COP16 May Fail to Stop Climate Change, But An Abolitionist Shift Would Succeed
December 1, 2010 No Comment
photo: Jason McHuff / Creative Commons For months now, indeed for nearly all of 2010, the hopes for a global climate deal coming out of COP16, now underway in Cancun, Mexico, have been downplayed again and again. In fact, on the second day of talks Marc Gunther over at GreenBiz produced a list of
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Photo: BLM , Creative Commons A consensus seems to be growing that since comprehensive energy reform is now a long ways off in the US, the least we can do is get rid of subsidies and handouts for fossil fuel companies. And this new report from the USC Marshall School of Business illustrates why: Worldwide, fossil fuels receive a staggering 12 times the amount in subsidies that clean energy does…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Have a 2004-2007 Prius? Toyota is Recalling 650,000 Hybrids Over Coolant Risk
December 1, 2010 No Comment
Photo: Flickr , CC Voluntary Recall If you own a Toyota Prius with a model year between 2004 and 2007, you should probably keep an eye on the mailbox for a letter from Toyota. The company has announced a voluntary recall of 650,000 Prius hybrids (about 390,000 are in North America, 180,000 in Japan and 70,000 in Europe, according to Toyota) to fix the cooling pump. This is a preventive measure; the pump could overheat and cause a loss of power, but so far there hasn’t been any reports of accidents or injur… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Photo: eschipul , Flickr, CC President Obama can’t seem to make up his mind about banning offshore drilling — does he want a drilling moratorium in place or not? Now, it once again looks like he does — sort of, anyway. The White House is announcing today that the administration plans on maintaining most of the initial ban. Certain waters will be kept off limits, though some will still be opened for drilling. Here’s where we stand now…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Photo: The Annenberg Space for Photography Giving the perfect gift doesn’t have to mean spending the entire month of December at the mall — and then showing up with the same chocolate-scented candle you got your hard-to-buy-for cousins last year. It doesn’t have to mean giving a thing at all: Instead, philanthropic donations and symbolic adoptions help you put your gift budget toward a good cause. And if you want to have something to wrap, then choose books, videos, and apparel that support these seven non-profits that are making the world a better place year-round…. Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Exclusive Look Inside Michelle Kaufmann’s 2010 Smart Home in Chicago (Slideshow)
December 1, 2010 No Comment
Image credit Lloyd Alter TreeHugger first covered architect Michelle Kaufmann ‘s Smart Home at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago in 2008 with a guest post by Brian Jones. It is a different creature today; the Museum redoes the interior every year. Being in Chicago for green building tradeshow Greenb… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Photo: Eat, Drink Better Everyone’s favorite uber-controversial, genetically modifying food corporation is in the news again, and this time, it’s because a federal judge has ordered the destruction of a prominent Monsanto crop. A ruling a few months ago found that the USDA didn’t conduct an extensive environmental review of Monsanto’s “Roundup Ready” biotech sugar beets, an… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Sustainable Fashion Lessons From Put This On, Billykirk and the Late William S. Burroughs
December 1, 2010 No Comment
Photo: My Favorite Shoes by Chris Tackett What’s your favorite pair of old shoes? Mine are an old pair of gray Converse, which I’ve had for about 10 years. They’ve seen better days, have an assortment of scuffs, stains, rips and holes, but they fit perfect and feel great. As Lloyd says about architecture, ” the greenest building is the one already standing ,” you could argue that the most sustainable shoes are the ones already in your closet. But some people want aged things right out of the box. This… Read the full story on TreeHugger
Continue reading …Solar Powered "Swater" Concept Collects and Purifies Water In the Desert
December 1, 2010 No Comment
Images via Yanko Design Ways to gather water in arid places has grabbed the attention of designers more often lately, and the newest concept to come on the radar is the Swater, by designers Chun Yen Tsao and Hsing-Tan Yang. The idea is a small basin that collects water and uses solar power to purify what is collected. Could a field of these provide water enough for a village?… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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From the announcement that all new UK homes would be zero carbon by 2016 , through the big reveal of the first zero carbon home in the country , to the launch of a more commercially viable prototype for a zero carbon home , there has long been both buzz and confusion surrounding Britain’s future housing plans. Last year, Lloyd explained that the
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