The 109th Congress passed legislation extending the federal solar tax energy credits through 2008 . The current bill extends a 30 percent tax credit for the purchase of a residential solar water heater, photovoltaic equipment or a fuel cell. Businesses can get a 30 percent credit for fuel-cell power plants, solar energy and fiber-optics.
Last week, scientists from around the world kicked off the Amphibian Ark project, a global campaign to protect the world’s vanishing amphibian species from a ravenous killer fungus, widespread habitat loss and exposure to pollution and global warming. Project organizers are asking zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums around the world to each take in at least 500 frogs from a threatened local species to protect them from the killer fungus, chytrid.
Australia announced a bold step last week in efforts to stave off global warming: banning incandescent lightbulbs and replacing them with more efficient compact fluorescents nationwide. According to Australia’s environment minister Malcolm Turnbull, the goal of the phase out is to reduce the country’s annual greenhouse gas emissions by four million tons while cutting household energy bills by as much as two-thirds. Australian environmentalists praised their government’s decision, but urged even bolder action to stave off global warming.
A December 22 incident in which a homeless man spilled five ounces of mercury on an L.A. subway platform gave the media an opportunity to educate the public on the dangers of mercury exposure. Instead, media outlets focused on the potential for terrorism and missed the mercury story. Joel Hogue, president of Elemental Services and Consulting which specializes in mercury spill cleanups, sets the record straight.
As any board or body surfer will tell you, the ocean’s tidal currents pack considerable wallop. So why wouldn’t it make sense to harness all that formidable power, which is not too unlike that of the rivers that drive hydropower dams or the wind that drives wind turbines, to make energy?
<u.Querido DiálogoEcológico: ¿Qué están haciendo las cadenas de comidas rápidas para reducir—o al menos reciclar–la enorme cantidad de papel, plástico y espumilla que usan diariamente? ¿Existen leyes o reglamentos que las obliguen a ser buenos ciudadanos ambientales?
Querido DiálogoEcológico: ¿Cuales son los pros y contras ambientales de abrazar "biocombustibles" basados en plantas para reducir nuestra dependencia en el petróleo?
The U.S. has been regulating fuel economy and emissions in cars and trucks for decades but got a late start addressing similar issues with boats. In 1996, though, recognizing a growing problem of boat engine pollution, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued
On Easter Monday of 2006, 20 people grabbed their camping gear and left the comfort of their homes to erect a tent city at Eagleridge Bluffs, a scenic area in West Vancouver, British Columbia. They were protesting the state government’s plan to build a four-lane highway through the Bluffs that would destroy rare and sensitive ecosystems and would decimate portions of a popular hiking trail.
There’s no doubt 2006 has been a great year for green building—at least in terms of PR.
To find one of the world’s rarest felines, first fly into Tokyo. You’re still a long bus ride, two more flights and a turbulent ferry jaunt from reaching the only spot in the world—a far-flung island in southern Japan’s Yaeyama group—where an observer can spot a wild yamaneko, or mountain cat.
