Monthly Archives: June 2008

Picturing U.S. Carbon Emissions

By Sheryl Canter / Published: June 30, 2008

Sheryl CanterThis post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

How much do different sectors of the U.S. economy contribute to greenhouse gas emissions, and how much does this vary by region? That’s a complicated question, but you can see the answer at a glance through a nifty, interactive map on the New York Times Web site.

A bar across the top gives the overview by sector – electric, transportation, industrial, residential, and commercial. Click on a bar to see the breakdown by state, shown on a map of the U.S. via proportionally-sized circles. When you hover your mouse on a circle, you see text with the state name and million metric tons of emissions.

If you’d like to dig into the numbers in full, gory detail, check out the latest U.S. Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report.

Posted in Greenhouse Gas Emissions / Comments are closed

Court Denies Petition to Compel EPA Compliance with Supreme Court

By Vickie Patton / Published: June 27, 2008

Vickie PattonThis post is by Vickie Patton, deputy general counsel at Environmental Defense Fund, and former attorney in EPA’s General Counsel’s office.

Yesterday, the D.C. Circuit denied the petition for writ of mandamus filed by a coalition of states and environmental organizations to enforce the Supreme Court’s landmark decision on global warming in Massachusetts v. EPA. The coalition asked the court to instruct EPA to carry out its duty, under the Supreme Court’s decision, to determine within 60 days whether global warming pollution endangers human health and welfare.

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Posted in Clean Air Act, Greenhouse Gas Emissions / Comments are closed

Low-Carbon Energy: Your Questions Answered

By Miriam Horn / Published: June 27, 2008

Miriam HornThis post is by Miriam Horn, a writer at Environmental Defense Fund and co-author of the New York Times bestseller, Earth: The Sequel.

We received quite a few questions in email about the new technologies I described in our video series, Unleash the Future. I responded to questions on specific technologies in comments to the relevant blog post (solar, biofuels, geothermal, and wave). But there was one important question that applies to all the different technologies:

I’m a firm believer in alternative technology to reduce world wide dependence on fossil fuels, but with our present knowledge of the negative impacts of past innovations due to lack of foresight, what precautions are being taken to make sure that 50 years down the road our grandchildren will not be mopping up yet another mess or suffering from health problems due to compromised ethics?

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Posted in Energy / Comments are closed

Easy Recycling of Compact Fluorescent Light Bulbs

By Sheryl Canter / Published: June 26, 2008

Sheryl CanterThis post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs) use 75 percent less electricity than incandescent light bulbs for the same amount of light. (For why, see Bill’s post "Why Switch to Compact Fluorescents".) But some people fear CFLs because of the tiny amount of mercury they contain. The risk from a broken CFL is extremely small, but CFLs should be disposed of properly so landfills aren’t polluted. Sealing used bulbs in plastic bags before placing them in the trash can slow the release of mercury if the bulb breaks. But recycling is ideal.

The problem, until now, has been that recycling CFLs was inconvenient for post people. That’s about to change, thanks to Home Depot. The New York Times reported this week that Home Depot will offer CFL recycling at all of its nearly 2000 U.S. stores. That puts 75 percent of Americans within 10 miles of a CFL recycling location.

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Posted in News / Read 1 Response

Drilling for More Oil Is Not the Solution

By Sheryl Canter / Published: June 25, 2008

Sheryl CanterThis post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.

Gas prices are sky high, as everybody knows, and the main reason is increased demand. But the solution is not to resume offshore drilling in the U.S., as the current administration suggests.

Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp discussed this issue in a PBS interview last week with Charlie Rose, and again in a guest post on Grist. Here’s an excerpt from Grist:

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Posted in Energy / Read 6 Responses

Electric Waves: Power from the Ocean

By Miriam Horn / Published: June 24, 2008

Miriam HornThis post is by Miriam Horn, a writer at Environmental Defense Fund and co-author of the New York Times bestseller, Earth: The Sequel. It’s part of a video series on new energy technologies, Unleash the Future.


1. Introduction (YouTube)
2. Solar
3. Biofuels
4. Geothermal
5. Wave

Almost every renewable energy resource begins with the Sun. Wave power is a third conversion of solar energy. The Sun creates the temperature differential that produces wind, and wind, in turn, produces ocean waves. Inventor Alla Weinstein found a way to convert the up-and-down motion of waves into electricity.

Take a look at my short video on wave power to learn more.

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/74IVv3ocUGY" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]

If you have any questions or comments on wave energy, please post them here. I’ll do my best to answer.

Posted in Energy / Read 1 Response