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The Dirtiest Pit on the Planet

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  Just for fun, I asked 12 people  if they ever heard of the Alberta Tar Sands? One out of the 12 heard about it, but didn't know what or where it was. I then asked if they ever heard of Keystone Pipeline? Five heard about it, but again didn't know exactly where it was. Two of the five heard it would provide jobs and none knew what kind of sludge it would be transporting or where.  I continued with my probing questions and asked if they ever heard of Dancing With the Stars, the Kardashians? It's always amazing to me, how little we know about the stuff we should, and how much we know about the mindless and the useless. So much for my survey. Here's some more fun stuff to think about   The Athabasca River in Canada was one the cleanest rivers in the world, but due to the run off from Alberta's oil sands hardly anything lives in it now because of acidification. The growing levels of acid rain consequentially leading to an increase in water contami

Organic by 2020

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If you’re a fan of organic food options, here’s cause to celebrate: the organic market is simply exploding! We recently reported that one assessment of the organic food market projected growth of 14 percent through 2018.  Now, another report, titled Organic Food & Beverages Market Analysis and Segment Forecasts to 2020, projects even more of a growth — a nearly 16 percent skyrocket of the organic food and beverages market by 2020 — meaning organic food sales will reach an estimated U.S. $211.44 billion by that time! Grand View Research, the originators of the new report, writes, “Growing adoption of organic food & beverages owing to associated health benefits and eco-friendly characteristics is expected to drive demand over the next six years.” The firm also asserts that “regulatory support for organic farming” is also projected to have a positive impact on the organic food market because both supply and product quality will see gains. The report posts that all areas of or

California’s Largest-Ever Rally To Ban Fracking

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Thousands of environmentalists took to California’s state capitol recently to demand Governor Jerry Brown ban hydraulic fracturing, in what was called the largest anti-fracking mobilization the state has ever seen. Fracking is a method of extracting fossil fuels that is coveted for its ability to increase the flow of oil or gas from a well. This is done by injecting high-pressure water and chemicals miles deep into the ground into subsurface rock, effectively “fracturing” the rock and allowing more spaces for oil and gas to come through. The process relies heavily on groundwater by injecting a mixture of chemicals and water into rock formations to release oil and gas deposits. California’s recent drought emergency has prompted some lawmakers to push for a statewide moratorium on hydraulic fracturing, as a recent Ceres report found that 96 percent of California fracking wells are located in the areas experiencing drought and high water stress. The protest, called Don’t Frack Califor

Electric Buses Being Tested Around The World

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A large, 60-foot electric bus has been running for almost two weeks in Sao Paulo, Brazil where it has transported over 135,000 passengers since hitting the road. The bus joined the city’s already diverse fleet, which includes buses running on biodiesel, ethanol, diesel and electric trolley buses. This is just the latest movement in an international effort to develop electric buses that are quiet, fuel-free, and reducing air and greenhouse gas pollution. The batteries and recharge system in the Sao Paulo bus were made by Japan-based Mitsubishi while the body and motor were built in Brazil. The bus, which can hold 124 passengers and travel 125 miles without recharging, is winning over local approval for its quietness and international approval for being environmentally friendly. The battery-powered buses do not require cables, as is the basis for the electric trolleybuses that use the city’s grid. “The bus is super-healthy for the planet and can do its job almost like diesel-fueled mo

Best Buy Teams Up with Solar City

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By Jeff Spross SolarCity and Best Buy have announced a deal allowing customers to get low-cost and low-hassle solar power for their homes. It’s what’s called a third party leasing agreement. Rather than purchasing a solar array outright, they lease the system from the provider — SolarCity, in this case. It’s just that the system is installed on the roof of the homeowner. The benefit for the customer is they don’t have to worry about installation and maintenance — the provider handles that — and there are no big upfront costs. The customer just pays the provider a set amount each month for the electricity, and that cost is usually slightly lower than the going market rate. Meanwhile, as the provider, SolarCity gets a guaranteed revenue stream for whatever period of time the lease agreement covers. Partnering with Best Buy allows SolarCity to make use of the chain’s already-existing network of stores to reach as many customers as possible. Upfront costs, maintenance, permits, and in

First Electric School Bus Hits The Road In California

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By Andrew Breiner.  PHOTO CREDIT: Trans Tech/Motiv Power Systems The first-ever electric school bus, introduced in November, started picking up students in Central California’s Kings Canyon Unified school district this week. And three more should be operating soon, according to a press release from developers Trans Tech and Motiv Power Systems. The California Air Resources Board was a major factor in getting the first two electric buses on the road, contributing $400,000 to the pilot program in the form of cost-offsetting vouchers. Similar programs in Chicago and New York could contribute to the availability of electric buses there as well. A federal highway program supplied the funding for the third and fourth buses currently on their way. While the electric buses cost around twice as much as similar gas buses, Jim Castelaz, founder and CEO of Motiv Power Systems, said that was balanced by fuel and maintenance costs. It costs “1/8 as much to fuel and 1/3 as much to maintain,” he sa

Meet The Family The Tar Sands Industry Wants To Keep Quiet

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By Emily Atkin There is an abandoned house in Alberta, Canada, where Alain Labrecque used to live. Tucked in the farming community of Peace River, it is a place brimming with personal history, rooted to his grandfather’s land where his parents and eight aunts and uncles grew up, and where Alain’s own children were born.  Now, Alain’s property and the surrounding area are primarily home to large, black cylinders of oil. As a family with a rich history of working for and benefiting from the oil industry, never in their wildest dreams did Karla and Alain think they would be the ones fighting this fight. “You’ve gotta understand, I’ve worked for oil sands, I was a contractor,” Alain said in an interview with ThinkProgress. “I’ve never been negative toward oil. Never thought this would happen.”    READ >

Would Keystone pipeline unload "carbon bomb" or job boom?

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If the pipeline is approved and the fuse lit, climate scientist James Hansen says it's: "Game over for climate." Environmental opponents don't mince words on the Keystone XL pipeline. Some call it the "fuse to the biggest carbon bomb on the planet" because of the carbon emissions from the oil it will carry. Backers say the Canada-to-U.S. pipeline could lower U.S. dependence on unstable foreign sources of oil and create thousands of jobs. Yes, it could create jobs — but not as many as some claim. The State Department estimates that during construction, the project would create 3,900 one-year construction jobs and 38,200 indirect ones, but during operation, only about 50 jobs. Keystone's owner, Calgary-based TransCanada, says the pipeline would generate about 9,000 construction jobs. But hardly any permanent jobs in the U.S. The State Department's review says the 1,179-mile pipeline, which would carry heavy oil sands from Hardisty, Alb

How the U.S. manages to waste $165 billion in food each year

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With people dying of starvation around the world, the California drought, plus all that fresh water, land, fertilizer and energy wasted, AND yet we still have an obesity epidemic?? You have to say . . . . WTF By Brad Plumer Each year, about 40 percent of all food in the United States goes uneaten. It's just tossed out or left to rot. And that's a fairly large waste of resources. All that freshwater and land, all that fertilizer and energy — for nothing. By one recent estimate, Americans are squandering the equivalent of $165 billion each year by rubbishing so much food.  But these statistics don't tell the full story. How does the food actually get wasted? For that, here's a new report from the Natural Resources Defense Council that tries to track food waste up and down the system, from "farm to fork." 1) Farming: Roughly 7 percent of the produce that's grown in the United States simply gets stranded on fields each year. Some growers plant mo

Who Really Benefits from the Keystone Pipeline project?

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Though President Obama has not made a final decision on whether he will green light the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline, it will no doubt create a firestorm, especially with the environmentalists, if he does. Labeled the Dirtiest Pit on the Planet, the Alberta tar sands During a recent survey, when asked about the Keystone Pipline project, most people didn't know much about it except that it will generate a lot of jobs and reduce US reliance on Mideast and Venezuelan imports.  They knew less about the kind of crude oil it would transport, or the environmental consequences, and none realized it was a mining procedure and not conventionally drilled.  And proponents want to keep it that way. The dumbing down process at its best. Back in 2010, in our November edition , and before it became politically newsworthy, we published an article, "The Dirtiest Pit on the Planet." It discribed the Alberta tar sands oil field as one giant nightmare. This is the oil the K

We're Starting to Get It . . . .

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A record-high 71 percent of Americans consider the environment as one of their top priorities when they shop.  That's up from 66 percent in 2008. However, almost three-quarters of them wish companies would do a better job helping them understand environmental terms and issues. In reality, while we all would prefer to buy green products and buy them from greener companies, all things equal, it's hard to know which "purposeful brands" are really getting the job done. As consumers, we don't have enough knowledge readily available to help make meaningful choices. So, we're skeptical and, at times, confused. Right now, the confusion is preventing progress because everybody can talk about "going green" but no one really knows what anyone is doing specifically. That makes it easy for some companies to not do much. When companies are more transparent, and that information becomes easily available and in one consistent format, consumers can make smarter

Cities May be the New Environmental Hubs

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Over 38% of DC residents own no cars, while in many neighborhoods “people own more bikes than cars."   January 17, 2014 | Ethan Goffman   Chicago and New York have been vying for the title of greenest city in America, and for 2013 Washington, DC has joined them, with a new plan, Sustainable DC. The idea, according to Mayor Vincent Gray, is to “make the District of Columbia the healthiest, greenest, and most livable city in the United States.” To do so, Washington, DC is focusing on seven areas: the built environment, energy, food, nature, transportation, waste, and water. Of these, transportation has been drawing attention, particularly the goal of getting automobile use down to 25% of local trips. This has led critics to charge that DC is waging a “war on cars,” but city officials describe the plan as putting other means of transportation on an equal footing with automobiles. Everything Is Connected Transportation is part of the Sustainable, DC plan because it’

What the FDA Knew (and Hid) About Antibiotics in Animal Feed

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has known for more than 12 years that routine use of antibiotics in livestock is harmful to human health, yet it has taken no meaningful action. Routine use of antibiotics in food animals has promoted a rapid rise in antibiotic-resistant disease, which now claims more lives than emphysema, HIV/AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, and homicide combined. Two million American adults and children become infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria each year, and at least 23,000 of them die as a direct result of those infections. Virtually all animal feed additives containing penicillin and tetracycline antibiotics—both of which are used to treat human disease—pose a “high risk” to human health, according to a new report   Many bacteria are developing cross resistance; a situation where a bacteria becomes resistant to multiple drugs, making them virtually impossible to eradicate once they infect you.   Read full story