Tuesday, 13 Feb 2007

Y'all Go Away Now, Y'Hear?

Texans rally to stop coal-fired power plants

Some 1,000 fired-up citizens gathered at the Texas Capitol on Sunday to oppose proposals for up to 18 new coal-fired power plants in the state. The protest, organized by about 40 environmental and health groups, attracted greens, businessfolk, and people who like breathing. Much ire has been focused on energy giant TXU, which has a $10 billion proposal to build 11 plants, more than doubling its carbon dioxide emissions to 133 million tons annually. TXU has sent free kiss-ass breakfast tacos to legislators and told the public that new coal plants would burn 80 percent cleaner than current ones, but activist Paul Rolke is not convinced. "Twenty years from now, we'll look back and say, 'Geez, why did we build a bunch of century-before-last technology when we were right on the cusp of a better way to make electricity?'" he says. A regulatory hearing for TXU's permits will be held later this month, and state legislators will soon meet to consider a temporary coal-plant moratorium.


"If the green job market is so hot," asks one frustrated jobseeker, "why can't I find a job?" Could columnist Kevin Doyle of the Environmental Careers Organization have been wrong about his assertion that environmental careers are on the rise? Doyle lets the crestfallen applicant down gently, stands by his belief in the surge, and offers seven possible reasons why green job searches can stall out.

Chow Pain

Faced with contaminated food, Chinese shoppers pony up for organics

Got a hankering for lard made from sewage and industrial oil? Look no further than the mean streets of China's cities. Such "fake food," along with real food contaminated by pollution and pesticides, is showing up on shelves -- and turning the stomachs of urban denizens. As a result, according to state-conducted research, more than 60 percent of China's 562 million city dwellers are willing to pay more for food certified as safe or organic. Two national standards -- an organic rule adopted in April 2005 and a 17-year-old "green" rule that limits pesticide and chemical use -- help shoppers sort through the muck. "There's going to be a bill for the choices we make," said organic convert Song Guangxiong. "It's pretty expensive, but I think it's worth the money." So do companies cashing in on the trend, including -- wait for it -- Wal-Mart, which began selling organics in its 71 stores in China in 2005 and has seen sales skyrocket over the last year. Luckily, they always keep prices lo.

See, We'll Be Fine

Research shows carbon dioxide sinks deeper into oceans than estimated

Researchers have long known that the world's oceans absorb some of the excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. It's a boon and a bane, helping to stem the tide of climate change while causing acidification that hurts Nemo and friends. But new research shows that carbon is going deeper than previously thought, making the situation both boonier and banier. According to Douglas Wallace of Germany's University of Kiel, scientists had estimated that human-made CO2 wasn't found at depths below 2,500 meters, or about 8,200 feet, in the North Atlantic. But now he and his colleagues have found it as deep as 5,000 meters, comparing samples gathered in 2004 with those gathered at the same sites in 1981. The situation may be different in the world's southern seas. But one thing is clear, says Ken Caldeira of the Carnegie Institution: "When human activities start impacting remote parts of the planet, it's a wake-up call that we are interfering in our planet's functioning on a very large scale."

Biz, Biz, Oh What a Relief It Is

M.B.A. students increasingly required to take courses in sustainability

We can't say finance, accounting, and marketing get our rocks off, but we're jazzed about a growing trend: 54 percent of U.S. business schools require students to take a class in sustainability or corporate social responsibility, a jump of 20 percent since 2001. At MIT's Sloan School of Management, one popular course examines how the positives of free-market capitalism might be integrated with more sustainable corporate practices. "We thought it would be popular among a niche of do-gooders, but even the investment banker types are interested," says class co-designer Richard Locke. The trend isn't specific to the U.S., either -- the Indian Institute of Management in Lucknow offers a course that educates students on the ins and outs of carbon markets. Global warming is "in the forefront of [M.B.A. students'] minds," says Mark Zupan, business school dean at the University of Rochester. This is totally going to ruin environmentalists' grand scheme to wreck the economy and pour patchouli on the ashes.