Photo: Peter Blanchard , Flickr, CC There’s a unique initiative built into the new EU constitutional treaty, called the “European citizen’s initiative”. It allows a million or more people to join together, in the form of a petition, to ask the governing body to change legislation. And guess what the first test run for the initiative’s efficacy is going to be? A petition, sponsored by Greenpeace, that asks the EU to stop approving new genetically modified foods. More than a million people have signed on to support the measure…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …FDA Underestimating Gulf Residents’ Carcinogen Exposure From Eating Seafood: NRDC
December 9, 2010 No Comment
photo: Louisiana Sea Grant College Program, Louisiana State University / Creative Commons Something to bring the horror of the Gulf oil spill back fresh to memory: The NRDC says that the FDA is grossly underestimating the exposure to carcinogens in seafood that Gulf Coast residents have been and are being exposed to. It all comes down to how much seafood they ea… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Photo of Copenhagen City of Bicycles by Michael G.R. “In Copenhagen everybody cycles.” His Royal Highness Frederik, the Danish crown prince, can be spotted regularly riding his children around in a cargo bicycle, and it is completely normal to see politicians parking their bicycles outside the Parliament building, or a famous actor riding around town with shopping bags balancing on the handlebars. This excerpt from Copenhagen City of Bicycles gives you a good idea of just how normal cycling can seem to the citize… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Will Steger Views Global Warming from the Coldest Places on Earth (Podcast)
December 9, 2010 No Comment
“It’s almost as if Antarctica didn’t want us there and was continually trying to kill us,” says Will Steger of his seven-month dogsled expedition across the southern pole. But the journey wasn’t just arduous and unprecedented, it was an eye opener for this hardened explorer. Steger and his team crossed the Larsen B ice shelf, a frozen and seemingly immovable mass that later crumbled into the sea, becom… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Image: CA HSR Authority Board With my apologies to the late Sam Cooke: It’s been a loooong time comin’, but I know-oh-oh-woah, that a high speed train gon’ come. (That was either the lamest thing I have ever written, or the most awesome. Or neither.) Anyhow, it’s true. The California High-Speed Rail Authority Board voted last week to begin construction on the line that will connect Los Angeles to San Francisco. This is big news…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Special Light-Absorbing Layer Makes Polymer Solar Cells 20% More Efficient
December 9, 2010 No Comment
Sumit Chaudhary, left, and Kanwar Singh Nalwa of Iowa State University and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory. Photo: Leah Hansen/ISU Polymer Solar on the Road to Commercial Viability When it comes to solar panels, one-size-doesn’t-fit-all. Sometimes what you need it maximum efficiency (such as on a satellite) at whatever cost, but sometimes low-cost and flexibility are paramount. Polymer solar cells aren’t yet commercially viable, but they show a lot of promise when it comes to those latter characteris… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Image via Aire Since the moment the iPad came out, accessories have flooded the marketplace, but finally here is one we really love. Created by Aire, a team of designers who make the health of the planet a priority in their creations, have come up with an iPad sleeve made of recycled movie theater banners. They state, “It’s a revolutionary concept that combines the hype of a new movie premier with the green fashion movement.” Maybe so, but either way, it’s a great idea for repurposing materials to reduce waste. … Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Image credit: Soil Association Earlier this week John was musing about how “peak fertilizer” could make manure a valuable commodity once more , and if Gene Logsdon’s guide to managing manure is to be believed, some mega-farmers are getting back into… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Image via What Is Nature Worth video What is nature really worth? We have become adept at placing a value on nature’s products, but as a short video produced by University of Minnesota’s Institute on the Environment points out, we don’t really understand the immense value of nature’s services. The video, inspired by the Natural Capital Project, looks at global biodiversity loss and how it impacts us financially, socially, and ecologically. … Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Cameron Sinclair and Architecture for Humanity Makes Play for Worldchanging
December 9, 2010 No Comment
Ed Burtynsky and Cameron Sinclair; photo by Hugo Arriojas Cameron Sinclair, co-founder of Architecture for Humanity , has been writing for Worldchanging since 2004. Since then, AFH has grown like mad, building the Open Architecture Network with thousands of contributors and supporters. Worldchanging had a different, more conventional model and as we noted earlier , has closed its virtual doors. Ever the eternal optimist and activist, Ca… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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