By Andrew C. Revkin
The New York Times
April 29, 2007
The rush to go on a carbon diet, even if by proxy, is in overdrive.
In addition to the celebrities — Leo, Brad, George — politicians like John Edwards and Hillary Clinton are now running, at least part of the time, carbon-neutral campaigns. A lengthening list of big businesses — international banks, London’s taxi fleet, luxury airlines — also claim “carbon neutrality.” Silverjet, a plush new trans-Atlantic carrier, bills itself as the first fully carbon-neutral airline. It puts about $28 of each round-trip ticket into a fund for global projects that, in theory, squelch as much carbon dioxide as the airline generates — about 1.2 tons per passenger, the airline says.
Continue Reading Carbon-Neutral Is Hip, but Is It Green?
Posted by Paul on April 29, 2007
By Alana Herro
Published on Worldwatch Institute (http://www.worldwatch.org)
March 30, 2007
An adventurous pack of biofuels enthusiasts will set out today for a 4,500 mile (7,242 kilometer) car rally from the United States to Central America. The
Greaseball Challenge [1] is designed to promote sustainable biofuels—including biodiesel, ethanol, vegetable oil, and recycled restaurant grease—and benefit local grassroots environmental projects. Participants will visit a variety of bioenergy projects and businesses along the way, including
Combustibles Ecológicos [2], a Guatemala-based organization dedicated to the study and production of biofuels,
Grupo Energéticos [3], a Mexican energy company that produces biodiesel, and
Technoserve [4], an organization that helps poor people in the developing world create business opportunities.
Continue Reading Bio-Fueled Vehicles to Race Across the Americas
Posted by Paul on April 06, 2007
High levels of pesticides are wafting into protected rain forests in Costa Rica, even though the lowland farms being sprayed with the chemicals are miles away, a recent study reports.
Modern pesticides dissolve more easily in water than older, longer-lasting ones, such as DDT. This means the chemicals break down faster in the environment and are less likely to travel long distances.
But because of a unique atmospheric system created by mountain ranges, large concentrations of pesticides are able to drift with the wind and fall with the rain into sensitive habitats previously thought to be unreachable.
“These chemicals have shown they can make it from the places where they are used to the places that are protected,” said study leader Frank Wania of the University of Toronto in Canada.
Continue Reading Pesticides Float From Distant Farms to Protected Forests, Study Says
Posted by Paul on April 03, 2007
