Climate Technology
All Stories
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It’s My Way or No Highway?
The head of the U.S. EPA’s New England office has accused New Hampshire of failing to prepare for the environmental impact of the rapid population boom that is expected to follow the widening of Interstate 93, the main commuter highway connecting the state to Boston, Mass. New Hampshire plans to spend $18 million to ease […]
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Hurricane Hugo
If Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has his way, some developing nations will create an OPEC-like cartel to protect plants and animals from exploitation by the industrialized world. Speaking earlier this week at the close of the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Chavez said, “If these [developed] countries carry off a medical formula from some jungle […]
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Think Tanks
In another sign of the struggling automotive industry, Ford has abandoned a $123 million electric car venture known as Think. The company said it would instead invest in other alternative technologies, such as hybrid-electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cells. Ford is cutting the initiative despite a California mandate that auto manufacturers offer up to 100,000 […]
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To Market, to Market
Can capitalism and environmentalism go hand in hand? A new breed of financiers thinks so, and is making money by treating air pollution as a commodity. Here’s how it works: Companies are required to cut their emissions to a certain level; if they do better than those targets, they can sell pollution credits to other […]
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The Oriente Express
Native residents of the rainforests of Ecuador and Peru were dealt a blow late last week when the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied their petition to reopen litigation against the oil giant ChevronTexaco for devastating their environment and exposing them to carcinogenic pollutants. The court upheld an earlier ruling, which found that two […]
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Shell Game?
In addition to the environmentalists, politicians, and scientists who will gather next week in Johannesburg, South Africa, for the World Summit on Sustainable Development, another constituency will be amply represented — business interests. Many high-profile companies plan to use the summit to burnish their environmental images and make the case that principles and profits can […]
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Billy Clubbed
Speaking of the whims of a chief executive: Ford Motor Company is currently struggling to strike a balance between the company’s financial woes and the eco-friendly inclinations of CEO and Chair William Clay Ford, Jr. So far, the former seem to be winning out: In its latest corporate citizenship report, released this week, the company […]
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Green Eyeshades
Scared off by corporate accounting scandals and a year of bad economic indicators, big investors are starting to keep an eye out for other possible financial red flags — and the hidden risks associated with global warming are high on their lists. As increasing temperatures trigger environmental changes ranging from drought to rising sea levels, […]
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Catch As Quechua Can
Until recently, there were only two roads out of poverty for Ecuador’s Quechua people: cutting down the rainforest (thereby destroying habitat and soil fertility alike) or trading with warring factions in neighboring Colombia (thereby opening the door for that country’s violence to spread into Ecuador). Now there is a third, far better option: the Callari […]
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Choosy Administrations Choose GEF
The U.S. and 31 other countries pledged this week to allocate a total of $2.92 billion over four years to support the Global Environmental Facility, an international fund to promote clean and efficient energy, biodiversity protection, and water-restoration efforts in developing nations. The Bush administration contributed $500 million of that total, but is currently about […]
