This post is by Miriam Horn, a writer at Environmental Defense Fund and co-author of the New York Times bestseller, Earth: The Sequel.
Who would have thought that algae (a.k.a. pond scum) – the microscopic plants whose "blooms" choke off life in lakes and estuaries – would emerge as the hottest new energy crop?
But sure enough, dozens of start-ups, backed by millions of dollars in venture capital, are racing to find the best way to turn algae into fuel, with exciting results.
This post is by Lisa Moore, Ph.D., a scientist in the Climate and Air program at Environmental Defense Fund.
How do we plan for climate change? Unfortunately, many groups don’t even ask that question, much less begin to answer it.
I’m happy to report that there are exceptions. Yesterday, I testified before the New York City Council’s Infrastructure Task Force, which held a forum on how climate change and flooding will affect the city’s infrastructure. It was an interesting experience. I left feeling cautiously optimistic that the city really is trying to tackle the problem.
This post is by Mel Peffers, a project manager in the Living Cities program at Environmental Defense Fund.
Today is World Asthma Day. Since car exhaust can lead to asthma as well as global warming, we thought it would be a good day to highlight the importance of not idling your car or truck engine.
What makes idling especially bad for health is that drivers tend to idle in gathering places – by sidewalks, schools, playgrounds, homes, and offices. Breathing in pollution close to the source is more dangerous than farther away.
Take a look at the evidence.
This post is by Sheryl Canter, an online writer and editorial manager at Environmental Defense Fund.
Want to know how your lifestyle impacts the environment? Yahoo Green’s Lifestyle Calculator (data provided by EDF) estimates your carbon footprint based on factors like the size of your home, and how much you drive and fly. The H2O Conserve Water Use Calculator asks questions about your habits to assess your water usage (see why saving water saves energy)
But what about the food you eat? Bon Appétit Management Company has a new Low Carbon Diet Calculator that can tell you. It has a very entertaining interface, but how good is it? We asked Lisa Moore, Ph.D., a scientist at Environmental Defense Fund, to check it out.
This post is by Steve Cochran, director of the national climate campaign at Environmental Defense Fund.
Ohio Senator George Voinovich today proposed to address the rapidly escalating threat of climate change by delaying meaningful federal action to control greenhouse gas emissions, obstructing existing state programs, and allowing U.S. global warming pollution to increase for decades to come.
This proposal can be summed up in one word: bankrupt. It’s a detailed prescription for doing nothing. If you think climate change is a hoax, this is your bill.
This post is by Lisa Moore, Ph.D., a scientist in the Climate and Air program at Environmental Defense Fund.
An article in this week’s Nature predicts that Europe and North America will cool slightly over the next decade. No, this doesn’t mean that global warming has stopped.
The new paper describes a climate model that makes short-term (decadal) predictions based on ocean dynamics. The decade-long cooling is just a temporary offset to warming from human activity. After it passes, temperatures will begin climbing again. By 2030, the model forecasts the same global temperatures as the IPCC.
