Climate Technology
All Stories
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Don’t Mess With Texas — Unless You’re Buying the Hot Dogs
Texas chemical plants cause problems for nearby residents The Houston Chronicle is running an investigative series on chemical plants and their effects on nearby residents, and it ain’t pretty. There’s a fair bit of evidence suggesting that companies dramatically underreport their annual emissions. On top of that, accidental leaks — or what the industry calls […]
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Dirty Pretty Things
Two major cosmetic companies will omit harmful chemicals from products Revlon Inc. and L’Oreal USA have pledged to follow the European Union’s relatively strict new anti-toxics rule in formulating their perfumes, hair dyes, makeup, and other products for sale in the U.S. The two companies were convinced to take the step by San Francisco’s Breast […]
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Uncritical Mass
Anti-nuke opposition muted even as U.S. nuclear industry expands Opponents of nuclear power in the U.S. have been having a rough time of late attracting attention to their cause, even as the nuclear-power industry gears up to build five new reactors by 2015 and as many as 50 by 2050, with enthusiastic backing from the […]
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Buy the Balls
Inauguration funded by industry; cynics jump to conclusions Yesterday we reported on an interview in which President Bush said that nuclear energy answers the “environmental issue” and the “dependency issue.” Turns out it also partially answers the “incredibly expensive inauguration issue.” The Nuclear Energy Institute, a lobbying group, is coughing up $100,000 for the lavish […]
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Non-Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones
EPA finds possible risks in Teflon, will study further The U.S. EPA yesterday released the preliminary results of its inquiry into the health effects of a chemical used in making Teflon, saying it found “a potential risk of developmental and other adverse effects” but also that there are “significant uncertainties” in its assessment. The agency […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Re-Bay
eBay joins tech companies to launch electronics recycling program Wondering what to do with that old Commodore 64 or Macintosh II gathering dust in your basement? According to an eBay survey, you’re not alone — some 50 percent of American households have unwanted PCs in storage. That’s why the online auction giant has launched an […]
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Father of the Bribe
Monsanto agrees to pay $1.5 million in penalties for Indonesian bribes When agrochemical giant Monsanto’s bid to introduce genetically modified cotton to Indonesia was met with widespread protests from farmers and activists, it bribed a government official in order to avoid having an environmental impact study conducted on its GM crop. Yesterday Monsanto agreed to […]
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The Next Asbestos Thing
Specter pushing asbestos-claims bill that would create trust fund Amid a continuing flood of lawsuits against the allegedly cancer-causing asbestos industry, the new chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), has drafted a bill to try to stem the flow. Specter’s legislation would establish a trust fund into which asbestos companies would pay […]
