Carmakers to get carbon credits for 'eco-innovation'

EurActiv.com, July 26, 2011

Car manufacturers will receive CO2 emissions credits if their new cars are fitted with approved 'eco-innovations' under legislation adopted by the European Commission yesterday (25 July).

The credits, for innovations that reduce carbon emissions, will be usable within the EU's emissions trading scheme (ETS). Brussels hopes that the move will nudge the automobile industry towards meeting the Union's goal of limiting CO2 emissions from new cars to an average of 130 grams/km by 2015, around one fifth below 2007 levels. Read more...

Recession contributes to air pollutant emissions decrease in 2009

EEA, July 27, 2011

Emissions of almost all main air pollutants fell across the EU-27 in 2009, according to the latest annual European Union air pollutant emission inventory report compiled by the European Environment Agency (EEA). Some pollutants decreased significantly compared to the previous year, with analysis showing economic recession to be an important factor in this reduction. The drop was most evident for sulphur oxides (SOx), with emissions falling by 21 % between 2008 and 2009. The annual EU-27 emission inventory reported to the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) Convention confirms a long-term trend of decline for most air pollutants.

Sulphur oxide (SO_x) emissions have fallen the most since 1990 (–80 %), followed by carbon monoxide (CO) (–62 %), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) (–55 %) and nitrogen oxides (NO_x)(–44 %). Read more...

Maritime countries agree first ever shipping emissions regulation

The Guardian, July 18, 2011


Countries have taken a first step towards reducing climate emissions from shipping with a global agreement to reduce energy use in new vessels from 2013 onwards. The belated action on Friday by 55 of the world's biggest sea-faring nations meeting at UN's international maritime organisation in London will force all ships over 400 tonnes built after 2013 to improve their efficiency by 10%, rising to 20% between 2020 and 2024 and 30% for ships delivered after 2024. The first ever regulation of emissions in shipping is expected to lead to greenhouse gas emission reductions of 45-50m tonnes a year by 2020. Read more...

Walgreens to Host 800 EV Charge Points; GM to Launch Smart Grid Pilot

Environmental Leader, July 22, 2011

Pharmacy chain Walgreens plans to offer electric vehicle charging stations at about 800 locations across the country by the end of the year, making it the nation’s largest charging station retail host.
In other electric vehicle news, General Motors and OnStar will this year launch what they say is the first real-world pilot of smart grid solutions for electric vehicles.
Read more...

EU revamps fishing policy to save depleted stocks

BBC News, July 13, 2011

The European Commission has unveiled major plans to reform the EU's fishing industry and stop catches being wasted. The proposal, due to take effect from 2013, would give fleets quota shares guaranteed for at least 15 years. "Discards" will be phased out - the practice whereby up to half the catch of some fish is thrown back into the sea to avoid going above the quota. The environmental group Oceana said the plan had "some positive" aspects but stronger measures were needed. It called the plan "an incomplete work that does not provide the urgently needed strong solutions to restore European seas and ensure the long-term sustainability of fishing". Read more...

Can the palm oil we eat ever be wildlife-friendly?

The Ecologist, July 12, 2011

Conservationists battling to save Indonesia's rainforests are locked in a dispute over moves to make oil palm plantations more wildlife-friendly. Tom Levitt reports. Read more...

Soil Microbes Accelerate Global Warming

ENN, July 13, 2011


ScienceDaily (July 13, 2011) — More carbon dioxide in the atmosphere causes soil to release the potent greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide, new research published in this week's edition of Nature reveals. "This feedback to our changing atmosphere means that nature is not as efficient in slowing global warming as we previously thought," said Dr Kees Jan van Groenigen, Research Fellow at the Botany department at the School of Natural Sciences, Trinity College Dublin, and lead author of the study. Read more...

Lego Drops APP Packaging After Greenpeace Campaign

Environmental Leader, July 15, 2011

Lego has bowed to pressure from Greenpeace, reportedly agreeing to drop supplier Asia Pulp and Paper, and the toy company says it will only use packaging material certified by the Forest Stewardship Council from now on. The environmental group last month accused Lego, Hasbro, Mattel and Disney of using packaging material sourced from trees cleared out of the Indonesian rainforest. Greenpeace pressed all the toy companies to stop buying paper products from APP – which the group called the worst forest offender in Indonesia – and any companies connected to APP. The non-profit also called on the companies to implement new sustainable procurement policies for purchase of all pulp and paper products. Read more...

France nuclear power funding gets 1bn euro boost

BBC News, June 27, 2011


France will invest 1bn euros (£0.8bn) in nuclear power despite warnings after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, President Nicolas Sarkozy says.The new investment will include a boost for research into nuclear safety. The French nuclear giant Areva is developing the fourth generation of reactors. France gets 80% of its electricity from nuclear power. Read more...

New Zealand right whale is returning home!

ENN, June 27, 2011

After being hunted to local extinction more than a century ago and unable to remember their ancestral calving grounds, the southern right whales of mainland New Zealand are coming home. A new study published today has shown for the first time that whales from a small surviving population around remote, sub-Antarctic islands have found their way back to the New Zealand mainland. Before the onslaught of 19th century whaling, historical records suggest that up to 30,000 of these impressive whales once migrated each winter to New Zealand's many sandy, well-protected bays to give birth and raise their calves. Read more...

Life Cycle Assessment of EVs Reveals Startling Results

TriplePundit, June 22, 2011


A number of articles published this week paint a negative picture of electric cars based on a British study published earlier this month. The study attempts a comparative life-cycle assessment (LCA) of conventional, hybrid and electric cars and prompted “downer” headlines such as, “Electric Cars May Not Be So Green After All” and “More Bad News For The Chevy Volt.”. The report was undertaken by consulting company, Ricardo and was released by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership on June 8th. And contrary to the above headlines, the press release was considerably more upbeat, stating: “Electric and hybrid cars create more carbon emissions during their production than standard vehicles – but are still greener overall”. Read more...

O όρυξ ο αραβικός επιστρέφει από το χείλος της εξαφάνισης

In.gr, 16 Ιουνίου 2011

Ο όρυξ της Αραβίας, ένα είδος αντιλόπης που πιστεύεται ότι ενέπνευσε τον μύθο του μονόκερου, έγινε ένα από τα λιγοστά ζώα που ανακάμπτουν στη φύση έπειτα από το σχεδόν ολοκληρωτικό αποδεκατισμό τους από τον άνθρωπο. Η IUCN (Διεθνής Ένωση για τη Διατήρηση της Φύσης), ο οργανισμός που εκδίδει την επίσημη Κόκκινη Λίστα των απειλούμενων ειδών, ανακοίνωσε την Πέμπτη ότι ο όρυξ μεταφέρεται από τη λίστα των «απειλούμενων» ειδών στη λίστα των «ευάλωτων». Η επιστροφή της θαυμαστής αντιλόπης στην Αραβική Χερσόνησο είναι το αποτέλεσμα ενός προγράμματος εκτροφής της σε αιχμαλωσία. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Recession and renewables cut greenhouse emissions in 2009

EEA, May 31, 2011

Greenhouse gas emissions decreased very sharply in 2009, by 7.1 % in the EU-27 and 6.9 % in the EU-15. These most recent results, compiled by the European Environment Agency (EEA), confirm estimates made by the EEA last year. This decrease was largely the result of the economic recession of 2009, but also sustained strong growth in renewable energy.Read more...

The 10 deadliest cities for pedestrians in the United States

Grist.org, May 24, 2011

Streets in the U.S. are designed not for people, but for cars. And it shows. From 2000 through 2009, some 47,700 pedestrians were killed by drivers. Transportation for America has released a new report and interactive map that shows which metro areas are deadliest. Read more...

On-line παιχνίδι ενεργειακής εξοικονόμησης

H ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ, 21 Μαΐου 2011


Ποιος είναι ο καλύτερος τρόπος να αλλάξoυμε τις «κακές» συνήθειες των παιδιών; Το παιχνίδι, φυσικά! Δεδομένου, μάλιστα, ότι τα δημοφιλέστερα παιχνίδια είναι πλέον τα ηλεκτρονικά, καταλαβαίνουμε, πώς το διαδικτυακό παιχνίδι enercities κέρδισε τις καρδιές πολλών μαθητών. Η διαδικτυακή εκπαιδευτική πύλη enercities πρόκειται για ένα παιχνίδι που απευθύνεται σε παιδιά με στόχο να τους μυήσει στα μυστικά της αειφόρου ανάπτυξης. To ζητούμενο είναι οι παίκτες να οικοδομήσουν μια βιώσιμη πόλη, προκειμένου να ανέβουν επίπεδα δυσκολίας, να συλλέξουν πόντους και εν τέλει να κερδίσουν! Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Το πρώτο απόλυτα «πράσινο» κτίριο έφτιαξαν Νοτιοκορεάτες

Ελευθεροτυπία, 20 Μαΐου 2011

Το πρώτο επαγγελματικής χρήσης κτίριο με μηδενική εκπομπή ρύπων και λειτουργία βασισμένη απόλυτα σε ανανεώσιμες πηγές ενέργειας, παρουσίασε σήμερα η Νότια Κορέα. Το έκτασης 2.500 τετραγωνικών μέτρων κτίριο που φιλοξενεί επιχειρήσεις, στο Ίντσιον, έξω από την πρωτεύουσα Σεούλ, κόστισε οκτώ εκατομμύρια δολάρια και εκμεταλλεύτηκε κάθε είδους τεχνολογία αιχμής προκειμένου να έχει το μίνιμουμ δυνατό αποτύπωμα στο περιβάλλον. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

First Pipeline-Fed Hydrogen Refueling Station Opens in the United States

ENN, May 11, 2011


May 10, Toyota celebrated the opening of the first pipeline-fed refueling station in the US. Located in Torrance, California, it is the first hydrogen station to be directly connected to an active industrial hydrogen pipeline. It will provide fuel for Toyota's as well as others fuel cell vehicle fleets in the Los Angeles area. The station is owned by Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), USA, Inc, and operated by Shell. The hydrogen pipeline is maintained by Air Products. Read more...

Climate change has spurred food prices

ENN, May 06, 2011



Climate change cut global wheat and corn output by more than 3 percent over the past three decades compared to growth projections without a rise in temperatures, a study found on Friday. The impacts translated into up to 20 percent higher average commodity prices, before accounting for other factors, according to the paper published in the journal Science. Read more...

Germany’s Unlikely Champion Of a Radical Green Energy Path

Yale 360, May 09, 2011

The disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan convinced German Chancellor Angela Merkel that nuclear power would never again be a viable option for her country. Now Merkel has embarked on the world’s most ambitious plan to power an industrial economy on renewable sources of energy. Read more...

Facing the Dirty Truth About Recyclable Plastics

Yale 360, May 05, 2011

The recyclable plastic bags you get at the green grocer are not biodegradable. But product life-cycle assessments, which are about to become more prominent in the marketplace, fail to consider whether those bags will break down in landfills or just end up as litter. Read more...

Ο Αµβρακικός κινδυνεύει να µετατραπεί σε «νεκρή θάλασσα»

ΤΑ ΝΕΑ, 09 Μαΐου 2011

«Συστηµατικές υποβρύχιες µετρήσειςµας στον Αµβρακικό έδειξανότι ο κόλπος κινδυνεύει να γίνει νεκρή θάλασσα. Κάτω από τα 35 µέτρα βάθος δεν υπάρχει καθόλου οξυγόνο τους καλοκαιρινούς µήνες, ενώ και στα 25 είναι ελάχιστο, µε µεγάλες συγκεντρώσεις µεθανίου. Το βαθυσκάφος µας έφερε στην επιφάνεια εφιαλτικές εικόνες του πυθµένα...». Τα νέα από τον βυθότου Αµβρακικού είναι ανησυχητικά. Επιστήµονες του Πανεπιστηµίου Πατρών είναι ξεκάθαροι γιατη διαφαινόµενη οικολογική καταστροφή. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Rhinos in Nepal increase in number

ENN, April 27, 2011

Nepal's rhinos are on the increase, according to recently released data from a three-week National Rhino Census in Nepal by WWF. There are now 534 rhinos in Nepal, marking an increase of 99 rhinos from the 435 recorded in the last census in 2008. Read more...

Πρωτάθλημα Εξοικονόμησης Ενέργειας (ΠΕΞΕ)

Intelligent Energy Europe

Το Πρωτάθλημα Εξοικονόμησης Ενέργειας (ΠΕΞΕ) είναι ένας διαγωνισμός νοικοκυριών από όλη την Ευρώπη, με στόχο τη μείωση των εκπομπών CO2. Μπορείτε να λάβετε και εσείς μέρος στο Πρωτάθλημα Εξοικονόμησης Ενέργειας (ΠΕΞΕ)! Η συμμετοχή είναι εύκολη και δεν απαιτεί καμία ειδική γνώση. Δημιουργήστε τώρα τον δικό σας Λογαριασμό Εξοικονόμησης Ενέργειας, κάνοντας κλικ εδώ .

Wolves Taken Off the US Endangered Species List

ENN News, April 14, 2011

For the first time ever, the US Congress has removed an animal from the Endangered Species List, a process typically done by a federal, non-political, science-based agency. The action by the US Congress sets a new precedent for altering the Endangered Species List based on political influence, enraging environmental groups. The removal would take effect in two western states that have known issues with wolves: Montana and Idaho. Wolves would now be managed by each state's wildlife agency, inevitably leading to commercial hunting. Read more...

Fewer penguins survive warming Antarctic climate

ENN News, April 12, 2011

Two of the most well-known penguin species in Antarctica -- chinstraps and Adelies -- are under pressure because a warmer climate has cut deeply into their main food source, shrimp-like creatures called krill. Fewer of the juvenile penguins survive what scientists call their "transition to independence" because there isn't enough krill to go around, according to a study published on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academic of Sciences.
The study found only 10 percent of young penguins survive the first independent trip back to their colonies from their winter habitat. Read more...

Motor boat turbulence kills zooplankton in estuaries

BBC News, April 19, 2011

Turbulence generated by speeding motor boats kills significant numbers of zooplankton, a study has revealed for the first time. Experiments on copepods, tiny crustaceans that live and float in water, show that a third die in waters frequented by propeller-driven boats. That is significantly more than in bodies of water not used by boats.
Zooplankton play a crucial role in water ecology and their death may have hitherto unknown impacts. Details of the discovery are published in the Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology. Read more...

Reversing roles, farmers sue Monsanto over GMO seeds

Grist, March 31, 2011

Genetically modified seed giant Monsanto is notorious for suing farmers [PDF] in defense of its patent claims. But now, a group of dozens of organic farmers and food activists have, with the help of the not-for-profit law center The Public Patent Foundation, sued Monsanto in a case that could forever alter the way genetically modified crops are grown in this country. But before you can understand why, it's worth reviewing an important, but underreported aspect of the fight over GMOs. Read more...

Call on Romanian politicians to vote against killing stray animals.

Call on politicians in Romania to vote against the draft bill which would legalise the extermination of stray dogs.
Unless something is done quickly a new law, due to be voted on in the Romanian parliament in the next few days, would clear the way for thousands of Romanian dogs to be destroyed over the next few months.
FOUR PAWS urges you to act now and help save the lives of thousands of stray animals! Send your letter of protest today! The bill will be discussed, debated and possibly even passed in the Romanian parliament on 12 April 2011.

https://www.secureconnect.at/4paws.org.uk/protest/110407/index.php 

World Bank proposes to limit funding to coal plants

ENN, April 5, 2011


Following years of criticism from environmentalists and some governments the World Bank has proposed new rules regarding carbon-intensive coal plants, reports the Guardian. The new rules would allow lending for coal-fired plants only to the world's poorest nations and would only lend after other alternatives, such as renewable energy, had been ruled out. Read more...

Garbage: To Burn or To Bury

 Renewable Energy World.com, March 29, 2011

Europe burns heaps of garbage, getting lots of electricity and some heat. The United States does not. Proponents say incineration shrinks the waste and produces heat and electricity while reducing the need for landfills and the diesel-drinking trucks tasked with taking trash to often-distant burial grounds.

These folks acknowledge that incinerators were rather dirty 25 years ago, but note that current air emissions are below Environmental Protection Agency standards. In a modern garbage incinerator, a complex set of filters removes heavy metals and other pollutants; high-temperature operation reduces the output of ultra-toxic dioxins.
On the other side, opponents say incinerators create global warming gases, still release toxins, divert money and attention from recycling, and tend to excuse extreme extravagance on the grounds that we can always turn our trash into energy. Read more...

Forget ‘Dark Green’ Shoppers – ‘New Consumers’ Will Drive Sustainability, Report Says

Environmental Leader, March 25, 2011

Brands can no longer rely on “dark green”, hyper-ethical consumers to drive the growth of sustainability, but must engage a broad swathe of consumers making up 30 percent of the market, according to new research.
Brand consulting firm BBMG said a group of 70 million shoppers branded “New Consumers”, making up 30 percent of the U.S. population, will help sustainable brands to enter the mainstream while forcing large brands to accelerate their adoption of environmental initiatives.
These shoppers are “values aspirational” because they are as interested in sustainability as the hard-core “dark green” consumers. But they are also “practical purchasers” because they are forced to make pragmatic trade-offs every day, according to the BBMG report, Unleashed: How New Consumers Will Revolutionize Brands and Scale Sustainability. Read more...

Google HQ Installs First Wireless Electric Car Charger

GreenTechies, March 23, 2011

The system is the first to offer consumers a simple way to charge their EVs with the ease of hands-free, automatic technology. Google is famous for giving the digital generation what it wants, so it only makes sense that the search giant would branch out into other technologies it feels are worth of its attention. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that they would already be dabbling in smart grid technologies, and positioning themselves to be a leader in the future of both energy creation and distribution. Read more...

Expanding Forests in the Northern Latitudes

ENN, March 23, 2011


According to a recent United Nations report, forested areas in Europe, North America, the Caucasus, and Central Asia have grown steadily over the past two decades. While tropical areas have steadily lost their forests to excessive logging and increased agriculture, northern areas have seen increases caused by conservation efforts. However, the long-term health and stability of northern forest lands may be imperiled by the effects of climate change. Read more...

Brussels wants no oil-fuelled cars in cities by 2050

EurActiv.com, March 23, 2011


The European Commission plans to step up its battle against oil- and gas-fuelled cars, and is drawing up strict targets to halve their urban usage by 2030 and "phase them out by 2050," according to an EU road map on transport to be published on Monday (28 March) and seen by EurActiv. These objectives will play an instrumental role in achieving the more comprehensive target of cutting CO2 emissions from transport by 60% by 2050. Currently, a quarter of EU greenhouse gas emissions come from transport.
The Commission is therefore proposing an ambitious plan which eyes significant reductions of emissions especially in road transport, while it intends to increase rail traffic, on the grounds that is by far cleaner and more environment-friendly.  Read more...

Valvoline Launches 50% Recycled Motor Oil

Environmental Leader, March 16, 2011

Valvoline has introduced a 50 percent recycled motor oil, which will be available at retailers and through participating installers and oil change centers.
The company said that its NextGen brand of motor oil cuts down on fossil fuel use, lowering emissions and helping to ensure that used oil doesn’t make its way into the water supplies. The new product takes advantage of the latest innovative manufacturing processes, Valvoline said, to offer superior engine protection while reducing environmental impacts. Read more...

News at the North Pole Ozone Layer

ENN, March 16, 2011

Unusually low temperatures in the Arctic ozone layer have recently initiated massive ozone depletion. The Arctic appears to be heading for a record loss of this trace gas that protects the Earth's surface against ultraviolet radiation from the sun. This result has been found by measurements carried out by an international network of over 30 ozone sounding stations spread all over the Arctic and Subarctic and coordinated by the Potsdam Research Unit of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in the Helmholtz Association in Germany. Read more...

Honeybee End?

ENN, March 11, 2011

The mysterious collapse of honey-bee colonies is becoming a global phenomenon. Declines in managed bee colonies, seen increasingly in Europe and the US in the past decade, are also now being observed in China and Japan and there are the first signs of African collapses from Egypt, according to the report from the United Nations. Beekeepers in Western countries have been reporting slow declines of stocks for many years, apparently due to impaired protein production, changes in agricultural practice, or unpredictable weather. Read more...

Eco-farming can double food output by poor: U.N.

Reuters, March 8, 2011

Many farmers in developing nations can double food production within a decade by shifting to ecological agriculture from use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, a U.N. report says.
Insect-trapping plants in Kenya and Bangladesh's use of ducks to eat weeds in rice paddies are among examples of steps taken to increase food for a world population that the United Nations says will be 7 billion this year and 9 billion by 2050. "Agriculture is at a crossroads," according to the study by Olivier de Schutter, the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the right to food, in a drive to depress record food prices and avoid the costly oil-dependent model of industrial farming. Read more...

Costco, Sodexo Make Sustainable Seafood Pledges

Environmental Leader, February 28, 2011


Food giants Sodexo and Costco have both committed to improve the sustainability of their seafood.Sodexo, the $21 billion food service company, has announced a goal for all its contracted seafood to be certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) or the Global Aquaculture Alliance’s Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) by 2015. Under the plan, Sodexo will review all wild caught and farm raised seafood purchases and set short, medium and long-term goals with its contracted seafood vendors. Read more...

Sea turtles' migration mystery is 'solved'

BBC News, February 25, 2011

Until now, how species such as loggerhead sea turtles manage to migrate thousands of miles across oceans with no visual landmarks has been a mystery.
Now researchers from the University of North Carolina believe they have found the answer. Loggerhead sea turtles appear to be able to determine their longitude using two sets of magnetic cues. It is the first time this ability has been shown in any migratory animal. This research is published in the journal Current Biology. Read more...

.Σκοτώνουν τους αργυροπελεκάνους

ΤΑ ΝΕΑ, 22 Φεβρουαρίου, 2011

Δύο ισχυρά πλήγµατα δέχτηκαν µέσα σε µία εβδοµάδα οι αποικίες του αργυροπελεκάνου σε δύο από τα µεγαλύτερα εθνικά πάρκα της Ελλάδας. Στη λίµνη Βιστωνίδα βρέθηκαν 28 νεκρά πουλιά χτυπηµένα από λαθροθήρες, ενώ στον Αµβρακικό Κόλπο άγνωστοι τα έδιωξαν και στη συνέχεια κατέστρεψαν τις φωλιές και τα αυγά τους. Οιεπιστήµονες τονίζουν την ανάγκη να ενταθούν τα µέτρα προστασίας του παγκόσµια απειλούµενου είδους πουλιού, την ώρα µάλιστα που το 10% του πληθυσµού του ζει στην Ελλάδα. Διαβάστε περισσότερα...

Serengeti World Heritage Site in Grave Danger as Tanzanian Government Moves Forward With Highway

Justmeans, February 13, 2011

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete directly contradicted his own government's study by claiming that a planned highway in the Serengeti National Park will not be the environmental disaster conservationists and scientists are claiming it to be. Speaking to the World Bank, President Kikwete gave the green light to the controversial highway project, saying that the "road to the south would not solve transport challenges of communities living on the northern side of the park." He once again claimed that "no tarmac road will be built through the Serengeti"-- an oft-cited statement designed to distract from the real issue at hand. Read more...

Climate science vs. climate economics

Grist, February 09, 2011

As I see it, there are two incommensurate stories being told about climate change. I'm not talking about the largely fake debate between those who say climate change is happening and human-driven (scientists) and those who say it isn't (the GOP). I'm talking about two different ways of envisioning what we can expect in a climate-changed future, both of which exist among people who take climate change seriously. Sometimes they take up residence in the same head! Like, er, mine. But they don't fit together very well. One comes to us from science, the other from economics. Read more...

Arctic Roamers: The Move of Southern Species into Far North

Yale 360, February 14, 2011

Grizzly bears mating with polar bears. Red foxes out-competing Arctic foxes. Exotic diseases making their way into once-isolated polar realms. These are just some of the worrisome phenomena now occurring as Arctic temperatures soar and the Arctic Ocean, a once-impermeable barrier, melts. Read more...

Ecuadorian Judge Hits Chevron with $8.6bn Ruling

Environmental Leader, February 15, 2011

Chevron has been slapped with an $8.6 billion penalty, in what is suspected to be the largest environmental fine in history – and the amount could double.
An Ecuadorian judge yesterday ordered Chevron to pay $8.6 billion to clean up oil pollution in the country’s rain forest, the Wall Street Journal reports. This includes $5.4 billion to restore polluted soil and $1.4 billion to create a community health system, plus $860 million to plaintiff coalition the Amazon Defense Front. Read more...

Read also: Chevron's Ecuador Fine `Unenforceable,' Analysts Say

H&M Unveils Recycled and Organic Fashion

Environmental Leader, February 11, 2011

H&M will debut a range of environmentally friendly fashion this spring, the retailer has announced.
The Conscious Collection, for men, women and children, is made from sustainable materials including organic and recycled fibers, H&M said. The collection will be on sale in all H&M stores from April 14.
Items in the collection will include blouses, tunics, T-shirts, dresses, skirts, blazers and trousers. These will be made from organic linen, polyester recycled from PET bottles and textile waste, and Tencel – which H&M describes as a “silky, renewable material produced with minimal environmental impact”. Read more...

Metal Toxins in LED Products

ENN, February 11, 2010


LED lighting is the newest, most efficient form of lighting to hit the markets. It blows away even the most efficient compact fluorescent bulb, and is therefore, a much more expensive option. However, the benefits to the environment from LED's efficiency come with another environmental cost. A new study from the University of California (UC) Irvine shows that LED bulbs contain lead, arsenic, and a dozen more potentially hazardous substances. Read more...

New Zealand scientists record 'biodiversity breakdown'

BBC News, February 4, 2011


Scientists in New Zealand say they have linked the modern-day decline of a common forest shrub with the local extinction of two pollinating birds over a century ago. They say the disappearance of two birds - the bellbird and stitchbird - from the upper North Island of the country has lead to a slow decline in common plants, including the forest shrub New Zealand gloxinia.
Ship rats and stoats imported into the country around the year 1870 are blamed for the birds' demise.
The researchers claim the study, published in the journal Science, offers rare experimental proof of a breakdown in a local ecosystem. Read more...

Nepal climate loan hit by opposition storm

BBC News, February 3, 2011

A loan to be provided by multilateral banks to help Nepal fight the impacts of climate change has kicked off a controversy after it invited criticism from civil societies and non-government organisations. They say it is not fair to burden an already climatically vulnerable country like Nepal with loans in the name of dealing with climatic changes. There are also some supporters of the loan, mainly from few government ministries who argue that the money is good for the country in the long run. But even within the government's administration, there are conflicting positions. Read more...

Brazil Approves Construction of the Belo Monte Dam Project

ENN, February 2, 2011


The proposed Belo Monte Dam in northern Brazil would be the third largest hydro-electric dam in the world in terms of electrical output. The dam would be 3.75 miles long and generate over 11,000 megawatts, which could power up to 23 million homes. Government officials say that the dam is an essential step in supplying energy to the nation's growing population. However, the project is rife with environmental conflicts. The project requires the clearing of 588 acres of Amazon jungle, the displacement of over 20,000 indigenous people, flooding a 193 square mile area, and drying up a 62 mile stretch of the Xingu River. Read more...

Sea Census Locates 1200 New Marine Species in World's Oceans

ENN, January 26, 2010

A newly concluded Census of Marine Life, covering most of the world's seas and oceans, has discovered over 1,200 new species of sea creatures. The ten year study, completed in October, 2010, was composed of 3,000 scientists from 80 countries, including a few from Israel, and cost $370 million USD. The study was the first of its kind to make a thorough census and categorization of sea creatures, ranging from the smallest micro-biological specimens to the largest fish and mammals. Read more...