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Cool's Out for Summer
2006 is already setting heat records |
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17 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Cool's Out for Summer 2006 is already setting heat records January to June 2006 was the warmest first half of the year in the continental U.S. since record-keeping began in 1895, and the sixth-warmest in the world as a whole, according to the National Climatic Data Center. Alaska, far eastern Europe, and parts of Russia posted cooler-than-average temperatures, but the rest of the Northern Hemisphere was right toasty. The U.S. average temperat ... |
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| Topics: climate, news (all these topics) |
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Perc o' Late
EPA will require residential dry cleaners to phase out toxic solvent |
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17 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Perc o' Late EPA will require residential dry cleaners to phase out toxic solvent Dry cleaners in residential buildings must phase out use of the toxic solvent perchloroethylene by 2020, under new U.S. EPA regulations. About 28,000 dry cleaners use perc, but only 1,300 of them will be affected by the new ruling. As old machines wear out, dry cleaners must replace them with non-perc machines. Health risks to nearby residents may be &qu ... |
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| Topics: news, toxics, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Ooh, That Fiddle Sounds Pretty
G8 leaders dither on energy issues |
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17 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Ooh, That Fiddle Sounds Pretty G8 leaders dither on energy issues The G8 industrial nations met in St. Petersburg this weekend, focusing on energy security. They agreed to ... nothing. Said the group statement: "We recognize that G8 members pursue different ways to achieve energy security and the goals of climate protection." You could say that. The U.S. and U.K. are strongly pro-nuclear power, and Germany is str ... |
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| Topics: climate, energy, news, politics (all these topics) |
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Varmint Cong
Organic farmers in Colorado ask state to blast rodents out of their holes |
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14 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Varmint Cong Organic farmers in Colorado ask state to blast rodents out of their holes They say life imitates art, but until now, life had stubbornly refused to imitate Caddyshack. Behold! Organic farmers in Colorado have asked the state Division of Wildlife to look into controlling prairie dogs and other burrowing critters by ... blowing them up. Why? Because, in the immortal words of Carl Spackler, "a varmint will never qui ... |
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| Topics: Colorado, news, wildlife (all these topics) |
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Lawn Gone
Homeowners rethink their water-sucking lawns |
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14 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Lawn Gone Homeowners rethink their water-sucking lawns A "delawning" movement is sprouting up around the U.S., as a handful of homeowners switch from resource-intensive grassy green expanses to drought-tolerant, native, and/or edible gardens. "It's about shifting ideas of what's beautiful," says Fritz Haeg, an L.A. architect whose Edible Estates project transforms front yards into fruit and vegetable gard ... |
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| Topics: California, green living, news (all these topics) |
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Big Brother Knows Best
House bill would keep states from setting tough toxics rules |
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14 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Big Brother Knows Best House bill would keep states from setting tough toxics rules House Republicans are pushing legislation that would keep states from setting standards for pesticides and health-threatening industrial chemicals that are more stringent than federal regulations. If passed, the bill could nullify a California ban on brominated fire retardants, for example, and restrictions in San Francisco that ... |
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| Topics: California, news, politics, toxics, US EPA (all these topics) |
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Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness -- Well, One Out of Three Ain't Bad
The happiest nations are not the high-consuming ones, survey says |
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13 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness -- Well, One Out of Three Ain't Bad The happiest nations are not the high-consuming ones, survey says A new Happy Planet Index supports the cliché that money can't buy happiness. The New Economics Foundation, a British think tank, looked at 178 countries' consumption levels, life expectancy, and happiness, and concluded that people can live long, happy lives without sucking up ... |
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| Topics: green living, news, United Kingdom (all these topics) |
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Beleaguered of Nations
Britain pledges to involve poor countries in fighting climate change |
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13 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Beleaguered of Nations Britain pledges to involve poor countries in fighting climate change Climate change ain't gonna be pretty for any of us, but it will have an especially devastating impact on Africa: more extreme weather patterns will cause food insecurity, income loss, higher death rates, and more diseases. Calling the impacts of climate change on poor nations "a global ethical challenge," British Sec ... |
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| Topics: Africa, climate, news, United Kingdom (all these topics) |
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We Hope the Russians Love Their Tube Worms Too
Russians plan to drill into untouched Antarctic lake |
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13 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| We Hope the Russians Love Their Tube Worms Too Russians plan to drill into untouched Antarctic lake The world's seventh-largest freshwater lake is locked under a giant Antarctic ice sheet and has never been exposed to human contact -- but Russian scientists have drilled within 425 feet of it, and, despite pleas from scientists and environmentalists, intend to drill in all the way over the next two sum ... |
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| Topics: Antarctica, lakes, mining and drilling, news, Russia (all these topics) |
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It'll Coast Ya
Senate hammers out compromise on offshore drilling |
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13 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| It'll Coast Ya Senate hammers out compromise on offshore drilling GOP leaders in the Senate unveiled a compromise yesterday that would allow offshore oil and gas drilling in the eastern and southern Gulf of Mexico, but protect waters within 125 miles of the Florida coast until 2022 and keep the drilling ban that's been in place in most of the rest of the country's offshore waters. Hoping to attract mo ... |
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| Topics: Florida, mining and drilling, news, oceans, politics (all these topics) |
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Take a Road Off, Arnie
Schwarzenegger asks feds to protect roadless national forests in California |
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12 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Take a Road Off, Arnie Schwarzenegger asks feds to protect roadless national forests in California California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) today asked the feds to keep all 4.4 million roadless acres of national forest in his state off-limits to logging, road-building, and other development. President Bush in 2004 canceled President Clinton's rule protecting roadless national-forest areas; now it ... |
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| Topics: Arnold Schwarzenegger, California, national forests, news (all these topics) |
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Dioxin Another Day
EPA should reassess dioxin risk, science panel says |
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12 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Dioxin Another Day EPA should reassess dioxin risk, science panel says The U.S. EPA may be overestimating the cancer-causing risk of the chemical dioxin at very low doses, and should crunch the numbers in new ways before setting a cleanup standard, says a research council from the National Academy of Sciences. The EPA published a draft report on dioxin in 2003 indicating that the level of dioxin exposure ... |
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| Topics: National Academy of Sciences, news, toxics, US EPA (all these topics) |
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What's Up, Dock?
San Francisco aims to provide plug-in power to docked cruise ships |
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12 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| What's Up, Dock? San Francisco aims to provide plug-in power to docked cruise ships As San Francisco completes a new cruise-ship terminal, it plans also to build a facility to provide electric power to docked ships. Shoreside power -- in effect, extension cords that plug idling ships into hydro- and solar-generated electricity -- could reduce harmful emissions from the ships by up to 80 percent, said San Fra ... |
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| Topics: air pollution, California, news, San Francisco (all these topics) |
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The Gospel According to Nuke
Britain's new energy policy calls for more nukes as well as renewables |
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12 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| The Gospel According to Nuke Britain's new energy policy calls for more nukes as well as renewables Surprising no one, the British government yesterday unveiled a pro-nuclear energy policy. Trade and Industry Secretary Alistair Darling defensively told Parliament that the challenges of global warming and energy self-sufficiency "are so great that we cannot afford to rule out any low-carbon energy source that could ... |
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| Topics: news, nuclear power, United Kingdom (all these topics) |
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Putting Green
Venerable golf group launches sustainability campaign |
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11 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Putting Green Venerable golf group launches sustainability campaign It's easy to vilify golfers -- really! try it! -- but we've gotta give them credit: some 2,000 golf courses in 100 countries have joined a campaign that urges them to use less water, plant drought-tolerant grasses, cut out pesticides, and replace sand with recycled glass. This campaign for sustainable golf is being driven by Britain's 250-year-old Royal and Ancient ... |
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| Topics: news, outdoor recreation (all these topics) |
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Hap, Hap, Hooray!
Snowmobilers and enviros craft compromise plan for wilderness in California |
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11 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Hap, Hap, Hooray! Snowmobilers and enviros craft compromise plan for wilderness in California A deal to set aside thousands of acres of wilderness near Yosemite National Park has been crafted by an odd alliance of snowmobilers, greens, and local officials. By agreeing to stay off 40,000 acres of public land, snowmobilers would receive unfettered winter access to 11,000 acres nearby. " ... |
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| Topics: California, national parks, news, outdoor recreation, wilderness (all these topics) |
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Range of Notion
Grass banks aim to protect prairies and help ranchers |
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11 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Range of Notion Grass banks aim to protect prairies and help ranchers Hoping to preserve both the prairie and the livelihoods of ranchers, green groups like The Nature Conservancy have created "grass banks" by buying up land and allowing ranchers to graze there for cheap. In exchange, ranchers agree to conserve habitat on their own land for ferrets, curlews, and other species. The New Mexico- ... |
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| Topics: land stewardship, Nature Conservancy, news, ranching (all these topics) |
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Aw, Shucks
Ethanol ain't all it's cracked up to be, new study says |
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11 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Aw, Shucks Ethanol ain't all it's cracked up to be, new study says A new study casts serious doubt on ethanol's status as a green wonder-fuel. In the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers lay out a series of grim findings about corn-based biofuel. Runoff from large-scale corn cultivation contaminates waterways with nitrogen, phosphorus, and pesticides. As a motor fuel, corn-based ethanol g ... |
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| Topics: food and agriculture, news, water pollution (all these topics) |
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Outstripped
Demand for organics outpacing local supply |
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10 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Outstripped Demand for organics outpacing local supply With demand for organic food soaring in the U.S. and U.K., manufacturers of organic products are struggling to find adequate supplies of organic ingredients and are increasingly looking and buying abroad. While exporters like Australia welcome the trend, it creates a dilemma for many organic enthusiasts, who also tend to support lo ... |
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| Topics: Australia, food and agriculture, news, United Kingdom, United States (all these topics) |
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So Near, Yet Sonar
Deal lets Navy make limited use of sonar in exercises off Hawaii |
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10 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| So Near, Yet Sonar Deal lets Navy make limited use of sonar in exercises off Hawaii A temporary ban on Navy sonar use has been lifted, after the Navy agreed to take steps to protect whales in return for the dropping of a lawsuit by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The Navy is in the midst of the world's largest naval war exercise near Hawaii; for the remainder of the exercise, mid-frequency active sonar will be ... |
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| Topics: Hawaii, news, NRDC, oceans, US Navy (all these topics) |
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Cry of Newt and Woe of Frog
World's amphibians in big trouble, experts warn |
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10 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Cry of Newt and Woe of Frog World's amphibians in big trouble, experts warn The world's amphibians could go extinct. All of them. Soon. So warned 50 amphibian experts from around the globe in the journal Science on Friday. Along with the same-old, same-old threats of habitat destruction, pollution, pesticides, UV radiation, and invasive species, amphibians are being wiped out by a rapidly spreading fungal disease. Climate change has made fro ... |
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| Topics: news, wildlife (all these topics) |
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One Minute to Midnight
Bush plans nuke deal with Russia; G8 to spread nuclear power worldwide |
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10 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| One Minute to Midnight Bush plans nuke deal with Russia; G8 to spread nuclear power worldwide On the eve of next weekend's meeting of the G8 -- where developed nations will unveil an ironically named "global energy security" plan that would expand nuclear-power technology across the globe -- the U.S. will announce a deal with Russia that would allow broad cooperation between the two countries' civilian ... |
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| Topics: news, nuclear power, Russia, United States (all these topics) |
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C'est Fin
Sushi popularity means bad news for tuna, WWF warns |
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07 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| C'est Fin Sushi popularity means bad news for tuna, WWF warns The popularity of sushi is sending tuna stocks into a downward spiral, says the World Wildlife Fund, warning that Mediterranean and eastern Atlantic bluefin tuna will go extinct if commercial fishers continue hooking them at current rates. "The fishery is running out of control," WWF says in a new report. To keep ... |
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| Topics: Atlantic Ocean, marine life, Mediterranean, news, World Wildlife Fund (all these topics) |
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Place Invaders
A warming Antarctica is threatened by invasive species |
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07 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Place Invaders A warming Antarctica is threatened by invasive species As more tourists and researchers head to Antarctica -- gotta see that ice before it's gone! -- scientists are worrying about a different sort of invasion: flora and fauna. "The more individuals of an alien species or nonnative species get there, the more likely something will be able to establish and live there," says invasive-species researcher Maj ... |
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| Topics: Antarctica, news, wildlife (all these topics) |
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Candid Cameron
Tories and Labor swap positions on nuclear power in U.K. |
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07 Jul 2006 |
Daily Grist |
| Candid Cameron Tories and Labor swap positions on nuclear power in U.K. In an interesting switcheroo, the U.K.'s Conservative Party, pro-nuclear in the past, and Prime Minister Tony Blair, skeptical of nuclear in the past, have flip-flopped. Blair this week all but promised to build new nuclear power plants to replace old ones set to go out of commission. Meanwhile, Conservative leader David Cameron declared nuclear pow ... |
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| Topics: news, nuclear power, United Kingdom (all these topics) |
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