North Atlantic right whales are critically endangered. Less than 350 remain, despite the fact that they’ve been protected from commercial fishing for the past 65 years. Now scientists are studying those few remaining right whales to determine why their numbers are still on the decline and how technology can be used to help save them.
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.
Each year, we humans generate 20 to 50 million tons of electronic "e-waste," containing such toxic chemicals as lead, mercury and cadmium as consumers toss out their quickly outdated cell phones, computers and televisions in favor of more high-tech models <a href="https://emagazine.com/view/?3172">(see "How to Recycle Practically Anything," feature, May/June 2006).</a>
The National Park Service (NPS), looking for new dollars to support its research and conservation initiatives, has proposed "bioprospecting" for a fee. Environmental groups have joined together in opposition, claiming that bioprospecting undermines the mission of the national parks.
The day after President Bush’s State of the Union Address, Greenpeace released the findings of its “energy revolution” report, debunking the President’s proposals for “clean coal” & “safe nuclear power” and a heavy reliance on ethanol.
Now available in paperback, Carnivorous Nights: On the Trail of the Tasmanian Tiger (Villard Books, $14.95) offers a cheap, entertaining way to travel to Australia and Tasmania and become intimately familiar with the local wildlife. Wombats, quolls, potoroos, little penguins, giant lobsters and pademelons all populate the pages of this eco-adventure with Brooklyn nature writers […]
GOOD GROWING, BAD FOOD, LOST FARMS, TALKING COMPUTER TRASH, TIGER TRACKS, OUR ENERGY FUTURE, SCIENTISTS TAKE A STAND, FINDING THE STARS
