http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/pollution/ en-us Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:34:51 GMT Focus Forum 15 http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2087967/posts The earth will warm about 2.4 degrees C (4.3 degrees F) above pre-industrial levels even under extremely conservative greenhouse-gas emission scenarios and under the assumption that efforts to clean up particulate pollution continue to be successful, according to a new analysis by a pair of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. That amount of warming falls within what the world's leading climate change authority recently set as the threshold range of temperature increase that would lead to widespread loss of biodiversity, deglaciation and other adverse consequences in nature. The researchers, writing in the online edition of... Terra Daily http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2087967/posts#comment Mon, 22 Sep 2008 21:34:51 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2085870/posts WASHINGTON (AP) -- At least 49 offshore oil platforms, all with production of less than 1,000 barrels a day, were destroyed by Hurricane Ike as it raced across the Gulf of Mexico, and some may not be rebuilt, the Interior Department said Thursday. It said in the latest hurricane damage assessment that the platforms altogether accounted for 13,000 barrels of oil and 84 million cubic feet of natural gas a day. There are more than 3,800 production platforms in the Gulf producing 1.3 million barrels of oil and 7 billion cubic feet of gas each day. Most remain shut down. GOPUSA http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2085870/posts#comment Fri, 19 Sep 2008 14:56:01 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2085302/posts Alternative energy doesn't always mean solar or wind power. In fact, the alternative fuels developed by University of Wisconsin-Madison chemical and biological engineering professor James Dumesic look a lot like the gasoline and diesel fuel used in vehicles today. That's because the new fuels are identical at the molecular level to their petroleum-based counterparts. The only difference is where they come from. Click Here! Funded by the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy, Dumesic and his team have developed a process that creates transportation fuels from plant material. The paper, published in the Sept. 18 online version... www.physorg.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2085302/posts#comment Thu, 18 Sep 2008 20:24:54 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2080796/posts ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) _ The request caught dairy farmer Brian Ziehm off guard: Would he devote an acre of his fields near the Vermont line this fall to grow stinkweed? "It was like, 'What the heck? I've been trying to get rid of these things for 30 years. Now you want me to plant them?'" But Ziehm happily agreed to grow the hardy weed called field pennycress — a.k.a. stinkweed — to help test a potential new source of fuel for the booming biodiesel market. A handful of fields around upstate New York will be planted with pennycress later this... www.citizen.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2080796/posts#comment Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:45:18 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2075742/posts The Federal Emergency Management Agency is trying to figure out if more than 150 underground fuel tanks -- including one each in Clifton and Lodi -- are leaking diesel fuel into the soil and groundwater. First, though, they need to find out where they are. The agency knows of at least 150 underground tanks, some of which were built for federal emergency storage dating back to the 1950s, that need to be inspected for leaks, according to spokeswoman Debbie Wing. FEMA also is trying to determine by September whether an additional 124 tanks are underground or aboveground and whether they... northjersey.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2075742/posts#comment Sat, 6 Sep 2008 01:21:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2067768/posts New York and 11 other states are suing federal environmental regulators over greenhouse gas emissions from oil refineries, the New York attorney general's office said on Monday. The suit, led by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, charges that the Environmental Protection Agency violated the federal Clean Air Act by refusing to issue standards, known as new source performance standards, for controlling global warming pollution emissions from oil refineries. Note: Other states in the suit are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. New York City and Washington D.C. also joined in... Reuters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2067768/posts#comment Mon, 25 Aug 2008 18:46:15 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2064872/posts ... San Francisco can't even install new bike racks. Blame Rob Anderson. At a time when most other cities are encouraging biking as green transport, the 65-year-old local gadfly has stymied cycling-support efforts here by arguing that urban bicycle boosting could actually be bad for the environment. That's put the brakes on everything from new bike lanes to bike racks while the city works on an environmental-impact report. ... Cars always will vastly outnumber bikes, he reasons, so allotting more street space to cyclists could cause more traffic jams, more idling and more pollution. Mr. Anderson says the city has... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2064872/posts#comment Wed, 20 Aug 2008 13:42:14 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2065269/posts Carnegie Mellon University releases controversial study placing the blame for a third of China's emissions on U.S., international community China, the world's most populous nation, is a rich and diverse melting pot which is expected to one day be the world's largest economy. Burdened by the environmental costs of rapid expandsion fueled by coal power, China leads the world in carbon emissions and emissions of many other airborne pollutants. The air quality is so bad that often major cities are blanketed by a thick smog that is enough to trigger asthma attacks and breathing problems in those not prepared with... Dailytech.com http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2065269/posts#comment Thu, 21 Aug 2008 03:31:12 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062335/posts Earlier this month, while visiting a friend in San Francisco, I almost spilled my latte in my lap when I read this on the front page of the Chronicle: "S.F. Mayor Proposes Fines for Unsorted Trash." The story began: "Garbage collectors would inspect San Francisco residents' trash to make sure pizza crusts aren't mixed in with chip bags or wine bottles under a proposal by Mayor Gavin Newsom." Isn't that what homeless people do -- rooting around in other people's garbage? If Bay Area residents are caught failing to separate the plastic bottles from the newspapers, according to the newspaper... Wall Street Journal http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062335/posts#comment Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:49:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062032/posts Human activities are cumulatively driving the health of the world's oceans down a rapid spiral, and only prompt and wholesale changes will slow or perhaps ultimately reverse the catastrophic problems they are facing. Such is the prognosis of Jeremy Jackson, a professor of oceanography at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, in a bold new assessment of the oceans and their ecological health. Publishing his study in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Jackson believes that human impacts are laying the groundwork for mass extinctions in the oceans on par... Scripps Institution of Oceanography http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2062032/posts#comment Thu, 14 Aug 2008 22:28:30 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2059613/posts The subject may be trivialized by some, but the effect of air pollution originating from China and Eastern Asia has dire consequences for Americans and our economy. I am located in the Central San Joaquin Valley of California. A couple weeks ago I noticed something that alerted me to a rapid change in our skies. First the night skies became the clearest they had been in many years. This week the daytime skies cleared too giving us a summertime view of the high Sierra Mountains that had been noticeably absent for over a decade. Local news had reported on this... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2059613/posts#comment Sun, 10 Aug 2008 21:58:26 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2058407/posts CHINA has not done enough to fix its pollution and indeed may have permanently damaged the environment, Australian Olympic Committee president John Coates said today. As Beijing was again cloaked in a dirty haze just hours before its Opening Ceremony, Coates said he hoped one of the legacies of the 2008 Games would be that China took greater care of its habitat. Asked if Games organisers had done enough to clean up the atmosphere, Coates said: "No. But I don't know what more thay can do. "This may well be permanent damage. "I am no world expert but to have... Herald Sun http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2058407/posts#comment Fri, 8 Aug 2008 03:44:38 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2057356/posts BEIJING - A group of American cyclists has apologized to Beijing Olympic organizers after arriving in China’s capital wearing face masks. MSNBC http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2057356/posts#comment Wed, 6 Aug 2008 13:20:31 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2057298/posts Could the NBC honchos be a tad touchy about criticism of the Beijing Olympics—especially when it comes from its own talent pool? Was there a kernel of truth in Mika Brzezinski's light-hearted warning that MSNBC's Morning Joe crew would "get a call" if it persisted in its mocking of the games for whose broadcast rights the Peacock Network has over the years paid billions? When the subject of the Olympics arose during the opening segment of today's show, the panel went into an extended coughing fit, coupled with cracks about tanks in Tiananmen Square. Mika joined in the joshing for... NewsBusters http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2057298/posts#comment Wed, 6 Aug 2008 11:44:27 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2055267/posts Olympic Games show China through a glass, darkly As the opening approaches, preparations reflect a disturbing side of the communist regime Jonathan Fenby Olympic Games news The opening of the Beijing Olympics in eight days' time will, as always planned, attest to China's spectacular material progress since Deng Xiaoping launched market-led economic reform exactly 30 years ago. The array of venues, the gleaming new buildings, the urban infrastructure installed for the Games, will also reflect the genuine pride of a nation that, while still far from rich by Western standards, has made more people better off in a shorter time... Times of London http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2055267/posts#comment Sat, 2 Aug 2008 06:24:43 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2054435/posts BEIJING (AFP) - China on Thursday unveiled a string of emergency measures it was prepared to use in its battle to tame Beijing's stubborn smog ahead of the Olympics, as the city was again shrouded in haze. Chinese authorities may close more factories, further reduce the number of cars on the road in the city and neighbouring areas, and stop all construction, the ministry of environmental protection said on its website. "When there are extremely unfavourable weather conditions, there will be some emergency measures," the statement said. Beijing has already taken drastic steps to reduce pollution, amid concerns expressed from... AFP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2054435/posts#comment Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:02:48 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2053329/posts BEIJING (AFP) - China claimed success on Tuesday in its pre-Olympic battle against Beijing's infamous pollution, as strong winds helped clear the thick smog that has hung over the Chinese capital this month. Pollution levels had fallen by at least 20 percent since the first of a raft of short-term measures began at the beginning of July, Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau deputy director Du Shaozhong told reporters. Despite visible signs of heavy smog that had pervaded the city in recent weeks, and some branches of China's state-run press highlighting the pollution problems, Du insisted there had been 25 days of... AFP on Yahoo http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2053329/posts#comment Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:24:08 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2052692/posts Less than two weeks before the Olympics, Beijing’s skies are so murky and polluted that the authorities are considering emergency measures during the Games beyond the traffic restrictions and factory shutdowns that, so far, have failed to clear the air, state media reported on Monday. For the past five days, Beijing has been a soupy cauldron of humid, gray skies. Local pollution ratings have exceeded the national standard for acceptable air since last Thursday, despite a temporary air pollution control plan that began on July 20. Under that plan, officials have used odd-even license plate restrictions — limiting motorists to... NYT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2052692/posts#comment Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:53:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2052426/posts One of the favorite targets of conservative pundits (and rightly so) is the liberal tendency to extremes. Oftentimes, a liberal will see a societal problem, and pronounce :”This needs government!” Quite often the liberal will see a real problem, too, but will either end up creating a massive, wasteful bureaucracy (say, Medicare or Social Security), or else use the problem as a excuse for a vastly disproportionate growth in governmental power (say, the IRS). As H. L. Mencken once wrote, “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”... grey_whiskers http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2052426/posts#comment Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:39:59 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2052226/posts According to CNN, the World Bank recently examined 20 of the most severely polluted cities in the world. Sixteen of these cities are located in China, and Linfen City, in Shanxi Province, was cited as the world's most polluted city. Apple Daily reported that factories in Linfen continuously release waste gas and sewage. The whole city smells and is covered in smoke. The trees around the factories are all withered. The polluted water is like thick oil, and the polluted rivers have caused a higher incidence of cancer among citizens living in the area. One environmental expert said, "If you... The Epoch Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2052226/posts#comment Sun, 27 Jul 2008 21:51:36 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049727/posts ......And they're not just worried about the athletes. They're concerned that the bad air might trigger cardiovascular problems for people in the stands. Even if the spectators survive the games, they might be at higher risk of developing a blood clot while sitting through the plane ride home. In 2007, researchers at Northwestern University solved the mystery of why greater numbers of people were dying from heart attacks and strokes within 24 hours of a spike in the level of tiny particles that spewed from diesel trucks, buses and coal-burning factories...... What researchers, including lead author Dr. Gokhan Mutlu, pulmonary... The Los Angeles Times http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049727/posts#comment Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:27:57 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049799/posts Already, some shippers, truckers and others who don't want to make changes are choosing other ports, according to Knatz, who said port traffic could drop 10 percent to 15 percent. REUTERS http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049799/posts#comment Wed, 23 Jul 2008 05:30:52 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049117/posts Olympic Athletes Wearing Masks Could Cause China to Lose Face U.S. Committee Developed a Model in Secret; Jarrod Shoemaker Ponders the Geek Factor By CHRISTOPHER RHOADS and STEPHANIE KANG July 21, 2008; Page A1 U.S. triathlete Jarrod Shoemaker has a decision to make at the opening ceremony of the Olympics next month in Beijing: Should he strap on a mask? Chinese officials insist the notorious Beijing air will be cleaner by August, making such contraptions unnecessary. Concerned about the pollution, the U.S. Olympic Committee is distributing a high-tech mask, developed in secrecy, to its more than 600 Olympians. If athletes... WSJ http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2049117/posts#comment Tue, 22 Jul 2008 00:50:29 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2048779/posts Your owner does it. And you do it too. If you deny it, I’m going to say that you are the one that supplied it. Have you figured out what I’m talking about? That’s right, I’m talking about air poopies or, what many of you know it better as, farts. “Bo, why must you bring this up in a family oriented blog?” my readers will ask. To which I must respond, “Because farts make me laugh.” (Experts said the slow digestive system of cows makes them a key producer of methane, a potent greenhouse gas that gets far less public... http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2048779/posts#comment Mon, 21 Jul 2008 14:34:34 GMT http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2044175/posts According to one energy security expert, unless prosperity exists people simply will not care about climate change. Gal Luft, executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, said on July 11 that the poor have other priorities than global warming. “They [poor people] could not give a damn about climate change because they want 24 hours a day light,” said Luft who cited the example of people living in slums outside Bangalore, India. “In India alone, 600 million people are not connected even to the [power] grid,” said Luft, “When you talk to these people all you... businessandmedia.org http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2044175/posts#comment Fri, 11 Jul 2008 22:47:47 GMT