Hydropower—electricity generated from turbines churning in dammed rivers—has been part of America’s energy mix since the 1880s when the world’s first hydroelectric plant began operation on the Fox River in Appleton, Wisconsin. By the 1940s, hydropower accounted for about 40 percent of America’s energy needs.
New evidence that climate change is upon us arrives daily, and since this column is our most timely forum, we can offer new dispatches from the global warming front that arrived in just the last couple of months.
An international team of biologists released a report last week warning that when endangered species go extinct, they take down other dependent species with them. The upshot of the finding is that up to 50 percent more species may be endangered than can be currently accounted for by biologists.
In a recent press interview, Andre Heinz, the leading spokesperson on environmental issues for the Kerry campaign, talks about the potential impact of his step-dad’s environmental proposals if voters elect to dump Bush this November. Heinz, the middle son of Theresa Heinz Kerry and the late Sen. John Heinz (R-PA), is a self-proclaimed student of industrial ecology, having worked directly with environmental visionaries like architect William McDonough and author Paul Hawken. Prior to joining the Kerry campaign, Heinz doled out advice to government entities and corporations on behalf of the Natural Step, a sustainability consulting firm with a global clientele.
How can I recycle my unwanted CDs and DVDs?
When Congress passed the Wilderness Act in 1964, it designated 9.1 million acres across the United States permanently off limits to development. Since then, lawmakers have added an additional 96.5 million acres—including more than 50 million acres in Alaska alone—or a total of 105.6 million acres, spread over some 662 different areas and constituting roughly five percent of total U.S. land mass.
London’s "red" mayor, Ken Livingston, was widely believed to have gone "too far" a year ago when he announced a plan to hit commuters with a special congestion charge every time they entered the central city.
In response to pressure from environmental groups and the Norwegian government, Ford Motor Company decided last week to spare 400 electric vehicles from the wrecking ball. The futuristic vehicles will be sent back to Norway, their country of origin, for resale to willing consumers.
According to critics like the Wilderness Society, George W. Bush has distinguished himself as the President most at odds with wilderness preservation since passage of the Wilderness Act 40 years ago. Bush has signed off on adding just 530,000 acres to America’s wilderness legacy, the least of any President since Lyndon Johnson signed the Wilderness Act into law in September 1964. Additionally, the Bush White House has lobbied extensively for increasing oil and gas drilling on wilderness lands throughout the nationwide 106-million acre wilderness system.
Dear EarthTalk: How do hybrid cars get better fuel efficiency than traditional cars?
Dear EarthTalk: How much land has Congress designated as wilderness since passage of the Wilderness Act 40 years ago?
