News Forum Archives: March 2006
Road development policy sparks outcry
NORTON: Environmentalists say change opens parks to development.
By Liz Ruskin
Anchorage Daily News
March 23, 2006
WASHINGTON — Interior Secretary Gale Norton has issued a new federal land policy that environmentalists say will allow states and local governments to build hundreds of roads across national parks and refuges in Alaska and elsewhere in the West.“This is classic Gale Norton,” said Heidi McIntosh, conservation director for the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance. “It’s like getting punched in the head with a velvet glove.”
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WIND ENERGY DEMAND BOOMING
Cost Dropping Below Conventional Sources Marks Key Milestone in U.S. Shift to Renewable Energy
When Austin Energy, the publicly owned utility in Austin, Texas, launched its GreenChoice program in 2000, customers opting for green electricity paid a premium. During the fall of 2005, climbing natural gas prices pulled conventional electricity costs above those of wind-generated electricity, the source of most green power. This crossing of the cost lines in Austin and several other communities is a milestone in the U.S. shift to a renewable energy economy.
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Farms Waste Much of World’s Water
Associated Press
MEXICO CITY — Farms and their wasteful irrigation systems are major contributors to water scarcity on the globe, nations at a world water summit said Saturday.
Farming accounts for 70 percent of the water consumed and most of its wasteful use, said representatives of 130 nations at the World Water Forum discussing water management.
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This Green Beer’s the Real Deal
By David Cohn
Wired News
March 17, 2006
A time-honored tradition on St. Patrick’s Day is to drink green beer. But Brooklyn Brewery won’t partake in the ritual. Instead, the brew pub serves up beer that’s honey-colored or amber gold. In terms of environmental impact, however, its beers are as green as they come.
Brooklyn Brewery, located on Brewer’s Row in Brooklyn, New York, is one of a handful of breweries around the country that uses sustainable energy when producing its beer.
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Event — The Last Organic Outpost Sustainability Festival
The Last Organic Outpost in Houston, Texas is hosting an event
April 1st, 2006
Beginning at 2:00 and going into the night
Dan Phillips will be presenting information about creating an EcoVillage.
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Big Food’s Bad Idea
By Jason Mark
AlterNet
March 8, 2006
The food lobby is quietly pushing a bill that would set a single national set of food labeling rules — and eliminate local control over food safety disclosures.
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BOTTLED WATER: Pouring Resources Down the Drain
Emily Arnold
Earth Policy Institute
February 2, 2006
The global consumption of bottled water reached 154 billion liters (41 billion gallons) in 2004, up 57 percent from the 98 billion liters consumed five years earlier. Even in areas where tap water is safe to drink, demand for bottled water is increasing—producing unnecessary garbage and consuming vast quantities of energy. Although in the industrial world bottled water is often no healthier than tap water, it can cost up to 10,000 times more. At as much as $2.50 per liter ($10 per gallon), bottled water costs more than gasoline.
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“My Name Is Randy, And I’m Addicted To Oil.”
It’s the end of the world as he knows it and Randy White feels fine (sort of).
By Ian Demsky
Willamette Week
February 22, 2006
Randy White was a few minutes late to his Wednesday-night meeting in the basement cafeteria of the St. Francis church in Southeast Portland.
He dragged a seat up to the 40 or so addicts who sat in a circle of folding chairs on the Smurf-blue linoleum.
Over the past year or so, White, 29, has gotten serious about throwing off the trappings of his old lifestyle, the habits that drove him to use more and more of the stuff, but it hasn’t been easy.
By his own admission, White is still hopelessly hooked. It’s hard, he confides, when almost everyone you know—even your wife—is strung out, too.
Randy White is addicted to oil.
Continue Reading “My Name Is Randy, And I’m Addicted To Oil.”