Climate Cities
All Stories
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Make ’em Walk the Plank
Speaking of polluting ships, U.S. officials have recently uncovered a rash of illegal sludge dumping at sea, and they say it may only be the tip of the iceberg. A number of ships have been caught releasing tons of oily, toxic sludge that’s produced in their engine rooms, even as captains, crews, and corporate managers […]
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Paint Misbehavin’
Vexed by barnacles, algae, and other wee hitchhikers that attach themselves to the hulls of ships, the maritime industry has been fighting back with a paint that keeps hulls clean for one to five years by slowly releasing biocides that kill off unwanted organisms. Problem is, the critter-killing paint additives don’t stay put — they […]
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Spokes Person
Meanwhile, good news for those who entirely eschew the internal combustion engine: If a representative from Oregon gets his way, people who commute to work by bike will soon get a tax break. Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.), founder and chair of the bipartisan Congressional Bike Caucus, has biked to his Capitol Hill office for years; […]
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Down on the Farm
California’s budget crisis could wind up spurring sprawl. With the state tens of billions of dollars in the red, Gov. Gray Davis (D) is hoping to cut the $39 million per year that the state spends on the Williamson Act, which lets farmers pay lower taxes as long as they pledge to keep their land […]
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Wish Granite
Communities across New Hampshire are invoking the state’s Land and Community Heritage Investment Act to preserve open spaces, even though state funding for land conservation and historic preservation faces extreme pressure from a ballooning budget crisis. Under the terms of the act, New Hampshire matches local conservation funding efforts with state money — an offer […]
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Niceland
The world’s first commercial hydrogen filling station will make its debut next month in Iceland, the country where the hydrogen revolution is expected to first take root. Other hydrogen filling stations scattered around the globe are private or restricted, but starting April 24, the new Reykjavik station will open its doors to the public — […]
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Oinks Per Gallon
The waste from hundreds of thousands of hogs will soon be powering vehicle diesel engines if Smithfield Farms follows through on a plan announced Friday. Smithfield, the world’s largest hog producer, intends to build a $20 million waste-to-energy facility in southwestern Utah that will convert swine manure into biodiesel fuel, which burns more cleanly than […]
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Nobody Expected This Spanish Inquisition
Hundreds of thousands of Spanish citizens hit the streets of Madrid on Sunday to protest the national government’s poor handling of the Prestige oil tanker spill, which has been labeled the worst environmental disaster in the country’s history. Hundreds of chartered buses brought in protesters from Galicia, the region whose environment and economy have been […]
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Who Ya Gonna Call? Coast Busters!
The California legislature has passed a bill to alter the structure of the California Coastal Commission, thereby enabling the powerful board to continue regulating development along the state’s coast. Seven weeks ago, a state appeals court ruled that allowing the legislature to remove commissioners at will violated the state constitution’s mandate to maintain separation of […]
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London Bridge Is Clearing Up
Traffic in central London fell by roughly 25 percent Monday, the first day of a congestion-mitigation plan that was the controversial brainchild of Mayor Ken Livingstone. Under the plan, it costs about $8 per car to enter central London from 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., with steep penalties for those who don’t pay. About 80,000 […]
