be the judge

CHINA: China tells rich polluting nations to change lifestyle

CLIMATE CHANGE: Nike, Starbucks Demand Congress To Act On Climate Change, An historic summit of state and provincial governors from around the world convened this week in California to advance national and worldwide efforts to fight climate change — and The Nature Conservancy played a key role in the summit’s success.

CORAL REEFS: Pacific Shipwrecks Potentially Toxic Timebombs, Scientists try to revive Japan’s biggest coral reef: Scientists are in an unprecedented project to restore Japan’s largest coral reef by planting thousands of baby corals growing on tiny ceramic beds.

DEFORESTATION: 3,000 Person Mob Attacks Govt. Offices to Protest Crackdown on Illegal Amazon Logging

DEREGULATION: Bush Aides Rush to Enact a Safety Rule Obama Opposes

DRILL BABY DRILL: Court Says Shell Can’t Drill Near Alaska: A federal appeals court on Thursday blocked Royal Dutch Shell from drilling oil wells off Alaska’s North Slope after finding that the Interior Department had failed to conduct an environmental study before issuing the company’s drilling permit.

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: New electric version of MINI Cooper offers MINI fun with zero emissions.

ENERGY: Phone Makers Monitor Charger Energy Consumption, Dutch homes get warm water from disused coal mine

ENVIRONMENT: Dumb eco-questions you were afraid to ask

EVOLUTION: “Smile” Octopus Spawned Many Species

FAIRTRADE: Starbucks to use Fairtrade coffee in every drink sold in Britain: Starbucks is to use Fairtrade coffee in every drink it sells in Britain, the company has announced.

FAST FOOD: Fast Food Made Up Mostly of Corn

FOOD: Tyson Foods Injects Chickens with Antibiotics Before They Hatch to Claim “Raised without Antibiotics”

FORESTS: Bark Beetles Kill Millions of Acres of Trees in West

GALAPAGOS ISLANDS: Once Thought Invasive, Some Galápagos Plants Can Call the Place Home: For years, conservationists have been concerned about the impact of invasive plant species in the Galápagos Islands. Hundreds of species have been identified as nonnative, introduced through human contact. The idea was to remove these plants to help keep the archipelago ecologically pristine.

GENETICS: Lizards, Birds Have Hair Genes

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY: Raser Technologies Gives Utah a New Geothermal Plant to Power Homes

GLACIAL MELTING: Baby Chimp Rescued From Congo Army

GLOBAL WARMING: New Ice Age Predicted — But Averted by Global Warming?

GREAT APES: Tibetan Glaciers Melting at Stunning Rate

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: Kulongoski lobbies to bring China’s new hybrid car to Oregon, LA 2008: Honda shows off Insight’s Eco Assist dashboard

INVASIVE SPECIES: Beetle Invasion to Dim New England Fall Colors?, More cockroaches expected in Florida

LANDFILLS: Israel Turns 2,000 Acre Trash Dump into One of World’s Largest Parks

MARINE MAMMALS: Why Do Dolphins Rub Flippers?

NASA: Going Out On A Limb With A Tree-Person Ratio: Who knew that NASA, charged with looking deep into space, also looks backward at us? For years, NASA satellites have been snapping photos of our oceans, mountains and forests, and sharing them with ecologists and biologists.

NATURAL GAS: Drill for Natural Gas, Pollute Water: In July a hydrologist dropped a plastic sampling pipe 300 feet down a water well in rural Sublette County, Wy. and pulled up a load of brown oily water with a foul smell. Tests showed it contained benzene, a chemical believed to cause aplastic anemia and leukemia, in a concentration 1,500 times the level safe for people.

NATURE: Debate: Which is the world’s most invaluable species?: Plankton, bats, primates, fungi and bees - which species would have the greatest impact on our planet if it were lost? Five experts set out their case public debate in London next Thursday

NEW SPECIES: Penguin, Now Extinct, Discovered in New Zealand: Researchers studying a rare and endangered species of penguin have uncovered a previously unknown species that disappeared about 500 years ago.

NONRENEWABLE ENERGY: U.S. Moves Ahead on Oil, Gas Leases on Public Land: Decision Could Pose Problem for Obama

PALM OIL: The slippery business of palm oil: Palm oil is used in a third of all groceries. But can it ever be produced without causing environmental devastation as some big companies are promising?

PLASMA GASIFICATION PLANT: Plasma Plants Will Vaporize Trash While Generating Energy

PRIUS: BossDowner’s 2010 Prius Commercial - PriusChat.com, BossDowner’s 2010 Prius Commercial #2 - PriusChat.com

RENEWABLE ENERGY: Ocean currents can power the world, say scientists: A revolutionary device that can harness energy from slow-moving rivers and ocean currents could provide enough power for the entire world, scientists claim., Plumbing the oceans could bring limitless clean energy, Britain’s water mills given role in clean energy generation, EPA Coal Decision Levels Playing Field for Wind, Solar

RECYCLING: Why California Recycled 80% of Glass and the Rest of the U.S. 30%

REDISCOVERED SPECIES: “Extinct” Primate Found in Indonesia

SEA LEVEL RISE: Schwarzenegger Orders California to Prepare for Sea-Level Rise

SMART GRID TECHNOLOGY: Boulder, Colo.: America’s First ‘Smart Grid City’: Some Homes Can Remotely Control All Aspects of Their Energy-Saving Features, Report Calls for Overhaul of Power Grid to Handle Sun and Wind Power

SOLAR: Solar Panels Are Vanishing, Only to Reappear on the Internet, Solar at Sea: Chinese Cargo Ships Will Have Solar Sails, Solar-Powered Plane to Perform Test Flight

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT: Cuba Gets Green Cred: Cuba is the only country that meets the criteria for sustainable development from the conservation group WWF. But concern persists for once thriving Caribbean marine turtles.

WATER AVAILABILITY: The eco machine that can magic water out of thin air, Cow Sh*t to Clean Water

WHALING: Japanese Whalers Set Sail, Say Witnesses

WILD HORSES: U.S. Won’t Kill Wild Horses — For Now

WIND POWER: Giving Turbines a Boost With Curves, 360 Wind Powered Wal-Mart Stores by April 2009, Mega Wind Farms Could Steer Storms, Offshore Wind Power Could Alter Ocean Currents: “Whether or not this is a good thing is a matter of debate,” Brostrom said. Though he stressed that the goal for any man-made object should be to minimize environmental impact, he added: “I’m an optimist; I think this could be beneficial to local fisheries.”, Don’t Call it a Wind Farm, It’s an EcoPower Centre: Canada’s Largest Wind Project (200 MW) Opens

WTF?: Levelling the lingerie playing field: An online shop in Japan has seen an extraordinary demand for its newest product: bras for men. More than 300 have been snapped up in two weeks

“Environmental News Picks” are made possible with help from Kevin.

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I believe ballot initiatives or propositions can be dangerous, because entities like the Mormon Church can provide vast amounts of resources and manipulate information in order to impose their agenda; therefore abuse of the system is possible. 

Certainly, we saw this with Prop 8, which unfortunately passed and banned same sex marriage under a simple majority. The Mormon Church, although centralized in Utah, donated $20 million to Prop 8. As a result of its interference and support, some believe the Mormon Church should be stripped of its tax-exempt status, while others believe the focus should not be on the Mormon Church.

However, if an entity is going to donate great amounts of resources and time to one initiative, then it should be prepared for the consequences. Furthermore, why does a group like the Mormon Church—that receives a tax-exempt status—have a right to interfere with another group by taking away their rights; and the disadvantaged group must pay taxes to entities (the state and federal governments), which don’t recognize their rights? It’s blatantly unfair.

Unlike, Prop 8, Prop 10 did not pass. Prop 10 was also known as the California Alternative Fuels Initiative, which was closely connected to T. Boone Pickens. Prop 10 would have provided “$3.425 billion to help consumers and others purchase certain high fuel economy or alternative fuel vehicles, including natural gas vehicles, and to fund research into alternative fuel technology.” T. Boone Pickens had a direct stake in Prop 10, because his company, Clean Energy Fuels Corp., could have provided natural gas for these alternative fuel vehicles. As a result, Pickens with his corporation “contributed nearly $19 million” to the ballot effort. Although it failed, it’s still a lot of money that can be used for misinformation. The fact is, we don’t need to replace one fossil fuel with another, especially since electric vehicle, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle technologies are becoming more efficient.  Natural gas has its place as an alternative fuel—possibly in the trucking industry—but not on the large scale that Pickens seeks.

It seems like ballot proposals are democracy in action, but they aren’t. Outsiders with an interest or stake in these initiatives can unfairly disadvantage certain groups by donating resources and using misinformation to rally their efforts. For these reasons, I believe our elected officials and the courts are the best routes to take for change.

MarketWatch provides more information regarding the failure of Prop 10:

“California voters didn’t fall for a Texas oil tycoon’s $10 billion money grab, no matter how much he spent camouflaging it as green,” stated Richard Holober, spokesman for the No on Prop 10 campaign, and Executive Director of the Consumer Federation of California. “Proposition 10 is the ultimate example of a wealthy special interest abusing the ballot initiative process to enrich itself. We built a coalition of major environmental, consumer, business, labor, taxpayer and civic organizations that triumphed over Prop 10’s $23 million war chest. The defeat of Prop 10 sends a signal that California’s ballot initiative process is not for sale to the highest bidder.”

Mr. Pickens’ Clean Energy Fuels Corporation contributed nearly $19 million to the Yes on Prop 10 campaign. Chesapeake Energy and its owner Aubrey McClendon donated $3.5 million to the Yes on 10 campaign. Clean Energy is the nation’s largest operator of natural gas fueling stations, and Chesapeake is the largest independent producer of natural gas in the U.S. Both corporations would have made a fortune under Prop 10’s multibillion dollar giveaway program to create a market for natural gas-fueled trucks.

The No on Prop 10 campaign raised about $170,000.

The defeat of Proposition 10 is the first test of voter support for the self-styled “Pickens Plan.” News reports state that Mr. Pickens has spent $58 million on national television ads since July promoting his plan. One key component of his plan is the conversion of vehicles to run on natural gas. Pickens Plan ads do not spell out who pays for this conversion, and who benefits from it.

On the Net: PROPOSITION 8: Are ballot initiatives wise?

Image Found Here
Image Found Here

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BATS: Deadly Bat Disease Linked to Cold-Loving Fungus: Scientists have pinpointed the fungus linked to white-nose syndrome, the mysterious ailment that has wiped out large populations of bats in the northeastern United States.

BEES: Beekeepers protest outside Downing Street: Britain will suffer “agricultural disaster” unless more money is put into discovering what it killing the nation’s bees, the Government has been warned., Bush officials plan to dial back environmental protections, International Pollinator Conference Highlights Importance of Bees: U.S. continues efforts to protect declining pollinator populations , Whither The Honey Bee?, What’s Killing the Honeybees?, Whither The Honey Bee?, Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis

CLIMATE CHANGE: Dried Mushrooms Slow Climate Warming In Northern Forests: The fight against climate warming has an unexpected ally in mushrooms growing in dry spruce forests covering Alaska, Canada, Scandinavia and other northern regions, a new UC Irvine study finds.

DEFORESTATION: Unknown Deforestation Exposed

DEREGULATION: Bush administration gives 10 days for species comments, So Little Time, So Much Damage , Bush team rushes environment policy changes, Bush’s parting moves on the environment, Bush officials plan to dial back environmental protections, To Gut Species Protection, Interior Calls “All Hands on Deck”

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Australia plans electric vehicle network

ENDANGERED SPECIES: Rare, Prehistoric-Age Reptile Found in N.Z.: A rare reptile with lineage dating back to the dinosaur age has been found nesting on the New Zealand mainland for the first time in about 200 years, officials said Friday.

EXTINCTION: Asking ‘Why Do Species Go Extinct?’

FISHERIES: There’s no need for more flawed fisheries data: The National Saltwater Angler Registry that is being touted by some as a vital saltwater management tool cannot be expected to deliver any more accurate information than the present data-gathering mechanism.

HYDROELECTRICITY: 99 Year Old Hydroelectric Plant Coming Back Online

HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT: Minnesota farmers: Wolf ruling threatens livestock

LED LIGHTS: New LED Bulbs Look Weirder, Save More Energy

NUCLEARIZATION OF ENERGY SOURCES: Nukenomics No Longer Add Up - Expert

POLITICS: Hackers and Spending Sprees: Highlights from NEWSWEEK’s special election project

SALMON: Hearings slated on protecting salmon: BANGOR - Two public hearings are scheduled this week on a proposal to designate Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot, Kennebec, and Androscoggin rivers as an endangered species.

SCIENCE: ‘Junk’ DNA Proves Functional; Helps Explain Human Differences From Other Species: In a paper published in Genome Research on Nov. 4, scientists at the Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS) report that what was previously believed to be “junk” DNA is one of the important ingredients distinguishing humans from other species.

SOLAR ENERGY: Solar Cells Set New Performance Mark

T. BOONE PICKENS: Pickens Plan Reality Check: Energy Freedom or Farce?

WAL-MART: WAL-MART SELLING LEAD PAINT…TO PUT ON YOUR KID’S FACE!

WHALING: Japan Accuses Animal Planet of EcoTerrorism Prior to “Whale Wars” Premiere

WILDLIFE: Hawk Kills Owl At Montrose Beach: Bird Watchers At Fault?

“Environmental News Picks” are made possible with help from Kevin.

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Obama’s energy plan is common sense, since part of his energy plan tackles the federal government. As a former federal government contractor, I noticed a lot of waste—especially how government vehicles are used. Certainly, a large portion of government travel can use either smaller, hybrid, or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs). Furthermore, he is calling for conservation, and there is nothing wrong with conservation if it promotes reasonable consumption.

An energy plan using electric, hybrid, and PHEVs is far superior to T. Boone Pickens’s plan to put a lot of energy and money to develop the infrastructure for natural gas-powered vehicles. Natural gas is another fossil fuel, but it produces less energy. Personally, I don’t believe we need new coal power plants, and clean coal doesn’t exist. Other highlights of Obama’s energy plan include: (1) developing America’s renewable energy infrastructure thus (2) create green jobs, (3) using cap-and-trade programs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and (4) eliminate or reduce our energy imports. Obama also wants to promote energy conservation and efficiency by updating our current electrical grid to smart grid technology. From MarketWatch:

According to President-elect Obama’s website (www.barackobama.com), the Obama-Biden plan aims to “make the U.S. a leader on climate change” and to “put 1 million Plug-In Hybrid cars — cars that can get up to 150 miles per gallon — on the road by 2015.” Other goals of the Obama-Biden plan include:

– Invest $150 billion over 10 years to accelerate the commercialization of plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), commercial scale renewable energy, low emissions coal plants, the next generation of fuel infrastructure and the transition to a new digital electricity grid

– Convert the entire White House fleet to plug-ins within Obama’s first year of office

– Ensure that half of all cars purchased by the federal government be PHEVs or EVs by 2012

– Provide a $7,000 tax credit for the purchase of advanced technology vehicles as well as conversion tax credits

– Require 10% of electricity to come from renewable sources by 2012

Hat tip to Kevin.

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ANIMAL WELFARE: Animals Often Victims of Foreclosures, More pets are being cut loose as owners respond to economic hard times: During an economic downturn what’s the first expense to go? Some may say dining out or taking lavish trips. How about the family pet? Rising home foreclosures, food…, Military Dogs Get New Vet Hospital, Modesto police dog helps save suicidal teen

BIOGAS: London gets its first biogas fueling station

CARBON: Obama’s Carbon Ultimatum

CARPOOLING: Vote and save gas with Zimride’s “Carpool to the Polls”

CLIMATE CHANGE: Climate Changing Walden Pond’s Flowers, Climate Changing Thoreau’s Woods

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO (DRC): Rebels Seize Congo Gorilla Park; Hopes Dim for Apes

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric black cab project makes progress: Londoners could be hailing the first battery-powered black cabs in early 2009

ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT: Species review begins: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published a notice of review in the Federal Register initiating 5-year reviews for wildlife and plant species as required under the Endangered Species Act. The species in consideration in the notice of review are…

EXPOSURE TO CHEMICALS AND TOXINS: Man to sue after ‘toxic sofa’ left him with heart failure: A man is suing a furniture company over claims his “toxic sofa” left him with a permanent heart condition.

EVOLUTION: Vampire Moth Discovered — Evolution at Work: A previously unknown population of vampire moths has been found in Siberia. And in a twist worthy of a Halloween horror movie, entomologists say the bloodsuckers may have evolved from a purely fruit-eating species.

FISHERIES: Migrating Alaskan pollock are creating the potential for a new dispute with Russia

FLORIDA EVERGLADES: High water in the Everglades threatens wildlife: With deer belly-deep in the marsh, state wildlife managers fear animals will die if water levels in the Everglades don’t recede.

FUEL CELLS: Pepperidge Farm Opens Largest Fuel Cell Plant In United States

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY: 12,100 Megawatts of Geothermal Power by 2025: Department of Interior Opens Up Lands For Leasing

GLOBAL WARMING: Global Warming Good for Sharks?

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS: 2 greenhouse gases on the rise worry scientists

HABITAT DEGRADATION LOSS FRAGMENTATION: Fearful Elephants Would Sooner Starve Than Cross Roads: New research by the Wildlife Conservation Society and Save the Elephants has found that African Elephants are quickly becoming trapped by new road construction cutting through their forest habitats.

HOMOSEXUALITY IS NATURAL: How gay sex can produce offspring

IVORY: Ebay Bans Ivory Sales Amid Conservation Concerns

IVORY-BILLED WOODPECKER: Cornell cuts back ivory-billed woodpecker search

MADAGASCAR: The Sapphire Mines of Madagascar, THE BIG PICTURE: The sapphire mines of Madagascar

MARINE MAMMALS: Orcas Missing From Puget Sound Thought Dead, Whale Endangered, Palin Pouts: The NYT reports that Cook Inlet Beluga Whales were listed as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act yesterday.

MINING: Bush rushes to open Grand Canyon to toxic uranium mining: BLM publishes proposed rule which ignores House committee’s resolution

NUCLEAR POWER: Should Libertarians Support Nuclear Power?

OBAMA IS NOT A SOCIALIST: “Socialism”

OCEANS: Pictured: The incredible secret world at the bottom of the sea: In a year-long mission, a BBC team probed a small part of the earth’s amazing undersea world. They completed 1000 dives and explored seven different oceans across the globe. What they found was extraordinary…

ORGANIC FARMING: Organic farming ‘could feed Africa’: Traditional practices increase yield by 128 per cent in east Africa, says

POLITICS: Biden Slammed During Florida Interview, Same Anchor Gives McCain Softballs, Where Eight Years Of Republican Leadership Has Left America Economically (VIDEO)

RECOMMENDED MAP: Map of Newspaper Endorsements in the 2008 US Presidential Election

RECYCLING: Thai Temple Built From One Million Recycled Bottles, Q and A: Recycling Astronaut Urine

SALMON: Dams Not Main Cause of Salmon Collapse, Study Says

SPACE: Depressed astronauts might get computerized solace, NASA unveils new lunar rover built for endurance, India’s manned mission not before 2012: Madhavan Nair, NASA turns to the private sector as China flexes new space muscles, Chandrayaan a wake-up call for America, says Obama

SCIENCE: Artificial Heart Gives New Hope to Patients: French Scientists Develop Artificial Heart that Beats Much Like the Real Thing, ‘Flying syringe’ mosquitos, other ideas get Gates funding: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation awarded 100,000 dollars each on Wednesday to scientists in 22 countries including funding for a Japanese proposal to turn mosquitos into “flying syringes” delivering vaccines., It ain’t half snuggly, Mum! The ground-breaking pictures of animals capturing life in the womb, 3M taps into wind-power business with new `Wind Tape’: 3M Co., best known for its Scotch Tape, Post-it brand notes and adhesives, is going into the wind-energy business, with a new line of fillers and protective coverings that can extend the life of wind turbine blades.

SHARKS: “Shark Island” Swarms With Jaws

SOLAR: FedEx Ups Its Solar Power Production To Almost Double: FedEx’s New Solar System Is Enough To Power 370 homes, Solar Refrigeration: A Hot Idea for Cooling: How to build a solar refrigerator: The brighter the sun, the better it works, Solar-Powered Rickshaw Unveiled in India, In downturn, solar industry sees bright days ahead, BWL will build solar array: Project expected to produce enough electricity to power up to 50 homes

TAILPIPE EMISSIONS: Is This the Most Eco-Friendly Car Innovation Since the Hybrid?

UNDECIDED VOTERS: Swing Set

WAVE POWER: World’s first wave farm now generating power for 1,500 homes

WIND POWER: UK Becomes World’s Biggest Producer of Offshore Wind Power, Wind Power Generators Guide

WTF?: Toilet stench clears out London airport

YEAR OF THE FROG: Yellowstone Amphibians Declining Under Climate Change

“Environmental News Picks” are made possible with help from Kevin.

AGRICULTURE: SCIENTIST AT WORK | NORMAN T. UPHOFF: Food Revolution That Starts With Rice

ANIMAL WELFARE: Boy fed zoo reptiles to crocodile: A seven-year-old boy has been filmed going on the rampage at a popular zoo in Australia, killing rare reptiles and feeding live ones to a crocodile

ARCTIC MELTING: Arctic Ice in “Death Spiral,” Is Near Record Low

AUTO INDUSTRY: No “Revolting” the Volt: Chevy Battery Does Not Recharge While Driving

BUSHMEAT: Bush-Meat Ban Would Devastate Africa’s Animals, Poor?

CARBON: Heat Hinders Ground’s Ability to Absorb CO2

E-WASTE: 7 Hurdles to Electronics Recycling

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: 19 Electric Car Players Pitch San Francisco, 30 electric cars companies ready to take over the road, China Planning Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

ENERGY: Researchers Developing the “Internet for Energy”, New Energy Project Will Be Even Larger than the Pickens Plan: Move over, T. Boone Pickens. You’re about to be overshadowed by Babcock and Brown

ENDANGERED SPECIES: Croc Hunter’s ‘Bum-Breathing’ Turtle Faces Extinction

EVOLUTION: Scientists Discover Fish in Act of Evolution in Africa’s Greatest Lake, From the Onion: Dolphins Evolve Opposable Thumbs ‘Oh, Shit,’ Says Humanity

FUEL CELLS: First Fuel Cell-Powered Plane Presented in Germany

GOOGLE: Google search finds seafaring solution

GREEN CONSTRUCTION: 15 Inspiring Glimpses into the Future of Green Housing, The First LEED Platinum Skyscraper Nearly Completed, Lost middle-class tribe’s ’secret’ eco-village in Wales spotted in aerial photograph taken by plane, Paint it white: Cool roofs save cash and carbon, New experimental homes will heat themselves

HIV/AIDS: Colonial clue to the rise of HIV: The arrival of colonial cities in sub-Saharan Africa at the dawn of the 20th Century may have sparked the spread of HIV

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: Honda Takes on the Hybrid Motorcycle, Mercedes-Benz S400 BlueHYBRID unveiled

HYDROGEN FUEL: Scientists Reach Hydrogen Storage Milestone

INVASIVE SPECIES: State wildlife commission seeks tougher rules for owning pet snakes, Stop slithering intruders: Asian swamp eels are an invasive foreign species that is dangerously prolific and adaptive, threatening fish and other native creatures

NATURAL GAS-POWERED VEHICLES: Pickens Overlooks Existing Natural Gas Cars in Energy Plan: Reality Check

NEW SPECIES: New Iguana Species Revealed

OFFSHORE WIND POWER: Huge Offshore Wind Farm Wins Approval, Offshore Wind To Supply 15% of Rhode Island Electricity

PHEV: Plug-In Hybrids Aren’t Coming — They’re Here, Houses passes bill with $5k Volt tax-credit, mandatory alternative fuel pumps

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: California’s 220 MPH High-Speed Train Will Be Emissions-Free

RECOMMENDED IMAGE(S): Earth From Above comes to NYC, Yup, still a pig, Monk Seal

RECOMMENDED MAP: USA National Gas Temperature Map

RECOMMENDED YOUTUBE: SOUTH CENTRAL FARM - PART 1, The End of Suburbia - 52 minute documentary on oil, McCain’s YouTube Problem Just Became a Nightmare, Sarah Palin Gibberish

REDISCOVERED SPECIES: Rare Plant Thought Extinct Re-discovered in Upstate New York

SCIENCE: Sciencedebate2008: Presidential answers to the top 14 science questions facing America, Japanese Scientists Plan to Build Space Elevator

WASTE-TO-ENERGY: Indiana will get $227 million waste to fuel plant

WATER AVAILABILITY: When Will Los Angeles Run Out of Water? Sooner Than You Think, Cactus Goo Makes Water Safe: The slimy ooze inside prickly pear cactuses that helps the plants store water in the desert can also be used for scouring arsenic, bacteria and cloudiness out of rural drinking water, according to research at the University of South Florida in Tampa

WATER CONSERVATION: Harvesting Rainwater by Not Letting It Go to Waste

WTF?: Cheney: Wildlife Conservation Has Been A ‘High Priority’ Of Bush Administration

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK: Yellowstone seeks to balance nature, cell phones, Judge refuses to let snowmobiles roam Yellowstone

ZOONOTIC DISEASES: Hamsters, Exotic Pets May Put Young Children At Risk, Doctors Say

AUTO INDUSTRY: Ford reminds world that it didn’t “willfully” violate wiper patent, Audi traffic light detection system gets the green-light

BIODIESEL: New Facility Uses Algae to Turn Coal Pollution Into Fuel

CARBON CAPTURE AND STORAGE: University of Calgary scientist Keith cracks carbon capture conundrum, Scientists Create Device to Remove Carbon Directly from the Air

CLIMATE CHANGE: Australians urged to eat kangaroo: An Australian government adviser on climate change has urged Australians to ditch beef and lamb for kangaroo steaks to help save the planet, Endangered Natural Wonders Worth Seeing

CONSERVATION: Ecosystem May Get Endangered Species Protection, No Joke: Bush Urges for Greater Protection of Ocean Areas, Extinct Galapagos Tortoise Could Be Resurrected

DEFORESTATION: Amazon Burned, Forest Loss Up, Oil Palm Plantations Are No Substitute For Tropical Rainforests, New Study Shows

DEVELOPMENT: Cities rethink wisdom of 50s-era parking standards

ECOTOURISM: Lova Lava Land Eco-Resort in Hawaii, Shark Fishers Try to Reel in Cash, Turn to Conservation

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Electric Car Conversion Gaining Buzz

ENERGY: World’s First 100% Renewable Jet Fuel Created

EVOLUTION: 650-Million-Year-Old Reef May Offer Evolution Clues

FOOD: Where Does Our Happy Meal Come From?

FUEL ECONOMY: Fuel stretching Taylors get world record 58.82 mpg around the U.S.

GLOBAL WARMING: Earth’s Air Divided by Chemical Equator, Rubber ducks help scientists understand global warming: Rubber ducks are being used to help scientists understand global warming and melting glaciers

GREEN CONSTRUCTION: The New Green California Academy of Sciences Unveiled!

GREENFREEZE TECHNOLOGY: First Greenfreeze Climate-Safe Freezer Launches in the United States

HIV/AIDS: AIDS Virus Traces Back 100 Years

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: Paris 2008: Honda Insight LIVE REVEAL, Toyota confirms Prius-based Lexus hybrid for Europe

INVASIVE SPECIES: Dogs vs. Rabbits in Eco-War, Beetle Epidemic May Affect Weather, Air Quality

NEW SPECIES: Strange New Species Found on Great Barrier Reef, Hundreds of New Reef Creatures Found in Australia, 100+ New Sharks, Rays Named in Australia, New Iguana Found in Fiji

NOISE POLLUTION: Noisier Oceans May Be “Disaster” For Marine Animals, A New Kind of Ocean Pollutant: Noise

OCEAN ACIDIFICATION: Ocean Acidification Turns Up the Volume

OCEAN DEAD ZONES: Ocean Dead Zones May Be Worse Than Thought

OFF-GRID LIVING: Samso, the Danish island living off-grid

PESTICIDES: Pesticides Killing Flamingos?

RECOMMENDED IMAGE(S): Pictured: Inside the £800m Dubai hotel boasting a £13,000-a-night suite and dolphins flown in from the South Pacific

SCIENCE: Earth’s Air Divided by Chemical Equator, Plastic-Munching Bugs Turn Waste Bottles Into Cash: New Bacteria-Driven Process Could Make Recycling Plastic Bottles More Attractive, Glowing Red Fish Discovered

SEA TURTLES: African Sea Turtles Tagged

SOLAR ENERGY: Scientists Create Energy-Producing Solar Paint, Cool Earth Solar Constructing First Solar “Balloon” Prototype Plant, Vatican Goes Solar

TIDAL POWER: Scotland Plans World’s First Tidal Turbine Farms: The two projects, which each include 20 underwater turbines, will be finished within three years and will provide power to 40,000 homes

TOYOTA: Toyota takes to the parks: Workers from San Antonio’s Toyota factory swapped their torque wrenches and hard hats for shovels and paintbrushes Monday as they began a two-week citywide beautification effort

WATER AVAILABILITY: Iran Sinking as Groundwater Resources Disappear

WATER CONSERVATION: Washington State to Ban Home Car Washing?

WTF?: Extreme Piercing: Welcome to the Phuket Vegetarian Festival…

ZOOLOGICAL CONSERVATION: Odd Sharks Bred in Captivity

AGRICULTURE: Birds Best Hope for Pest-Ridden Coffee Crops?

AMERICA: Making America Stupid

ARCTIC DRILLING: Drilling in the Arctic Refuge: The 2,000-Acre Footprint Myth: Oil development would stamp a spiderweb of industrial sprawl across the whole of the refuge’s 1.5-million-acre coastal plain.

ARCTIC MELTING: Arctic Sea Ice Drops to Record Levels

AUTO INDUSTRY: BMW leaps ahead on new car CO2 emissions, others still stalling, GM Takes Its Case to the People, The 65 mpg Ford the U.S. Can’t Have:Ford’s Fiesta ECOnetic gets an astonishing 65 mpg, but the carmaker can’t afford to sell it in the U.S.

BEES: Roadsides Helping Bees Thrive, Apples and pears at risk due to dramatic decline in the honeybee, experts warn

BICYCLE COMMUTERS: Real Estate Agents Cater To Bicycle Commuters

BIG OIL: Exclusive: More on the Interior Department’s Sex and Oil Scandal

BIOFUELS: Tequila endangered by switch to biofuels

CARBON SEQUESTERING: Green Cement is Carbon Neutral, Sequesters CO2 from Power Plants

CHINESE CONSUMPTION OF NATURAL RESOURCES: Elephants Decimated in Congo Park; China Demand Blamed

CLIMATE CHANGE: Sponges Feel the Heat From Climate Change

COAL: It’s the Coal, Stupid, Scrubbing King Coal: How come energy companies are gaga over alternative fuels? First off, define “alternative.”

COMPOSTING: How to Create a Dirt Cheap Compost Bin with a Garbage Can

DEFORESTATION: MTV Cuts Down Rainforest for Reality TV Show

DESALINATION: Desalination Closer to Reality in California

DEVIL FACIAL TUMOUR DISEASE (DFTD): Tasmanian Devil Cancer Worse

ELECTRIC VEHICLES: BMW confirms electric city car

ENERGY: U.S. Could Cut Fuel Use 50% by 2035, Wiggling Plastic at River Bottom to Generate Electricity, Massive floating generators, or ‘eco-rigs’, to provide power and food to Japan, Hawaiian Coal-Fired Plant Being Converted to Burn Biomass, Google search finds seafaring solution, Paint it white: Cool roofs save cash and carbon, New experimental homes will heat themselves, Researchers Developing the “Internet for Energy”, CleanTech Group to build $227 million waste to fuel plant in Indiana, Chicken Manure to power 90,000 Homes in the Netherlands!

ETHANOL: Mechanics see ethanol damaging small engines: Fuel blend, already implicated in high food prices, linked to rise in repairs

FISHERIES: Alaskans Choose Mine Over Fish

FUEL ECONOMY: 84% of Brits rate fuel efficiency #1

FUEL PRICES: Waving Goodbye to the Bus: As fuel prices rise, some districts are updating an old method of getting children to school.

GEOTHERMAL ENERGY: New Geothermal Technology Could Tap 120,000MW of Energy

GLOBAL WARMING: 5 Diseases that are Thriving Thanks to Global Warming, Earth Hotter Now Than in Past 2,000 Years, Study Says

GREEN: Both Conventions Touted as ‘Green’ Events, 10 Greenest Presidents in U.S. History: Which Leaders Fought to Protect the Environment?

GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS: California’s 220 MPH High-Speed Train Will Be Emissions-Free

HYBRID TECHNOLOGY: Paris Preview: Officially Official, Honda’s new hybrid is the Insight!, Toyota Prius owners can double their mileage by ordering a kit that converts their vehicle into a plug-in hybrid, Consumer Reports says that some hybrids do pay off - quickly, For Gustav-Level Outages, Cities Tap Hybrid Buses for Power, Honda Reveals New “Insight” Prius Killer, NYC gets hit with lawsuit over “unsafe” hybrid taxis, Berlin Hearts Electric Smarts

LANDFILLS: GM plans to dump use of landfills

MARINE PROTECTED AREAS: “Pristine” Reefs Part of Planned Marine Reserve

NEW SPECIES: New Giant Clam Found; May Have Fed Early Humans, New Catfish Species Found

NUCLEAR POWER: Another “Incident” at French Nuclear Plant

PHEV: Toyota launches plug-in Prius hybrid in UK

POPULATION GROWTH: Scientists: Save the planet—have fewer kids: As rising populations strain a warming planet, a British journal suggests having smaller families

REDISCOVERED SPECIES: Tiny Frog, Believed Extinct, Found in Australia

SALMON: Snapping Salmon: A Biologist’s Underwater Passion

SMART CAR: NYC garages grant smart for two cheaper parking rates, Vegas HUMMER dealer switching to SMART

SOLAR: COULD SOLAR HIGHWAYS POWER OUR CITIES?, SOLAR TREE by Vivien Muller

TAILPIPE EMISSIONS: California Moves on Bill to Curb Sprawl and Emissions

TRUCKING INDUSTRY: Trucking industry pushes for cleaner fleet, improved funding for nation’s infrastructure

WATER AVAILABILITY: Sun Used to Purify Water

WETLANDS: Iraq’s ‘Garden of Eden’ May Get Global Protection

WHALING: 4,000+ Japan Whale Harvest Not Justified, Experts Say

WIND POWER: Groundbreaking Energy Ball Wind Turbine for Home Power, Offshore wind farms may line U.S. coast

WTF?: THINGS THAT EXIST: High Heels For Babies

ZOOLOGICAL CONSERVATION: Too Few Asian Vultures in Captivity to Save Species?

Toyota will mass-produce an electric-powered car sometime after 2010, and will make its Toyota Prius PHEV available one year early in 2009. General Motors says there is no race with Toyota.

Two myths republicans like to perpetuate regarding the environment debunked:

(1) Proponents for drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) argue that the environmental footprint will only cover a small portion or the 2,000 acres of ANWR. True or False?