Friday, 10 Aug 2007

A Jolly Good Rockefeller

Rockefeller Foundation offers climate aid to Asia, Africa

Comin' on over to the dirty-hippie side, the Rockefeller Foundation has announced an investment of $70 million over the next five years to help communities in Asia and Africa withstand the effects of climate change. The foundation will focus on developing adaptation strategies for affected populations, and, admirably sidestepping the blame game, will not hinge the assistance on nations' plans (or lack thereof) for limiting greenhouse-gas emissions. "Emissions mitigation is fantastically important, but that is about changing behavior relative to future climate change," says foundation president Judith Rodin. "In the meantime, data and almost daily news reports show climate change is already happening." (Thanks for the shout-out, Jude!) The foundation's major goals include helping cities like Mumbai and Bangkok assess and mitigate flood risk, and assisting African farmers whose livelihood is at risk from drought.

Their Bark Is Worse For Our Blight

Decade-long study says trees may not be good at offsetting carbon

Step away from the vegetation, treehuggers, and find something else to embrace. New research finds that when it comes to offsetting greenhouse gases, trees may not be up to the challenge. For 10 years, Duke University researchers plied a stand of North Carolina loblolly pines with higher-than-normal levels of carbon dioxide; they found that the foliaged friends grew more than non-gassed trees, but did not consistently absorb significantly higher levels of CO2. "The responses are very variable according to how available other resources are -- nutrients and water -- that are necessary for tree growth," says researcher Heather McCarthy. "It's really not anywhere near the magnitude that we would really need to offset emissions." For tree planting to have a discernible offsetting effect under the conditions they tested, the amount of fertilizer required would impact groundwater quality at a level "intolerable to society," says project director Ram Oren. Sigh. Ocean-hugging, anyone?


In a daydreamy Friday kind of mood? Check out the head-to-toe eco-fashion ensemble we've put together. Warning: it's all ridiculously expensive, but it's still fun to ogle these items made from bottle caps, cell-phone buttons, organic cotton, and more. (And please, no shirty letters about consumption -- we know it's eeeeeeevil.)

That Sounds Perhaps Not So Clean

In need of a new solvent, dry cleaners turn to petroleum

As dry cleaners stop using the solvent perchloroethylene, a suspected carcinogen that's being phased out in California, New York, Toronto, and elsewhere, some are choosing a surprising replacement: petroleum-based solvents. Um ... what? Turns out petroleum was the solvent of choice in the industry's early years, until it was deemed too flammable (for real!), and was replaced by perc in the 1930s. But returning to it can be cheaper than installing entirely new "wet cleaning" systems that use less-harmful substances like water or carbon dioxide. And because it comes from the ground, some cleaners are even advertising it as "organic." Crying foul: organic advocates and other sensible people. "Technically, from a chemistry standpoint, it's organic," says Chris Tebbs, head of the International Drycleaners Congress. "But it's a little bit meaningless. Being honest about it, all solvents are toxic." Laughing all the way to the bank: ExxonMobil, one of the leading makers of the petro-solvent.


When is a school bus not a school bus? When it's a Big Green Bus, touring the country with a load of college students and recent graduates eager to spread the word about biofuels, energy, and anything else they can get people to talk about. Sarah van Schagen takes a peek inside the ride to find out more about how it works and where it's been.

Bring in the Reserves

Bush administration expands marine reserves off Southern California

Ending eight years of debate and study, the Bush administration yesterday announced the expansion of a network of marine reserves around Southern California's Channel Islands. The move permanently bans recreational fishing in an area of some 150 square miles; nearly 80 percent of the area remains open to sport and commercial angling, as well as surfing, scuba, swimming, sailing, and presumably other forms of recreation not beginning with "s." California had already established protection for 135 square miles of state-regulated ocean reserves in 2002; the new announcement expands reserves into federal waters. There's about 35 square miles of unprotected ocean between the two protected areas, but if state commissioners close the gaps as expected this fall, the network of marine reserves will be the largest in continental-U.S. waters. Bush is on a reserve roll: last summer, he set up the world's largest protected marine area northwest of Hawaii, which stretches a whopping 140,000 square miles.