MIT team makes progress toward goal of inexpensive grid-scale batteries that could help make intermittent renewable energy sources viable. CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(ENEWSPF)–February 14, 2012. The biggest drawback to many real or proposed sources of clean, renewable energy is their intermittency: The wind doesn’t always blow, the sun doesn’t always shine, and[Read More…]
Environmental
‘Storm of the Century?’ Try ‘Storm of the Decade’
With climate change, today’s ‘100-year floods’ may happen every three to 20 years, according to new research. CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(ENEWSPF)–February 14, 2012. Last August, Hurricane Irene spun through the Caribbean and parts of the eastern United States, leaving widespread wreckage in its wake. The Category 3 storm whipped up water levels,[Read More…]
Productive Farms Can Be ‘Greener Than Organic’
UNITED KINGDOM–(ENEWSPF)–14 February 2012. Farms that aim for high food production using environmentally-friendly practices could be better for the environment than both organic and conventional farms. A study, led by Oxford University scientists, compared the environmental impact of different farming systems. The researchers found that ‘integrated’ farms that maximised crop[Read More…]
French Court Finds Monsanto Guilty of Pesticide Poisoning
Washington, DC–(ENEWSPF)–February 14, 2012. A French court has found U.S. chemical giant Monsanto Co. guilty of pesticide poisoning in the case of a French farmer who became ill after exposure to one of the company’s herbicides, according to Reuters. The case is significant in that it sets precedent for other[Read More…]
Green Groups Send Half-Million+ Keystone XL Anti-Valentines to Congress
WASHINGTON–(ENEWSPF)–February 14, 2012. Green groups have exceeded their goal to generate a half million messages opposing the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The messages oppose a Senate effort to overrule the President’s denial of the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. The goal was eclipsed in the first six hours[Read More…]
EPA Sued for Failure to Issue Air Pollution Standards
Dangerous levels of soot particles cause thousands of deaths each year Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–February 14, 2012. The American Lung Association and the National Parks Conservation Association today filed a federal lawsuit to force the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to complete the required review of the need for stronger limits on the[Read More…]
Sierra Club, Earthjustice To Sue Homer City Generating Station for Air Pollution in Violation of Clean Air Act
Homer City, PA–(ENEWSPF)–February 13, 2012. The Sierra Club and Earthjustice released a Notice of Intent to Sue the Homer City Generating Station, a coal-fired power plant, today on the grounds that the Homer City plant has violated the Clean Air Act. The Sierra Club also released new air pollution modeling[Read More…]
Feds Approve Unsafe New Nuclear Reactors Requiring Billions of Taxpayer Dollars
Dissenting NRC chairman says approval amounts to acting ‘as if Fukushima never happened’ Washington, D.C.—(ENEWSPF)—February 14, 2012. Despite the opposition of its chair, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last Thursday approved the first new construction of a new design of nuclear reactor since the Three Mile Island nuclear disaster in 1979.[Read More…]
40 Groups Call on Supporters to Oppose Keystone XL
24-hour Push Seeks Half a Million Petitions Against Climate-killing Pipeline TUCSON, Ariz.–(ENEWSPF)–February 13 – The Center for Biological Diversity joined more than 40 other environmental groups across the country today in a massive, 24-hour effort to express public opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline. The campaign aims to gather 500,000[Read More…]
ESA’s New Vega Launcher Scores Success on Maiden Flight
EU–(ENEWSPF)–13 February 2012. Liftoff of Vega VV01. PR 3 2012 – Vega, ESA’s new launch vehicle, is ready to operate alongside the Ariane 5 and Soyuz launchers after a successful qualification flight this morning from Europe’s Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. With Vega extending the family of launchers available at[Read More…]
