Grist
Environmental news from GRIST MAGAZINE
<http://grist.org>
1. BABY, YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR -- IN 2010
Lots more hybrids and hydrogen cars in the pipeline We begin with a public service announcement: Quit driving so damn much. Ride your bike. Take a bus. Walk. OK, with that out of the way, we turn to auto news, which is plentiful. Ford announced it would add four new hybrids to its lineup, at least one by the end of the year. GM announced that it would add two, both SUVs. GM also made a splash by unveiling the Sequel, a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered car with a range of 300 miles, something of a milestone in the hydrogen car biz. The company claims mass-produced fuel-cell vehicles could be available to everyday consumers by 2010. Honda is offering its fuel-cell FCX to some U.S. municipal fleets; Ford will make fuel-cell buses for the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Ford's Mary Ann Wright describes the auto tech "frenzy" as a response to "a groundswell, not really of industry pushing as much as everybody demanding that we really get serious about these solutions. ... The public is aware that we can't continue to consume oil like we do."
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, John O'Dell, 10 Jan 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3968>
straight to the source: The New York Times, Danny Hakim, 09 Jan 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3967>
straight to the source: The Washington Post, Greg Schneider, 09 Jan 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3969>
2.HOW GREEN IS MY VALLEY
Silicon Valley gets excited about clean-energy tech Rising oil prices and increasing competition from fast-developing countries like China have some energy entrepreneurs in California's tech-savvy Silicon Valley increasingly excited about the potential of good ol' American ingenuity to curb the world's addiction to fossil fuels -- and make a buck doing it. Companies like SunPower are working to make solar panels among the most efficient in the world, and Genencor expects to be able to make clean-burning plant-derived ethanol competitive with gasoline in three to five years. Bob Epstein, founder of Environmental Entrepreneurs, a Silicon Valley clean-technology group, sees the biggest promise for California companies in biofuels -- "solv[ing] the problem of how to efficiently convert energy from plant material." Venture capitalists are also seeing promise in clean-energy development, with 2.4 percent of capital investment in the U.S. last year going toward clean energy, up from 0.8 percent in 1999.
straight to the source: San Jose Mercury News, Matt Marshall, 09 Jan 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3970>
3.WHERE'S HORTON WHEN YOU NEED HIM?
Natural disasters boon, bust for marine animals The latest in grim tsunami news comes via Sri Lankan sea-turtle researcher Kithsiri Kannangara, whose turtle hatchery was completely wiped out by the enormous waves, which have produced more tragedies than the ancient Greeks. In addition to a large leatherback turtle, seven rare green turtles, and some $500,000 worth of equipment, Kannangara lost 20,000 turtle eggs, set to hatch the day of the tsunami. And, in more bad tidings for the now-even-more-endangered reptiles, conservationists worry about destruction of the sandy Indian Ocean beaches many sea turtles use for nesting. If you're eager for some disaster-related news that doesn't make you want to gouge your eyes out, we offer this tidbit: Florida biologists say last year's unusually busy hurricane season may have been a boon for manatees living in coastal waters. The four hurricanes that hit the Sunshine State over a period of six weeks kept the manatees' usual No. 1 predator -- boaters -- off the water and unable to strike the large, slow-moving mammals, keeping the number of boat deaths at its lowest since 1998.
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Reuters, Arjuna Wickramasinghe, 07 Jan 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3963>
straight to the source: St. Petersburg Times, Craig Pittman, 06 Jan 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3964>
<http://grist.org>
1. BABY, YOU CAN DRIVE MY CAR -- IN 2010
Lots more hybrids and hydrogen cars in the pipeline We begin with a public service announcement: Quit driving so damn much. Ride your bike. Take a bus. Walk. OK, with that out of the way, we turn to auto news, which is plentiful. Ford announced it would add four new hybrids to its lineup, at least one by the end of the year. GM announced that it would add two, both SUVs. GM also made a splash by unveiling the Sequel, a hydrogen fuel-cell-powered car with a range of 300 miles, something of a milestone in the hydrogen car biz. The company claims mass-produced fuel-cell vehicles could be available to everyday consumers by 2010. Honda is offering its fuel-cell FCX to some U.S. municipal fleets; Ford will make fuel-cell buses for the Dallas-Fort Worth airport. Ford's Mary Ann Wright describes the auto tech "frenzy" as a response to "a groundswell, not really of industry pushing as much as everybody demanding that we really get serious about these solutions. ... The public is aware that we can't continue to consume oil like we do."
straight to the source: Los Angeles Times, John O'Dell, 10 Jan 2005
<http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3968>
straight to the source: The New York Times, Danny Hakim, 09 Jan 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3967>
straight to the source: The Washington Post, Greg Schneider, 09 Jan 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3969>
2.HOW GREEN IS MY VALLEY
Silicon Valley gets excited about clean-energy tech Rising oil prices and increasing competition from fast-developing countries like China have some energy entrepreneurs in California's tech-savvy Silicon Valley increasingly excited about the potential of good ol' American ingenuity to curb the world's addiction to fossil fuels -- and make a buck doing it. Companies like SunPower are working to make solar panels among the most efficient in the world, and Genencor expects to be able to make clean-burning plant-derived ethanol competitive with gasoline in three to five years. Bob Epstein, founder of Environmental Entrepreneurs, a Silicon Valley clean-technology group, sees the biggest promise for California companies in biofuels -- "solv[ing] the problem of how to efficiently convert energy from plant material." Venture capitalists are also seeing promise in clean-energy development, with 2.4 percent of capital investment in the U.S. last year going toward clean energy, up from 0.8 percent in 1999.
straight to the source: San Jose Mercury News, Matt Marshall, 09 Jan 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3970>
3.WHERE'S HORTON WHEN YOU NEED HIM?
Natural disasters boon, bust for marine animals The latest in grim tsunami news comes via Sri Lankan sea-turtle researcher Kithsiri Kannangara, whose turtle hatchery was completely wiped out by the enormous waves, which have produced more tragedies than the ancient Greeks. In addition to a large leatherback turtle, seven rare green turtles, and some $500,000 worth of equipment, Kannangara lost 20,000 turtle eggs, set to hatch the day of the tsunami. And, in more bad tidings for the now-even-more-endangered reptiles, conservationists worry about destruction of the sandy Indian Ocean beaches many sea turtles use for nesting. If you're eager for some disaster-related news that doesn't make you want to gouge your eyes out, we offer this tidbit: Florida biologists say last year's unusually busy hurricane season may have been a boon for manatees living in coastal waters. The four hurricanes that hit the Sunshine State over a period of six weeks kept the manatees' usual No. 1 predator -- boaters -- off the water and unable to strike the large, slow-moving mammals, keeping the number of boat deaths at its lowest since 1998.
straight to the source: MSNBC.com, Reuters, Arjuna Wickramasinghe, 07 Jan 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3963>
straight to the source: St. Petersburg Times, Craig Pittman, 06 Jan 2005 <http://grist.org/cgi-bin/forward.pl?forward_id=3964>
posted by T. Scott Brineman at 8:02 AM
1 Comments:
But what can I do???? I'm just one Man!
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