Currents

The U.S. will gain 4000 megawatts of wind power in 2007, doubling predictions.

Longtime environmental champion Peter A. A. Berle died last week at age 69 as a result of injuries sustained during the accidental collapse of a barn on his Stockbridge, Massachusetts property several months ago.

Computer maker IBM has found a way to save money, reduce waste, and contribute to the development of the solar power industry with just one smart innovation—recycling defective semiconductor chips and sending the recovered refined silicon to manufacturers of photovoltaic solar cells.

A recently developed project called Catalog Choice intends to put a cap on the amount of junk in our mailboxes. Just in time for the holidays!

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff last week used his Congressionally granted waiver power to overturn the suspension of construction on seven miles of fence along the American-Mexican border in Arizona.

Environmentalists are overjoyed at news that the House Natural Resources Committee last week approved legislation rewriting the antiquated General Mining Law of 1872. That legislation, originally signed by President Ulysses S. Grant, was designed to promote the development and settlement of publicly owned lands on the American frontier.

I wouldn’t exactly call myself selfless, or "eco-friendly" for that matter. Apart from recycling my old salsa jars and scrunched Diet Coke cans, I really can’t be bothered with the latest "eco-mandates" or what "trading on carbon offsets" is supposed to mean. It all sounds like white noise to me. I tune it out—definitely somebody else’s problem.

Several cities have instituted, or are considering plastic bag bans—but paper bags contribute heavily to air pollution and energy consumption, too.

Under Governor Charlie Crist, Florida takes a lead on countering climate change.

Connecticut’s Fairfield University, a Jesuit institution, is going green with a comprehensive strategy that includes recycling, energy and water conservation and several environmental academic programs. As part of that program, it recently hosted Sheri Liao, founder and president of Global Village of Beijing (GVB), a Chinese nonprofit that promotes eco-friendly lifestyles.