Australia Gives BP Deepwater Oil Exploration Approval, As US Revamps Offshore Drilling Oversight
January 20, 2011 No Comment
photo: snapper / Creative Commons Two on offshore oil drilling: 1) The US Department on Interior has announced long-coming restructuring of the Mineral Management Service with the goal (among other things) of increasing oversight of offshore drilling; 2)
Continue reading …
An interesting piece from Grist came on the radar, focused on privatization of water supplies , and it’s worth a read: As communities struggle to balance their ever-shrinking budgets, investment firms and large, predominantly foreign companies are seizing the moment. Across the country, communities are being aggressively courted to sell or lease their drinking water and wastewater utilities to private companies. Since 1991, water utilities interested in profit have seduced at least 144 cities and towns into privatizing their domestic water systems. It’s an issue we’ll be… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …
Photo: Ingram Publishing/Getty Images With so many products — from hand soap to dish detergent — boasting about their antibacterial properties, it’s easy to think that all bacteria are bad for you. But the world of bacteria isn’t so black and white: some bacteria help , some hurt, and some make vinegar. The 10 bacteria here are a few of the most famous — in bright, bold color.
Continue reading …
photo: Sean / Creative Commons Leave aside for the moment the health effects of Pepsi’s products , and your rightful concerns about highly-processed food in general, while reading how much Pepsi has done to reduce its environmental impact… Last Friday PepsiCo issued an update on its goals of sending no waste to landfills by 2020, being entirely fos… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …
Photos by Jaymi Heimbuch This recipe was created exclusively to pair with a bottle of 2006 Obsidian P… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …
Image via Yanko Design This concept for clothes tags that melt in the wash popped up on Yanko the other day and I’ve been thinking about it and what it says about sustainability within design. The idea is a tag that can be tossed in the wash with the clothing item and it dissolves in the water, effectively disappearing — and, according to the designer, saving trees in the process. But does that make it a greener design?… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …
Image: Rob n Amy C China has issued a total ban on all 300 state-owned zoos, which have been cited for all kinds of animal abuses and injuries. The ban went into effect on Tuesday, though has a couple loopholes that some will keep an eye on…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …
Image Credit: Wikipedia Commons An interesting thing happens when that shiny new Walmart supercenter comes to town: people get fatter. Charles Courtemanche , assistant professor of economics at the University of North Carolina, followed the spread of Walmarts across the country, and the spread in girth of citizens nearby. The 2009 research found that “An additional Supercenter per 100,000 residents increases average BMI (body mass index) by 0.25 units and the obesity rate by 2.4 percentage points.”… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …
Image credit: California Rare Fruit Growers Community seed libraries and online seed swapping are by no means the only way to share the biodiversity in our gardens. A scion exchange can be a great way to grow rare and unusual kinds of fruit. But what the heck is a scion, and how do you collect one?… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …