By Mike Robbins
Hydrogen -- Star Gas, Everywhere, Yet Unseen. Sunlight is its Child.
(Haiku by Stephen Wetlesen)
November 26, 2013
Climate change is causing
the world’s oceans to
acidify at rates not seen
for the last 55 million
years, and the only way to
moderate this danger is to
reduce human emissions of
carbon dioxide, conclude 540
scientists from 37 countries
in a new report.
Ammonia emissions have
become a serious concern for
scientists at Harvard
University. Of particular
note, thirty eight U.S.
national parks are
experiencing "accidental
fertilization" at or above a
critical threshold for
ecological damage according
the study recently published
in Atmospheric Chemistry and
Physics.
...deals are on hold after
the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency's proposal
earlier this month to slash
the minimum volume of
ethanol to be used in the
country's gasoline supply
next year. The surprise move
by the Obama administration
marks a retreat from the
2007 Energy Independence and
Security Act meant to push
increased sales of biofuel.
The proposal could be
approved following a 60-day
period for public comment.
Although Farmer’s actions
are protected under the 1968
Indian Civil Rights Act,
locally the Blackfeet Tribe
deemed it a violation of the
Blackfeet Ordinance 67 which
protects council members
against libelous “or
misleading statements meant
to harm, injure, discredit”
them. Farmer’s attorney,
David Gordon, writes,
“They’re basically saying if
you criticize the tribal
council you’re going to go
to jail and that’s
frightening.”
But the driest year on
record has left the
reservoirs so depleted - and
the delta so fragile - that
state water officials say
they may be able to provide
just 5 percent of the water
he and others were expecting
for next year.
Other sources of water,
including resources from a
federal project that also
pumps from the delta, are
also drying up, prompting
cities to dip into reserves
and forcing farmers to
scramble.
rowing energy consumption
is a global problem.
According to the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE),
worldwide energy use will
jump 49 percent between 2007
and 2035.
Cogeneration
Clean energy generating
Combined Heat and Power (CHP)
units -- or co-generation
systems -- produce
electricity using the
generator engine, converted
diesel, to turn a standard
generator.
Clean water is a vital
concern as many parts of the
world struggle with its
availability. Kenya is a
prime example of a country
on the edge. Kenya's people
have long struggled with
lack of availability of
fresh water creating
hazardous health conditions.
According to the World Bank,
the country's population is
well over 43 million people.
The country is one of the
poorest on the earth with
one of the most arid
climates. Only a small
portion of the land is
suitable for agriculture.
Further, Natural resources
available to Kenya do not
support adequate or
equitable delivery of water
forcing people to spend many
hours of each day, procuring
water for basic sustenance.
More than 60 percent of
electricity in the Central
region of the U.S. comes
from coal-fired electric
generators, which is a
decrease from 80 percent in
the early part of the 2000s,
the EIA reported. Coal-fired
units in the region
primarily burn relatively
inexpensive Power River
Basin coal.
Using satellite imagery from
Google Earth, University of
British Columbia researchers
estimated that there were
1,900 fishing weirs along
the coast of the Persian
Gulf during 2005 and that
they caught approximately
31,000 tonnes of fish that
year. The official number
reported by the seven
countries in the region to
the United Nation's Food and
Agriculture Organization was
5,260 tonnes.
There are 3 basic
requirements to be
HARP-eligible :
- Your loan must have
been securitized by
Fannie Mae or Freddie
Mac
- Your loan's note
date must be no later
that May 31, 2009
- You must have made
your last 6 mortgage
payments on-time, with
no lates
Iroko trees are native to
the west coast of Africa.
Sometimes called Nigerian
teak, their wood is tough,
dense, and very durable.
Their hardwood is so sought
after that the trees are
often poached and are now
endangered in many regions
of Africa. But a new
scientific discovery may aid
in reforestation efforts.
The upper Mississippi
River reopened to vessel
traffic near Le Claire,
Iowa, late on Tuesday
following a day-long closure
triggered by a fuel leak
from a tow boat that struck
an underwater object and
sank, the U.S. Coast Guard
said on Wednesday.
The river, which was
closed late Monday from mile
marker 493 to 501 about 15
miles upriver from
Davenport, Iowa, reopened at
about 6:00 p.m. CST
(midnight GMT) on Tuesday.
Myanmar has received bids
from 30 companies, including
international oil majors and
state-owned oil and gas
companies, in its maiden
offshore licensing round, a
document posted on the
Myanmar Ministry of Energy
website late Thursday
showed.
Myanmar had
offered 30 blocks -- 11 in
shallow water and 19 in deep
water -- in this licensing
round.
The ministry's
document did not give
details on the blocks that
have received bids, but it
showed that several
companies have bid for more
than one block.
New-generation petrol
engines of passenger cars
emit about 1,000 times more
particles, including
carcinogens, than
traditional petrol engines,
a study by German
researchers showed.
Faced with strict CO2
limits, carmakers have
downsized engines to cut
emissions and new gasoline
direct injection (GDI)
petrol engines may be in
almost all new petrol cars
sold in Europe by the end of
the decade...
Duke Energy has announced
that it will retire its Levy
nuclear reactor project in
Florida. This is the second
such announcement in just a
few weeks.
Ontario is going coal-free.
The largest coal-burning
power plant in North
America, Nanticoke
Generating Station on the
north shore of Lake Erie,
will stop burning coal this
year, Ontario Premier
Kathleen Wynne announced on
Thursday.
It's strange to wrap one's
mind around the idea of
human pee powered robots,
but that's exactly what a
group of UK researchers are
attempting to create.
Mimicking the human heart,
their latest innovation is a
heart pump with artificial
muscles that aims to deliver
human urine to their latest
generation of Ecobots – a
self-sustaining robot that
runs on all manner of waste
matter collected from its
environment.
James Arthur Ray, the
purported self-help guru who
led a "Spiritual Warrior"
weekend retreat outside
Sedona, Arizona in October
2009 at the tune of nearly
copy0,000 per participant
that claimed three lives and
hospitalized 18, is still
remorseful, he told CNN's
Piers Morgan on Monday,
November 25, months after
his July 12, 2013, state
prison release.
“The coal industry can and
must radically transform and
diversify to avoid the worst
impacts of climate change,”
the United Nations’ top
climate official told the
CEOs of major coal companies
Monday in Warsaw...“Let me
be clear from the outset
that my joining you today is
neither a tacit approval of
coal use, nor is it a call
for the immediate
disappearance of coal. But I
am here to say that coal
must change rapidly and
dramatically for everyone’s
sake.”
In the end, the two sides
offered sharply divergent
portraits of Donziger.
Richard Friedman, one of his
lawyers, said Donziger
deserved enormous credit for
shedding light on how U.S.
corporations treat "Third
World countries."
But Mastro said Donziger
had "shamed our profession"
by lying, obstructing
justice and ignoring the
rule of law.
"Lawyers don't do these
things," he said. "Criminals
do."
Welcome to Indian Country
Today Media Network’s new
‘Man on the Street” video
series with correspondent
Vincent Schilling.
In this video, Schilling
asks unsuspecting folks
about the Month of November
and if they know it is
Native American Heritage
Month. Some answers are
funny, some are telling and
some are just plain fun. You
might be surprised at some
of the answers.
My grandpa was
considered a spiritual
leader within my community.
Every single morning—rain,
snow or shine—he’d get up
before the sun rose and go
up to one of our sacred
spots and give a prayer of
thanks. He’d give thanks
for the sun that was about
to rise, for having enough
food, for being able to even
say that prayer. He gave
thanks for the next
generations—us. It was a
ritual of thanks.
We must account for the real
costs of food, or
sustainable food systems
will never break through to
the mainstream.
We live
in a time when the need for
sustainable food and farming
systems has never been more
urgent. Earlier this year,
over 200 leading scientists
signed a consensus statement
on Maintaining Humanity's
Life Support Systems in the
21st Century. It expressed
deep concern that society
has reached the tipping
points for a range of
environmental and social
consequences to our
behaviour, which could
significantly degrade life
on earth by 2050.
The adoption of plug-in
vehicles, both
gasoline-electric hybrids as
well as full battery
electric vehicles, continues
to gain pace. At the end of
August this year, 59,000
such vehicles had been sold
in the USA, surpassing sales
of plug-in vehicles for the
whole of 2012. This trend
will likely continue as
manufacturers increasingly
roll out new product
offerings.
November 26, 2013
The United States has
lost approximately 80,000
acres of coastal wetlands
between 2004 and 2009
according to the U.S. Fish
and Wildlife Service and the
National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA). Much of this loss is
blamed on development and
has occurred in freshwater
regions. Additionally, more
than 70% of the loss is from
the Gulf of Mexico.
According to the EPA wetland
loss in the eastern U.S. is
happening at a rate double
that of what is being
restored.
Civil liberties advocates
on Friday asked a federal
court here to end the
National Security Agency
counterterrorism program
that collects data on
billions of phone calls by
Americans, arguing that it
violates the Constitution
and was not authorized by
Congress.
Afghanistan's president
and the U.S. delivered blunt
messages to each other
Monday that gave no
indication of a resolution
of their disagreements over
a pact that governs the
future of the American troop
presence in the country.
Hamid Karzai said he
won't back down from his
refusal to sign during the
rest of his term in office,
with National Security
Adviser Susan Rice
responding that this would
mean the U.S. would then
start planning to pull out
all its forces after 2014.
-
The documentary American
Meat is “a pro-farmer
look at chicken, hog and
cattle production in
America,” featuring
full-time organic
farmers
-
There are vast
differences between
meats from animals
raised in Concentrated
Animal Feeding
Operations (CAFOs) and
organically-raised,
pastured animals, both
in terms of nutrient
content and
contamination
-
When it comes to
choosing a source for
chicken and eggs, the
closer you can get to
the “backyard barnyard,”
the better. Buy them
from small community
farms with free-ranging
hens that are
organically fed and
locally marketed
-
You can also farm your
own food. It’s all a
matter of scale. You can
start small by growing
some sprouts to eat with
your daily meal. Sprouts
are some of the easiest,
least expensive, yet
most nutritious food you
can grow at home
-
You can then progress to
a larger organic garden,
using pots and planters
if you live in an
apartment, or dedicate a
part of your back yard
to a vegetable garden.
If you have the time and
space, you could move up
to chickens
The U.S. is one of the
only countries on Earth that
keeps chicken eggs in cold
storage. But why?
One of the most common
health risks, when it comes
to eggs, is posed by Salmonella bacteria.
There are really only two
ways Salmonella can
get at an egg: the first is
to contaminate the egg
externally, on the surface
of its outer shell. The
second is to spread from the
inside. The former occurs
after the egg has been laid,
most commonly by coming into
contact with feces
containing Salmonella bacteria.
The latter can occur if the
egg develops in the
reproductive tract of a Salmonella-infected
hen.
The U.S. government's
authority to regulate air
pollution nationwide, often
against the wishes of
Republican-leaning states,
could face new curbs when
the Supreme Court takes on
two high-stakes cases in
coming months.
The cases focus on the
broad-ranging power wielded
by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
under the landmark Clean Air
Act, first enacted in 1970.
The deal is done. The
Iranian leaders are claiming
victory. The White House is
claiming victory. Most
European governments, as
well as Russia, are claiming
victory.
The Israeli government,
meanwhile, is horrified.
They, and many of their
citizens, feel more isolated
than ever. As I
reported from
Jerusalem, this was true
before the deal was struck.
It is even more true now.
Overview
Eng. Andrea A. Rossi and
Professor Sergio Focardi of
the University of Bologna
(one of the oldest
universities in the world,
have announced to the world
that they have a cold fusion
device capable of producing
more than 10 kilowatts of
heat power, while only
consuming a fraction of
that. On January 14, 2011,
they gave the Worlds' first
public demonstration of a
nickel-hydrogen fusion
reactor capable of producing
a few kilowatts of thermal
energy. At its peak, it is
capable of generating 15,000
watts with just 400 watts
input required. In a
following test the same
output was achieved but with
only 80 watts of continual
input.
As the Arctic ice melts,
new shipping routes are
opening up for tourism,
mining and other commercial
purposes, cutting journey
times and fuel costs. And as
Christopher Ware reports, a
new danger arises - invasive
alien species disrupting
fragile Arctic ecosystems...
More shipping is sailing
through thawing Arctic
waters, but while these
northern routes might
provide opportunities for
tourism, mining and cutting
down delivery times, the
ships may also carry
stowaways on board,
introducing invasive species
to pristine Arctic waters.
The United Nations is
wrapping up its climate
talks in Warsaw, Poland
while the Asian countries
are grappling with how best
to fuel their economies.
China, India and Japan are
environmentally aware but --
for different reasons --
looking to coal.
The Aspen City Council on
Tuesday met with energy
experts as part of its goal
to achieve 100 percent
renewable energy in Aspen by
2015.
The National Renewable
Energy Laboratory, a U.S.
Department of Energy
affiliate, has been tasked
with reviewing Aspen’s
Canary Initiative, which set
the carbon-neutral goal.
Tuesday’s work session was
the first of three between
Aspen and the lab. The
second meeting will take
place in January, and the
third will take place in the
spring, when the council
will gather info and
determine which energy
resources to pursue.
Ecotech Institute has
released its Clean Jobs
Index -- a tool to compare
states' use and development
of clean energy --
uncovering more than one
million job postings in the
clean energy sector from
July 1, 2013 through
September 30, 2013. These
numbers reveal a 54 percent
increase in the need for
clean energy employees,
demonstrating the rapid
growth of the sector.
I have no doubt that
many of the health
issues we are facing,
including the epidemic
of cancer, are related
to the way we eat.
I often use the adage,
“Garbage in, garbage
out,” which simply means
that if you eat poor-
quality food, you can’t
expect the body to
function optimally.
That’s just common
sense.
Meteorologists are
calling the typhoon that
slammed into the Philippines
with 195-mile-an-hour winds
on November 8, 2013, the
most powerful tropical storm
to make landfall on record.
Super Typhoon Haiyan had
gusts reaching 235 miles per
hour and a storm surge
swelling as high as 20 feet,
so the destruction it left
behind matched that of a
tornado combined with a
tsunami.
If Congress
were to get a grade for
their recent work on water
and wastewater matters, it
would be “incomplete.”
Here’s what they did (or
didn’t) get done in
Washington this year.
It’s no secret that
Congress is not well-liked,
evidenced by their dismal
approval ratings. The
reason, in large part, is
ineffectiveness (due to a
variety of factors —
infighting chief among
them). The theme has held
true in the water industry
this year; of the 30
water/wastewater bills set
before Congress in 2013,
only three have seen action.
Alternative fuel
vehicles, particularly
battery electric vehicles
(BEV) and plug-in hybrid
electric vehicles (PHEV),
are a small but fast-growing
segment of the automotive
market. Since 2010, when
these vehicles first reached
the market, sales of BEVs
and PHEVs have grown at a
significant pace, with new
manufacturers bringing
models to market and
existing manufacturers
reducing prices.
How Fat Can Make
You Slim
One problem with cutting
out all fats... When a
manufactured food has no
fat, it usually has no taste
as well. And in order to
force some flavor into the
food, manufacturers often
add other ingredients – like
more sugar and salt. Not
good for your heart or your
waistline!
"We are very cognizant of
what we are emitting," said
Martin Murray, spokesman for
Public Service of New
Hampshire, which owns and
operates the Schiller plant
and a second in nearby
Newington, N.H.
Schiller officials are
skeptical of the Sierra
Club's motivations and
believe the environmental
organization has been the
mover and shaker behind the
Eliot petition.
"They just went after us
to create an opportunity to
prevent the plant from
continuing," Murray said.
"The idea was to make
coal or whatever polluter
pay for cleanup as a matter
of regular course," Brand
said. "Our goal is not to
shut down plants. ... We
want the air to be cleaner.
How ever that works out is
up to Public Service of New
Hampshire."
The EMerge Alliance
today announced the launch
of a new residential dc
power standards initiative
to advance the use of dc
power in homes and small
businesses. The Alliance is
the only application
standards development group
working on advancing the use
of dc power in residential
and commercial buildings.
The Alliance is forming a
technical committee to
identify needs and
opportunities for
residential dc power
standards.
Long before the
legislative changes in Spain
and the termination of loan
guarantees in the United
States, several emerging CSP
markets had stepped into the
limelight. These potential
solar hotspots are
increasingly attracting CSP
players from across the
global supply chain. But in
weighing up the options for
entering these markets, can
the announced CSP targets
and high solar resources be
sufficient for decision
making?
Fossil-fuel subsidies
paid by industrial nations
are more than five times the
climate aid provided to
poorer nations that need
funds to reduce emissions
and adapt to global warming,
a study showed.
The exotic free energy
community is becoming very
spiritually-rooted; and
there are good reasons for
that. Free energy is all
about freedom; and as long
as we deserve tyranny, we're
not going to get exotic free
energy.
Free energy is all
about freedom; and as long
as we deserve tyranny, we're
not going to get free
energy.
In deciding how best to
meet the world’s growing
needs for energy, the
answers depend crucially on
how the question is framed.
Looking for the most
cost-effective path provides
one set of answers;
including the need to
curtail greenhouse-gas
emissions gives a different
picture. Adding the need to
address looming shortages of
fresh water, it turns out,
leads to a very different
set of choices.
new film Don Jon is the
story of a man whose porn
habit has left him unable to
relate to real women. He’s
not the only one, reports
Nisha Lilia Diu.
Cars that run on hydrogen
and exhaust only water vapor
are emerging to challenge
electric vehicles as the
world's transportation of
the future.
Indonesia ordered the
evacuation of 15,000
residents near an active
volcano in the west of the
vast archipelago on Sunday
as authorities raised the
alert for the emergency to
the highest level.
In Mosul, two
soldiers were gunned down at
a checkpoint. Gunmen killed
a member of the Dawa party.
A Christian television
journalist was shot to
death. Gunmen stormed a
school and killed an
employee. A policeman was
shot dead. A bomb wounded
two civilians. Another bomb
killed an army captain.
Gunmen also killed a traffic
officer.
-
Dental Tribune and
Dentistry IQ posted
articles online
regarding mercury’s
toxicity and plans that
a leading amalgam
manufacturer – Dentsply
International -- may
have to dump their
mercury-based dental
products in Africa,
Latin America, and South
Asia
-
Dentsply complained to
the publications about
the articles, which
subsequently disappeared
from the online
publications
-
Dentsply is being
challenged to switch to
mercury-free
alternatives, both via a
grassroots campaign and
calls from environmental
and social justice
organizations -- not to
dump amalgam in
developing nations
-
Polyclinic hospital in
Pakistan has become the
country’s first to ban
mercury fillings, citing
hazards to human health
-
In October, a legally
binding international
treaty to control the
use of mercury was
signed into action; the
treaty mandates that
each nation phase down
amalgam use
At least 42 people
were killed and 97 more were
wounded in fresh
violence. Most of the
attacks took place in
Baghdad and Mosul, but a
former lawmaker was killed
in rare violence south of
the capital.
Hyundai, Honda, Toyota
and other major auto
manufacturers announce plans
to introduce hydrogen fuel
cell cars next year ..
HyperSolar, Inc.
(OTC:HYSR), the developer of
a breakthrough technology to
produce renewable hydrogen
using sunlight and any
source of water, today
announced that it is
evaluating commercial
methods for onsite hydrogen
production at distribution
points or fueling stations
to meet the demand created
by the launch of fuel cell
cars next year.
New Mexico's last
free-flowing river is caught
up in a policy conundrum.
The problem is that the
Gila River is drying up. "A
four-mile reach of the Gila
River runs dry sometimes in
hot summer months when
irrigators divert water to
irrigate pasture for
cow-calf operations,"
according to the
Albuquerque Journal.
This has raised concerns
about five native fish, "two
of which are rare and
protected, can’t live
without water and
populations have declined,"
the report said. But the
solutions on the table may
be problematic.
Nitrous oxide (N20)
emissions could almost
double by 2050 if more
aggressive action is not
taken, undermining global
efforts to curb climate
change, the United Nations'
Environment Programme (UNEP)
said on Thursday.
Commonly known as the
"laughing gas", nitrous
oxide exists naturally in
the atmosphere in trace
amounts.
However, it is the third
most potent greenhouse gas
after carbon dioxide and
methane due to human
activities such as
agriculture, fossil fuel
combustion, waste water
management and industrial
processes.
The governments of
Norway, Britain and the
United States on Wednesday
said they will allocate $280
million of their
multi-billion dollar climate
change finances to a new
initiative aimed at halting
deforestation.
The announcement was made
at U.N. talks in Warsaw,
where more than 9,000
delegates are meeting to
hammer out the foundations
of a new global treaty to
combat climate change.
The US’ National Security
Agency reportedly hacked
50,000 computer systems
globally and infected them
with malware, according to
the classified documents
revealed by whistleblower
Edward Snowden.
The latest claims come
from a digital presentation
slide, which show a world
map highlighting hard
computer networks and
‘world-wide implants’ under
the category.
But by a simple majority
vote, Reid has changed the
rules so that a simple
majority is enough to
confirm any judge other than
a Supreme Court nominee.
(One suspects that the
minute a vacancy on the high
court occurs, the 60 vote
requirement will be stripped
from the rules governing the
replacement’s confirmation
as well).
Excavations uncover a
shrine dating to the sixth
century B.C...
The exact date of the
Buddha's birth is disputed,
with Nepalese authorities
favoring 623 B.C., and other
traditions favoring more
recent dates, around 400
B.C.
Over the next year, the
Thunder Bay Generating
Station (TBGS) will stop
burning coal and be
converted advanced biomass
for electricity generation,
bringing Ontario closer to
achieving its goal of
eliminating coal-fired
generation by the end of
2014. Ontario has already
closed its Lambton
Generating Station (October
2013) and will close
Nanticoke Generating Station
by the end of 2013.
The climate change debate
has been going back and
forth between skeptics and
believers for the last
couple of years. While
carbon dioxide is usually
the greenhouse gas that gets
the most attention, methane
is considered another
powerful greenhouse gas that
can be emitted both
naturally as well as
human-induced.
A new study suggests the
increase in methane
emissions since the
industrial revolution cannot
be blamed on anthropogenic
sources alone.
According to the latest
"Energy Infrastructure
Update" report from the
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission's Office of
Energy Projects, solar,
biomass, and wind "units"
provided 694 MW of new
electrical generating
capacity last month or 99.3%
of all new generation placed
in-service (the balance of 5
MW was provided by oil.)
Twelve new solar units
accounted for 504 MW or
72.1% of all new electrical
generating capacity in
October 2013 followed by
four biomass units (124 MW -
17.7%) and two wind units
(66 MW - 9.4%).
C2 x-ray event,
Solar activity is likely to
be low with a slight chance
for an M-class flare on day
one (26 Nov) and expected to
be very low with a chance
for C-class flares on days
two and three (27 Nov, 28
Nov). The geomagnetic field
is expected to be at quiet
to unsettled levels on days
one and two (26 Nov, 27 Nov)
and quiet levels on day
three (28 Nov).
A new research report by
Environment Ohio, a
nonprofit environmental
advocacy group in Columbus,
says Ohio's renewable energy
laws have tuned up the
state's energy consumption
and savings for consumers.
Between January 2009 when
the state's renewable energy
law kicked in and December
2012, the state has cut five
million megawatt-hours of
cumulative energy
consumption -- more than
enough electricity to power
Cincinnati, Cleveland and
Dayton for a year, the
report said.
Bitcoin is a
semi-anonymous,
decentralized digital
currency built on an open
source protocol that was
released by a pseudonymous
programmer in January
2009. It's captivated many
fans because it allows for
person-to-person payments
without the fees typically
charged by payments
processors. Bitcoin is now
accepted by organizations
including Wordpress and
Reddit, but Branson is
arguably the highest-profile
businessman to endorse the
currency.
Scientists had struggled
to find the trigger for
so-called Colony Collapse
Disorder (CCD) that has
wiped out an estimated 10
million beehives, worth $2
billion, over the past six
years. Suspects have
included pesticides,
disease-bearing parasites
and poor nutrition. But in a
first-of-its-kind study
published today in the
journal PLOS ONE, scientists
at the University of
Maryland and the US
Department of Agriculture
have identified a witch’s
brew of pesticides and
fungicides contaminating
pollen that bees collect to
feed their hives. The
findings break new ground on
why large numbers of bees
are dying though they do not
identify the specific cause
of CCD, where an entire
beehive dies at once.
Scientists are getting a
better understanding of how
toxic blue-green algae
manages to release its
harmful toxins, which are
known for causing liver
damage in people and killing
animals.
A hundred thousand
residents were being
evacuated from coastal areas
of India's southeastern
Andhra Pradesh state as a
cyclone swirling in the Bay
of Bengal was forecast to
make landfall late on Friday
with wind speeds up to 120
kph (75 mph).
The Obama Democrats
killed the United States
Senate as a deliberative
body 226 years after the
Founding Fathers created it.
The use of a simple
majority to change the
Senate rules and eliminate
the filibuster on judicial
nominees and other
appointments--a device that
made getting 60 votes a
practical necessity--was a
decisive first step toward
reducing the Senate to a
body that operates by simple
majority.
-
In 2007, Congress passed
a law requiring gasoline
to be mixed with
ethanol, to reduce
dependence on foreign
oil and promote
environmentally friendly
biofuels
-
Corn is the primary
source of ethanol in the
United States, and this,
ironically, has turned
out to have devastating
consequences for the
environment
-
In response to rising
demand for corn,
American farmers are
converting
environmentally valuable
grasslands into corn
fields
-
In 2010, for the first
time, fuel was the
number one use for corn
in America, which means
agricultural subsidies
are now in large part
being used to subsidize
our energy needs rather
than food
Carbon dioxide is known
to contribute to climate.
When levels of CO2 increase,
the atmosphere reacts with
rising temperatures. The
linkage here is well
understood, and accepted as
a proven hypothesis. It
follows that if we reduce
our emissions of CO2 that
atmospheric levels will
gradually reduce and the
impacts to global
temperatures will also be
reduced. New research by
Princeton University has
shed light on this and
indicates that there is a
lingering effect of CO2 that
could have long term
consequences. The study
suggests that it might take
a lot less carbon than
previously thought to reach
the global temperature
scientists deem unsafe.
Grain Belt Express Clean
Line, the Houston company
seeking to build an electric
transmission line from
western Kansas to Indiana,
has issued a Request For
Information, seeking to
gauge interest in the
project from western Kansas
wind-farm developers.
In a first for the
industry, a large energy
company has pleaded guilty
to violating the American
Migratory Bird Treaty Act
(MBTA) in connection with
the deaths of protected
birds at two of its wind
turbine farms in Wyoming.
U.S. emissions of
methane, a potent
heat-trapping greenhouse
gas, may be 50% higher than
federal estimates, reports a
team of Harvard and other
researchers today.
Nationwide, emissions
from cows and livestock
operations may be twice as
high as previously thought,
and in the south-central
region, those from fossil
fuel extraction and refining
may be almost five times
higher than calculated by
the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency, according
to a study in the
Proceedings of the National
Academy of Sciences.
The world is getting
further off track in
limiting global warming with
setbacks in Japan and
Australia outweighing
positive signals from the
United States and China, a
study showed on Wednesday.
A Climate Action Tracker
compiled by scientists said
the world was headed for a
temperature rise of 3.7
degrees Celsius (6.7
Fahrenheit) above
pre-industrial times by
2100, against 3.1C (5.8F) if
governments stuck to
promised cuts in greenhouse
gas emissions.
Meet the BactoBots,
the secret agents
of wastewater treatment.
These water remediation
“robots” can destroy
multiple enemies at once,
survive extreme conditions,
and self-destruct if things
go wrong.
“These bots have proven
to be little piranhas. They
really just go in there and
eat up everything that is
available,” says Cody
Harrison, the director of
field engineering at Pilus
Energy, a subsidiary of
Bacterial Robotics, the
company that created the
BactoBots.
The Siphon Drop Power
Plant has been producing
clean, renewable,
hydroelectric power for 25
years, an occasion that
called for a celebration.
"She's running
beautifully and looking
good," observed Charles
Cowan, power manager for
Yuma County Water Users
Association, which built and
operates the plant in
cooperation with the Bard
Water District on behalf of
the U.S. Bureau of
Reclamation.
Although fossil fuels
have brought us tremendous
value in the last two
centuries, burning oil, gas
and coal has created a
serious emergency. Here, at
SFU, many faculty, staff and
students are rightly focused
on the climate crisis. Yet,
by holding investments in
fossil fuel companies that
are wrecking the climate,
the university itself is
undermining and slowing
society's transition to a
safer, low-carbon society.
We should call on SFU to end
its investment in fossil
fuels.
Yeah, it was made
up. It was Abraham Lincoln
who used the theme of
Pilgrims and Indians eating
happily together. He was
trying to calm things down
during the Civil War when
people were divided. It was
like a nice unity story.
The group says if we
continue adding onshore wind
capacity at the rate we did
from 2007 to 2012, and take
the first steps toward
development of massive
potential for offshore wind,
by 2018 wind energy will be
averting carbon dioxide
equivalent to taking 32
million passenger vehicles
off the road each year. We
would also be saving enough
water to supply the annual
domestic water needs of 2.1
million people—roughly as
many people as live in the
city of Houston.
November 22, 2013
Read a Book About
American Indian History
The American Indian
College Fund suggests
1491: New Revelations of the
Americas Before Columbus
by Charles C. Mann. The book
delves into science, history
and archaeology to uncover
the true history of this
country.
“Contrary to what so many
Americans learn in school,
Columbus did not land in a
sparsely settled,
near-pristine wilderness,”
reads the book’s jacket.
Almost 650 years of annual
change in sea-ice cover can
been seen in the calcite
crust growing among layers
of seafloor algae, says a
new study from the
University of Toronto
Mississauga (UTM).
"This is the first time
coralline algae have been
used to track changes in
Arctic sea ice," said Jochen
Halfar, an associate
professor in UTM's
department of chemical and
physical sciences. "We found
the algal record shows a
dramatic decrease in ice
cover over the last 150
years."
The Philippines faces
perhaps the most daunting
reconstruction task since
the 2004 Asian tsunami as it
figures out how to rehouse
four million people made
homeless by a typhoon - and
for President Benigno
Aquino, the stakes couldn't
be higher.
Aquino, under fire for a
slow start to relief efforts
and a somewhat aloof
response to the scale of the
disaster, is now feeling the
strain from a resurgent
scandal involving lawmakers'
misuse of public funds.
It’s November, a time
of year that many parents,
teachers, and librarians
look forward to giving
children books about what is
commonly—and
erroneously—called “The
First Thanksgiving.” Others
seek books that counter the
narrative of Pilgrims and
Indians warmly sharing a
meal together, and still
others want to avoid that
disingenuous feel-good story
altogether and provide
children with books that are
about indigenous people,
books that provide insights
and knowledge that are
missing from all too many
accounts.
In the home stretch of
the 2012 presidential
campaign, from August to
September, the unemployment
rate fell sharply — raising
eyebrows from Wall Street to
Washington.
The decline — from 8.1
percent in August to 7.8
percent in September — might
not have been all it seemed.
The numbers, according to a
reliable source, were
manipulated.
And the Census Bureau,
which does the unemployment
survey, knew it.
The 2.1% rise projected for
2013 will take global
emissions from burning
fossil fuels to a level 60%
above what they were in
1990, according to a new
report from British climate
scientists.
Colorado ranked ninth in
the nation in wind power
production in 2012, with
6,045,000 gigawatt hours
generated, according to a
report released today by
Environment America.
That energy production in
Colorado resulted in 3.7
million metric tons of
"avoided" carbon dioxide
going into the Earth's
atmosphere, and 1,634
million gallons of water
saved, according to the
report "Wind Energy for a
Cleaner America II."
"A Costco store in Southern
California drew some
unwanted attention this week
after labeling some of its
Bibles as fiction. The Los
Angeles Times reports
Wednesday that Discovery
Church pastor Caleb
Kaltenbach recently came
across the Bibles with
'Fiction' written on the
price tag while shopping for
a gift at a Costco store in
Simi Valley. He took a photo
and posted it on social
media with the comment:
'Costco has Bibles for sale
under the genre of FICTION
Hmmmm ...' Costco has since
apologized, saying in a
statement a distributor
mislabeled a small
percentage of Bibles before
they were sent to the
store." [editor's note: If
they'd labeled it SCIENCE
fiction, they could have
pissed off everyone else too
Opponents, in many cases
landowners, attacked the
proposed Rock Island Clean
Line Wednesday morning,
finding fault with the
proposed electric
transmission line's route,
belittling potential
benefits and criticizing the
concept in general.
How Fat Can Make
You Slim
One problem with cutting
out all fats... When a
manufactured food has no
fat, it usually has no taste
as well. And in order to
force some flavor into the
food, manufacturers often
add other ingredients – like
more sugar and salt. Not
good for your heart or your
waistline!
Fats can also help the
scale numbers drop...
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has
made available $2 million in
funding for rebates to help
public and private
construction equipment
owners replace or retrofit
older diesel construction
engines. The rebates will
reduce harmful pollution and
improve air quality in local
areas.
Today the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
released a study showing
that blood mercury levels in
women of childbearing age
dropped 34 percent from a
survey conducted in
1999-2000 to follow-up
surveys conducted from 2001
to 2010. Additionally, the
percentage of women of
childbearing age with blood
mercury levels above the
level of concern decreased
65 percent from the
1999-2000 survey and the
follow-up surveys from
2001-2010.
The
U.S. brought online nearly
700 MW of new electricity
generation in October, and
practically all of it was
large-scale solar energy,
according to data from the
Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission's (FERC) Office
of Energy Projects.
Out of a total 699 MW
of new build and
expansions that FERC
tracked, 504 MW of that
came from 12 solar
projects. Interestingly
they're spread all over
the country...
Recent reports of a
telephone conversation
between the presidents of
the USA and Iran suggest the
possibility of constructive
future discussion, including
Iran's plans to develop
nuclear electric power.
While the diplomacy of
Iran's new president is very
positive, the behavior of
his predecessor was a
definite cause for concern
across much of the Middle
East and beyond. Iran is not
the only Middle Eastern
nation that seeks to
generate future electric
power from nuclear energy.
Several other Middle Eastern
and North African nations
seek to do likewise and all
using uranium-based fuel.
Google's chief internet
evangelist, Vint Cerf,
suggests that privacy is a
fairly new development that
may not be sustainable.
"Privacy may actually be an
anomaly," Cerf said at an
FTC event yesterday while
taking questions.
Elaborating, he explained
that privacy wasn't even
guaranteed a few decades
ago: he used to live in a
small town without home
phones where the postmaster
saw who everyone was getting
mail from. "In a town of
3,000 people there is no
privacy. Everybody knows
what everybody is doing."
"It will be
increasingly difficult for
us to achieve privacy."
Imagine Indigenous Peoples
so exquisitely connected to
divine that they care and
pray for our entire planet,
for the Mother in all her
fullness. They petition for
balance and health of the
oceans and rivers, all
plants and animals, human
relationships, even the sap
flowing in the trees.
The central issue in
determining the future of
ObamaCare is whether the
cancellations of current
insurance policies will be
allowed to stand.
Already 5-10 million
individual policies have
been cancelled and another
40-90 million policies,
primarily with small
employers, are likely to go
in 2014.
President
Obama's "fix" is phony.
Recent Department of
Homeland Security reports
have highlighted poor
security among the nation's
water utilities, where
operations networks and
control systems are
inadequately protected. The
security situation in
critical infrastructure is
raising ratepayer concerns
and prompting utilities to
ask hard questions about
which actions can truly
improve their cybersecurity
situations.
And there is a double whammy
effect of inflation — every
time it rises sharply, it
also raises chances that the
RBI may lift interest rates
further in its next monetary
policy and thus would
further worsen the credit
flow to the industry which
has long been facing a
difficult time due to costly
credit. This time again, a
RBI policy review is ahead
in the next month and it is
widely feared that the high
inflation figures will keep
the RBI singing a hawkish
tune in an effort to tame
down roaring inflation — a
strategy that has hit
industry hard in the past.
State-owned National Iranian
Oil Corp. expects to start
negotiating new term
contracts with Chinese
state-owned buyers of
Iranian crude oil next
month, an NIOC official said
Thursday.
The lack of a globally
agreed upon framework for
carbon pricing will impede
investments in clean energy
and low-carbon projects,
according to the World
Energy Council (WEC). The
WEC has set forth an action
plan for leaders to create
an energy policy framework
that addresses the triple
challenge of environmental
sustainability, energy
equity (access and pricing),
and energy security -- the
energy trilemma
JPMorgan Chase & Co said
it routinely overstated the
quality of mortgages it was
selling to investors, and it
agreed to pay $13 billion to
settle related charges with
the U.S. government, federal
officials said on Tuesday.
The behavior that the
largest U.S. bank admitted
to, authorities said, is at
the heart of what inflated
the housing bubble: lenders
making bad mortgages and
selling them to investors
who thought they were safe.
When the loans started
turning bad, investors lost
faith in the banking system,
and a housing crisis turned
into a financial crisis.
The coal industry
continued to shed jobs and
production in Eastern
Kentucky in the third
quarter of 2013, tightening
the screws on a region
already reeling from earlier
losses.
Statewide, the coal
industry reduced employment
at mines and preparation
facilities by 439 workers,
or 3.4 percent, during the
period from July 1 to Sept.
30, according to a report
released Monday by the state
Energy and Environment
Cabinet.
On Wednesday, Nov. 13,
the American Water Works
Association (AWWA) and 10
other major water and
municipal groups urged key
members of Congress to
support pivotal legislation
to repair critical water
infrastructure across the
nation.
The groups requested
support for the creation of
a Water Infrastructure
Finance and Innovation
Authority (WIFIA), an
innovative federal loan
program that would reduce
the cost of water projects
for local communities and
consumers, through a series
of letters to U.S. senators
and representatives on four
decisive committees.
Mortgage rates
unexpectedly rose Wednesday
afternoon.
Reeling from the release
of the October Fed Minutes,
30-year fixed rate mortgage
rates climbed 0.125
percentage points, and
15-year fixed rate mortgage
rates did the same.
Oil spills do untold damage
to the environment—to the
waters they pollute and to
marine and other wildlife.
The Deepwater Horizon spill
in the Gulf of Mexico in
2010, for example, the
largest accidental marine
oil spill in the history of
the petroleum industry,
flowed unabated for three
months.
Typically,
such oil spills are
extraordinarily difficult to
clean up.
The governments of
Norway, Britain and the
United States on Wednesday
said they will allocate $280
million of their
multi-billion dollar climate
change finances to a new
initiative aimed at halting
deforestation.
The announcement was made
at U.N. talks in Warsaw,
where more than 9,000
delegates are meeting to
hammer out the foundations
of a new global treaty to
combat climate change.
Saying it was responding to
an order from the courts,
the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission said Monday it
has resumed staff work on
the feasibility of the
long-stalled Yucca Mountain
nuclear waste repository in
Nevada, despite the fierce
opposition of Senate
Democratic leader Harry Reid
and President Obama to the
Yucca site.
The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission has lowered the
performance rating of one of
the two nuclear reactors at
the PPL Susquehanna Steam
power plant.
The Unit 2 reactor at the
Salem Township facility,
already under scrutiny by
the federal agency for three
previous unplanned shutdowns
in the past year, had a
fourth on Sept. 14, moving
it into a category with only
five other of the nation's
104 nuclear power plants.
The GO15, made up of the
leaders of 16 of the largest
power grid operators in the
world, are calling for more
grid infrastructure
investment across the globe.
The CEOs say that the
current rate of change in
the electricity industry is
unprecedented and presents
emerging challenges driven
by the transition to lower
emissions generation and a
changing fuel mix, as well
as changes in technology,
economic factors and
consumer behavior
The plight of the Mexican
energy industry highlights
the urgent need for what
President Enrique Pena Nieto
has called a "profound"
energy reform, whose details
have yet to be revealed.
Mexican business leaders
say they lost $2.25 billion
in revenue in the first six
months of 2013 as a result
of natural gas shortages...
President Obama is also
correct that the big
political question facing
Americans is whether “we are
going to realize that
potential”--whether we will
choose to break out.
But what the President
apparently doesn’t see is
that he represents
breakdown--the greatest
threat to our potential
future. That government as
bloated as our current one
will inevitably break down
may be the chief lesson of
Obamaism.
For years scientists have
intensely argued over
whether increases of potent
methane gas concentrations
in the atmosphere – from
about 5,000 years ago to the
start of the industrial
revolution – were triggered
by natural causes or human
activities.
A new study, which will
be published Friday in the
journal Science,
suggests the increase in
methane likely was caused by
both.
Members of the audience
Tuesday afternoon exuded
hostility toward a proposed
high voltage, overhead
transmission line -- before,
during and after a meeting
designed to distribute
information about the
project.
Curtailment -- or the
practice of shutting down
solar and wind generating
systems to reduce the
production of surplus power
-- seems wasteful, the
researchers noted, though
their study showed existing
battery-based storage
systems (lead-acid,
lithium-ion, sodium-sulfur,
vanadium-redox and
zinc-bromine) do not offer
an attractive solution in
terms of their "overall
energetic cost".
M1 event. There are
currently 5 numbered sunspot
regions on the disk. Solar
activity is expected to be
low with a slight chance for
an M-class flare on days
one, two, and three (22 Nov,
23 Nov, 24 Nov). The
geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet
levels on days one, two, and
three (22 Nov, 23 Nov, 24
Nov).
Rich and poor were
deadlocked on Wednesday over
how to raise aid to help
developing countries cope
with the damaging effects of
global warming, in a setback
at United Nations climate
talks in Warsaw seeking
progress towards a 2015
accord.
Thanks in part to the
efforts of Union of
Concerned Scientists
supporters like you, I have
great news about rooftop
solar in Arizona. Last week,
despite a well-funded
misinformation campaign to
undercut rooftop solar
energy, elected officials at
the Arizona Corporation
Commission (ACC) stood up
for renewable energy and
rejected hefty fees on new
solar customers.
According to The
Guardian, the 640 MW Unit 2
at the Torness plant shut
down when the seaweed
clogged filters in the
cooling system. The reactor
is expected to be down for
the next seven days.
Both reactors were
reportedly shut down in May
due to seaweed, the article
said. In 2011, a swarm of
jellyfish closed the plant.
I speak from experience when
I say that it's actually fun
to go into the woods, saw up
fallen trees, then bring the
wood home to burn over the
winter. What isn't
so much fun is subsequently
sawing the logs into
stove-length pieces. With
the Spruce Stove, however,
you don't have to – you just
continuously feed one long
log in as it burns, sort of
like feeding a pencil into a
pencil sharpener.
State regulators on
Wednesday called on the US
Environmental Protection
Agency to "recognize the
primacy of states" as it
moves ahead with creating a
rule to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions from existing
power plants.
States with a high interest
in the oil and gas
industries are stepping up
their attempts to regulate
the drilling process. The
aim, in all cases, is to
minimize environmental fears
while creating jobs and
wealth. Colorado, for
example, is the latest test
case, although some
communities there are
opposed to gas drilling.
-
After age 30, a man’s
testosterone levels
begin to decline and
continue to do so as he
ages, leading to
symptoms such as
decreased sex drive,
erectile dysfunction,
depressed mood, and
difficulties with
concentration and memory
-
Conventional treatment
for low testosterone
revolves around
synthetic testosterone
hormone replacement
therapy, using either a
testosterone cream, gel
or patch
-
Recent research has
raised a red flag,
warning men that
testosterone therapy may
increase your risk of
dying from a sudden
stroke or heart attack
-
The study found that
testosterone use was
associated with a 29
percent increased risk
for an adverse
event—regardless of
whether they had
underlying coronary
heart disease or not
-
Dietary and exercise
changes, particularly
limiting sugar/fructose,
eating healthy saturated
fats and engaging in
high-intensity
exercises, Power Plate,
and strength training,
can be very effective at
boosting testosterone
levels naturally
The Grain Belt Express Clean
Line is planned as a
750-mile, overhead,
direct-current transmission
line that will deliver up to
3,500 megawatts from a
station near Dodge City to
utilities and customers in
Missouri, Illinois, Indiana
and states farther east. The
$2 billion cost will be
borne by private investors.
U.S. budget talks are aiming
for a two-year deal that
would end divisive fiscal
showdowns that have plagued
Congress since 2011, while
also easing the severe
across-the-board spending
cuts that otherwise would be
triggered in 2014 and 2015,
a Republican negotiator said
on Wednesday.
An appeals court ruled on
Tuesday that the U.S.
government can no longer
require nuclear power plant
operators to pay fees into a
nuclear waste fund, a
victory for the utilities
that challenged the fees.
The court in Washington
said the fees could not
currently be justified
because the government's
long-stalled plan to build a
national waste facility at
Yucca Mountain in Nevada had
not come to fruition. The
fund is intended to cover
the cost of storing the
waste.
The world is getting
further off track in
limiting global warming with
setbacks in Japan and
Australia outweighing
positive signals from the
United States and China, a
study showed on Wednesday.
A Climate Action Tracker
compiled by scientists said
the world was headed for a
temperature rise of 3.7
degrees Celsius (6.7
Fahrenheit) above
pre-industrial times by
2100, against 3.1C (5.8F) if
governments stuck to
promised cuts in greenhouse
gas emissions.
Every day it seems the
newspapers are filled with
stories of breached security
at a bank, government
agency, media outlet, or a
utility. According to a
recent US Department of
Homeland Security report, in
fiscal year 2012, ICS-CERT
received and responded to
198 cyber incidents as
reported by asset owners and
industry partners. Attacks
against the energy sector
represented 41 % of the
total number of incidents.
While none of these
attempted cyber-attacks on
utilities were successful,
many experts have said it is
not a question of if, but
when. As these threats
evolve, we must make sure we
are all doing everything we
can to keep systems
protected and consumers
safe.
Halfway across the
world from the
typhoon-ravaged Philippines,
several small, remote
communities at the
northwestern tip of Turtle
Island have been declared
disaster areas from damage
wrought by severe storms and
flooding in mid-November.
November 19, 2013
With trans fat going
away, doughnuts may
taste a little
different.
It wasn’t much of a
surprise last week when the
Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) announced that it’s
about to drop the hammer on
trans fat—the by-product of
the process of adding
hydrogen to vegetable oil,
which brings taste and
texture to a bunch of food
that’s not so good for us.
In the latest spasm of
violence in Lebanon over
neighboring Syria's civil
war, two suicide bombers
blew themselves up outside
the Iranian Embassy in
southern Beirut on Tuesday.
At least 23 people died and
146 were injured, according
to the Lebanese Health
Ministry.
Efforts to promote and
develop new forms of
sustainable energy have
pushed wind power to the
forefront. However, this
type of power comes with a
cost — as it often
interferes with birds' and
bats' migration, killing
hundreds of thousands of
these winged species.
The Obama administration
took credit on Wednesday for
reports that domestic crude
oil production surpassed
foreign imports for the
first time in roughly 20
years.
The United States churned
out more crude oil in
October than it imported,
the Energy Department
reported on Wednesday. The
last time that happened was
1995.
Southern Power is
considering bidding on solar
energy projects in Georgia
that regulators want to see
built by utility Georgia
Power as part of the state's
long-term energy plan,
according to documents filed
with the Public Service
Commission. Southern Power
is the wholesale energy unit
of Southern Co., while
Georgia Power is one if the
Atlanta-based company's
regulated utilities.
Cells that store fat are
called adipocytes. They are
deposited throughout our
bodies
As we age, adipocytes
tend to expand and
congregate in areas that are
cosmetically unsightly and
detrimental to our health.
Of greatest concern are
the adipocytes that deposit
deep in our abdomens. This
‘visceral fat’ represents
more than fat stored on our
waistlines.
Will this set a national
precedent?
After two days of
impassioned public comment
on the future of net
metering, the Arizona
Corporation Commission voted
3-2 yesterday to charge
$0.70 per kilowatt to solar
owners to help offset
utility revenue losses
associated with the growth
of rooftop solar.
Arizona regulators backed
away from a change to net
metering proposed by Arizona
Public Service in favor of a
compromise with the solar
industry.
The Congressional Budget
Office (CBO) floated 103
ways to help cut the deficit
Wednesday, and one option
takes out a much bigger bite
than any other: A carbon
tax.
A $25-per-ton
tax that rises 2 percent
annually would raise
slightly over $1 trillion
over a decade, according to
the nonpartisan CBO.
Colorado announced proposed
rules on Monday designed to
reduce emissions during oil
and gas operations in an
agreement with drillers that
addresses one key
environmental concern
surrounding the U.S. oil and
gas boom.
Environmentalists and First
Nations leaders joined
Canadians from all walks of
life in rallies against
proposed oil pipelines
across Canada on Saturday.
The protests were part of a
national day of action to
“Defend Our Climate.”
The escalating costs of the
fuels used to generate
electricity have spawned a
need for technology that can
improve the efficiency of
fuel conversion. This has,
in turn set the stage for
combined heat and power
(CHP) to emerge as the
distributed power generation
technology of choice. CHP
not only generates on-site
power, but also meets the
heating and cooling
requirements of industries
and enterprises at
reasonable costs.
With U.S. sales of
plug-in electric vehicles on
pace to reach half of
President Barack Obama’s
goal, regulators are
following customers and
automakers to vehicles
powered by other fuels, from
hydrogen to diesel.
California, which leads
10 states that require
automakers to sell
zero-emission vehicles, may
alter its system of tradable
credits to stop favoring
plug-ins over
hydrogen-powered cars.
Biodiesel and ethanol
both fall under the category
of "biofuels," which
describes any fuel
synthesized from plant or
animal matter. But that’s
pretty much where the
similarities end.
Biodiesel offers a
significantly improved
environmental impact
compared to both ethanol and
standard petroleum-derived
diesel. It can be used in
standard diesel engines with
little or not negative
impact on engine health.
Just splash-blend it in the
tank of your Volkswagen or
Mercedes diesel vehicle.
Meanwhile, ethanol deserves
scrutiny for its relatively
high emissions, and the way
it can damage engines that
aren't specifically designed
to burn the fuel.
Americans are not
considering energy
efficiency, even when they
are already making home
improvements.
New research from Shelton
Group reveals that 26
percent of Americans say
they prioritize
energy-efficient home
improvement over aesthetics
but actual projects say
something different.
In the years leading up to
ExxonMobil's Pegasus
pipeline rupture in
Arkansas, the company
delayed a crucial
inspection, put off urgent
repairs, masked pipeline
threats with skewed risk
data and overlooked its own
evidence that the oil
pipeline was prone to seam
failures, according to
federal pipeline regulators.
The FBI's evolution into a
cyber-crime-fighting agency,
a decade in the works, has
made the bureau 'one of the
best in the world' at
cracking computer crime.
Cyber threats are poised to
rival terrorism as the
primary danger to US, says
FBI's director...Recent
successes show the bureau is
gaining some ground on
cybercriminals,
“The health of tribal
nations depends on the
health of tribal lands. So
it falls on all of us to
protect the extraordinary
beauty of those lands for
future generations,” he said
at the Tribal Nations
Conference. “And already,
many of your lands have felt
the impacts of a changing
climate, including more
extreme flooding and
droughts. That’s why, as
part of the Climate Action
Plan I announced this year,
my administration is
partnering with you to
identify where your lands
are vulnerable to climate
change, how we can make them
more resilient.”
New research, including a
crow poop study conducted in
four states, provides
evidence that antibiotic
resistance has spread beyond
hospitals and farms to
wildlife.
When it comes to hydraulic
fracturing (“fracking”) for
oil and natural gas, who is
making sure our water free
of contamination? Who
reduces the chance of
spills, leaks, or other
public health risks? And who
holds those responsible for
damage to our land and harm
to our health?
A new study finds that
radioactive Iodine from
Fukushima has caused a
significant increase in
hypothyroidism among babies
in California, 5,000 miles
across the Pacific Ocean.
The two have rendezvoused
again: Google and private
equity investor KKR are
teaming to build six solar
plants, which according to
the popular search engine,
is part of its plan to help
bring renewable energy to
scale so that it is more
accessible to other
entities. Working?
A new study, "Status and
Trends in the U.S. Voluntary
Green Power Market" finds
that the voluntary green
power market totaled more
than 48 million MWh in 2012,
with about 1.9 million
customers participating, and
represented approximately
1.3% of total U.S.
electricity sales. This
represents a capacity
equivalent of approximately
17,000 MW. The supply
continues to be dominated by
wind at 80.1% of total green
power sales, followed by
landfill gas and biomass
(12.8%), hydropower (6.2%),
solar (0.6%), and geothermal
(0.3%).
The Federal Home Finance
Agency (FHFA) has released a
formal HARP update.
Effective immediately,
the start date for
HARP-eligible loans must be
on, or before, May 31, 2009
where "start date" is
defined as the note date --
the date on the mortgage.
Previously, HARP was only
available to homeowners
whose mortgages were sold
and securitized on, or
before, May 31, 2009.
It's a small change, but
one that brings the "Obama
Refi" closer to HARP 3.
Once again, Akron, Ohio, is
at the forefront
of “green” technology as it
manages the biosolids
generated from the Water
Reclamation Facility.
The Renewable Energy
Facility, once
known as the Akron Compost
Facility, now uses a state
of the art high solids
anaerobic digestion system
(ADS). Biosolids once used
to make compost is now
transformed into biogas that
produces renewable energy in
the form of electricity. KB
BioEnergy, formerly known as
KB Compost Services, is now
processing 100 percent of
the biosolids through
Akron’s new $32 million
facility.
Geothermal heat pump (GHP)
systems, which harness
moderate and constant
temperatures just below the
Earth’s surface, are being
deployed in nearly every
region of the world and in
residential, commercial,
institutional, and
industrial environments with
great success. Despite
recent setbacks in
deployments in many parts of
the world due to the
economic downturn, the
future looks bright for the
worldwide GHP market.
The failure of solar
developers to deliver on
planned projects in Japan
will cost the country's
utilities close to $3.5
billion annually in
additional coal and gas
imports to generate power.
Japan's government banked
on solar power to help meet
the shortfall in electricity
supply after the Fukushima
disaster in 2011 shattered
public confidence in nuclear
energy. The country's
reactors are shut while the
government struggles to
convince the population the
plants are safe to restart.
Report by advocates says at
least 125 sections on the
southern portion of the
Keystone have had to be
repaired. Expert says
concerns exaggerated
As the debate rages in
Washington over the future
of Obamcare, The
Lancet is issuing a
dire warning on "superbugs"
that are resistant to
antibiotics.
Warnings
about the
overprescription of
antibiotics are not new,
but The Lancet article
points to a rising concern
among researchers that the
danger isn't some far-off
concern, but something "in
the very near future,"
The Independent
reports.
Mortgage rates improved
last week, marking the first
time rates have dropped on a
week-over-week basis since
October.
In the holiday-shortened
week, the Fannie Mae (FNMA)
3.5% coupon climbed 23/32
between Monday and Friday,
which moved conventional
mortgage rates lower by
approximately 0.250
percentage points.
Nebraska will soon join
an exclusive wind energy
club.
By the end of 2015, the
state will have the
potential to generate more
than 1,200 megawatts of
electricity from wind farms.
A U.S. white supremacist was
charged on Monday with
terrorizing residents of the
small North Dakota town
where he had sought to
create a white enclave,
authorities said.
Global warming is causing
a silent storm in the oceans
by acidifying waters at a
record rate, threatening
marine life from coral reefs
to fish stocks, an
international study showed
on Thursday.
The report, by 540
experts in 37 nations, said
the seas could become 170
percent more acidic by 2100
compared to levels before
the Industrial Revolution.
Carbon dioxide, the main
greenhouse gas, can become a
mild acid when mixed with
water
Think that buying organic
meat,
eggs, and dairy means
the animals were treated
kindly? Think again.
The U.S. Department of
Agriculture, which regulates
the prerequisites for
organic certification, has
decided that farms don’t
really have to meet its
animal welfare standards. I
guess they were just kidding
with that whole
we-care-about-animals act.
The USDA’s decision to let
farms do as they please to
animals ignores the
recommendation of its own
advisory board, while it
helps big business.
When the Tennessee Valley
Authority said yesterday
that it would retire more
than 3,000 megawatts of
coal-fired power, it said
that it was because of
federal environmental
regulations as well as weak
demand for electricity. What
other companies are making
such moves and what is the
future of coal?
ReneSola Ltd a leading brand
and technology provider of
solar photovoltaic ("PV")
products, today announced
the completion of a 2.5MW
solar PV facility near
Roswell, New Mexico.
C2 event observed.
There are currently 8
numbered sunspot regions on
the disk. Solar activity is
expected to be low with a
chance for M-class flares on
days one, two, and three (19
Nov, 20 Nov, 21 Nov). The
geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet
levels on days one, two, and
three (19 Nov, 20 Nov, 21
Nov).
Climate initiatives in the
United States, China and
other nations aren’t putting
the world on track to avoid
dangerous temperature
increases, according to the
International Energy Agency
(IEA).
The IEA’s new
World Energy Outlook takes
stock of efforts to curb
carbon dioxide emissions
from the energy sector that
accounts for two-thirds of
global greenhouse gas
pollution.
When it comes bringing
electricity to far-flung
homes on Arizona Indian
reservations, it's not just
a matter of hooking them up
to a power line. Many are
far off the grid, which
until the advent of solar
power meant gas-fired and
battery-operated appliances
were the closest thing to
power on the Rez and
elsewhere.
As of October, only eight
states had enacted
legislation to amend their
RPS policies, and 2013 is
now projected to go down as
yet another year of overall
RPS advancement.
Raw chicken marketed as
kosher may harbor up to
twice as much
antibiotic-resistant E. coli
as poultry raised
conventionally, according
to a new study funded by
Northern Arizona University.
The study’s results may
fly in the face of the
generally accepted notion
that kosher meat is safer
than meat raised to other
standards.
Swansea police pay $750
"ransom" after computer
virus strikes
Here’s a riddle to vex
the Washington political
class: When do Tea Party
Republicans stand together
with Sierra Club
environmentalists?
The answer is on their
support for solar energy
against the monopoly power
of traditional utilities in
some of the most
conservative U.S. states.
The Tennessee Valley
Authority, one of the
nation’s five biggest users
of coal for electricity
generation, said Thursday it
would close down eight
coal-fired power units with
3,300 megawatts of capacity.
Tokyo Electric Power Co.
(TEPCO) will begin removing
used fuel rods from Unit 4
at the Fukushima Daiichi
nuclear power plant in
Japan, according to Energy
Business Review.
The unit has more than
1,500 nuclear fuel rods in
the storage pool, which is
expected to be emptied by
2014, the article said. The
fuel rod removal is the
first step in
decommissioning and cleaning
up the plant.
A push is on to get more
energy from nonedible plants
For biofuels, the future
won't look much like the
past. We're heading, some
believe, for a post-ethanol
age.
A week after the most
powerful “super typhoon”
ever recorded pummeled the
Philippines, killing
thousands in a single
province, and three weeks
after the northern Chinese
city of Harbin suffered a
devastating “ airpocalypse,”
suffocating the city with
coal-plant pollution,
government leaders beware!
Although individual events
like these cannot be
attributed with absolute
certainty to increased
fossil fuel use and climate
change, they are the type of
disasters that, scientists
tell us, will become a
pervasive part of life on a
planet being transformed by
the massive consumption of
carbon-based fuels.
The mighty polar bear has
long been the poster child
for the effects of global
warming in the Arctic, but
the microscopic diatom tells
an equally powerful story.
Diatoms are a type of
algae that form the base of
the food chain in watery
habitats the world over.
Disturbances among lake
diatoms have exposed the
impacts of rapid warming in
the Hudson Bay Lowlands of
eastern Canada...
Underneath the ocean
surface, kites would be free
to drift with the
breeze-like current, just
like their airborne brethren
do on the wind. Researchers
and companies have sought to
harness the potential power
of ocean currents such as
the Gulf Stream, usually
with underwater
turbines, which look and
behave like underwater wind
mills. But now some groups
are better on a different
technology, the underwater
kite.
Mobbed by hungry villagers,
U.S. military helicopters
dropped desperately needed
aid into remote areas of the
typhoon-ravaged central
Philippines, as survivors of
the disaster flocked to
ruined churches on Sunday to
pray for their uncertain
future
...I don’t understand,
will never understand, the
hatred that stems from
racism. Anyone who will
judge a person by the color
of their skin is a half-wit.
The dominant society in this
country has done that for
generations. But it seems
that it runs in the
non-dominant societies as
well. So I call out to you,
my cousins, to be bigger
than that. Be bigger than
the racists that you have
run into in your lives.
Don’t sink to their level
and hate us all for the
actions of some, or because
of stereotypes. Get to know
me for who I am and what I
believe before you condemn
me for the color of my skin.
That is all I ask.
Liquid water flowed in
long rivers that emptied
into lakes and shallow seas.
A thick atmosphere blanketed
the planet and kept it warm.
In this cozy environment,
living microbes might have
found a home, starting Mars
down the path toward
becoming a second
life-filled planet next door
to our own.
But that's not how things
turned out.
It doesn’t take an accident
for a nuclear power plant to
release radioactivity into
our air, water and soil. All
it takes is the plant’s
everyday routine operation,
and federal regulations
permit these radioactive
releases.
The 262-foot tall
turbines just west of
Anchorage produced 50,092
megawatt hours of energy at
the one-year anniversary
Sept. 24. That's enough
power for about 6,422 homes,
according to Suzanne Gibson,
vice president of Fire
Island Wind LLC, a
subsidiary of Cook Inlet
Region Inc.
And there's more power to
come.
November 15, 2013
Here are a few
interesting facts about
recent trends that hopefully
help clarify some of the
confusion surrounding this
topic.
1. The amount of
electricity generated in
the US in 2013 is
virtually the same as in
2005.
In Baghdad, gunmen killed a
police colonel. Eight
civilians were wounded in a
bombing. A sticky bomb
killed a government
employee.
This year is the seventh
warmest since records began
in 1850 and rising sea
levels caused by climate
change are aggravating the
impact of storms such as
Typhoon Haiyan in the
Philippines, the World
Meteorological Organization
(WMO) said on Wednesday.
Prior to invasion and
colonization by the
Christian monarchies and
nations of Europe, our
cultural and spiritual
worlds were intact. Our free
and independent ancestors
had a definite spiritual
understanding of their own
identities, as distinct
nations and peoples.
When the invaders
arrived, they worked for
centuries to destroy our
original languages,
cultures, and traditions.
They worked to replace our
original free existence with
their own European languages
and traditions that were
Christian based. To this day
we live with the aftermath
of that imposed domination,
from which some of us
believe we have the perfect
right to free our nations
and peoples.
To avoid developing type 2
diabetes, you may have been
told to watch your calories
and kick up your activity
level. Now researchers say
there's something else you
might consider: your
so-called dietary acid load.
A diet heavy in animal
products and other acidic
foods can cause an acid load
in the body, resulting in
health complications. This
includes reduced insulin
sensitivity, which can lead
to type 2 diabetes,
according to the new study.
While participating in
Ashura holiday rituals
today, many Shi’ites became
easy targets for Sunni
militants. Ashura
commemorates the martyrdom
of Imam Hussein and
symbolizes the schism
between Shi’ites and Sunnis.
Nevertheless, about two
million pilgrims safely
reached the holy city of
Karbala for observances
there.
It's a matter of when,
not if, the federal
government will begin taxing
the carbon produced by major
industrial companies such as
utilities, CPS Energy CEO
Doyle Beneby said Tuesday.
Beneby made the remark
during a 23-minute luncheon
address to a group of energy
executives, activists and
scientists assembled for the
first day of the Texas
Renewables 2013 forum.
Recent election results from
Boulder, Colorado highlight
another rejection of
traditional energy supplier
policies. According to
Boulder Mayor Applebaum,
"This is a message that we
have to change a broken
system - we need some local
control." While the ballot
questions were locally
directed, the results
highlight the national
debate on energy supply.
Boulder's referendum focused
on their local energy
distributor's control of the
energy mix and whether or
not to purchase that
company's equipment to run
their own utility.
When it comes to federal
funding for algae control,
the well is running dry.
States have traditionally
relied on grants from the
Centers for Disease Control
(CDC) to educate the public
about the dangers of
blue-green algae, also known
as cyanobacteria. It's a
type of algae that can kill
animals and make people
severely ill.
But in October, the CDC
ended a pilot project "that
offered funding to 10
states," the Statesman
Journal reported.
The Carolinas nuclear
industry has an economic
impact of more than $20
billion a year, says a
Clemson University study
commissioned by the
Carolinas Nuclear Cluster.
The two states are home
to seven nuclear plants, six
of them owned by
Charlotte-based Duke Energy.
Nuclear power supplies about
one-third of North
Carolina's electricity and
more than half of South
Carolina's.
China has been the largest
solar photovoltaic (PV)
manufacturer for several
years now, but it's also
emerging as a massive
end-market.
Global solar PV
demand reached 9 GW in
3Q13, up 6 percent from
the prior quarter and
nearly 20 percent from a
year ago, according to
Solarbuzz. China's share
of that 3Q demand
exceeded 25 percent,
compared to 10 percent
just two years ago.
Meanwhile, Chinese
production throughout
the crystalline silicon
supply chain was
anywhere from 8-11 GW.
The air pollution in China
has become the stuff of
legend, or rather of
nightmare. The number of
lung cancer cases in the
capital of Beijing has
increased by more than 50
percent in the past decade.
Just last week, an
eight-year-old girl in the
province of Jiangsu was
diagnosed with lung cancer.
In September, the government
announced its Air Pollution
Control Action Plan, its
latest initiative to address
air pollution so bad that
the smog over northeast
China for the past two weeks
has been visible from space.
The increasing costs of the
fuels used to generate
electricity have spawned a
need for technology that can
improve the efficiency of
fuel conversion, setting the
stage for combined heat and
power (CHP) to emerge as the
distributed power generation
technology of choice. In
fact, the CHP market
covering Europe, North
America, and Asia-Pacific
across the residential,
commercial, industrial, and
institutional sectors earned
revenues of $4.26 billion in
2012 and should generate
$4.91 billion in 2017,
according to projections
from Frost & Sullivan.
Twenty leading climate
experts today called on
Governor Jerry Brown to
impose an immediate
moratorium on fracking in
California.
In a letter delivered
this morning, the experts
say fracking and other
extreme oil and gas
extraction techniques
disrupt the climate and harm
California’s efforts to be a
leader in reducing
greenhouse gas emissions.
Commentators have missed
the significance of
President Clinton’s public
expression of his “personal
opinion” that Obama should
“honor his commitment” to
let people keep their health
insurance plans if they like
them.
By intervening in the
chaos surrounding the
ObamaCare launch, President
Clinton has staked out
ground for his wife in her
efforts to position herself
for the 2016 contest.
The Pennsylvania Coal
Alliance is calling upon
federal regulators to allow
flexibility for states
developing emission
standards in order to strike
an appropriate balance
between environmental
improvements and economic
concerns, as well as to work
collaboratively with energy
stakeholders (as the
government did with the auto
industry) to improve fuel
efficiency and reduce U.S.
dependence on foreign oil.
A Charleston attorney
specializing in natural
resources said Tuesday
during the Beckley Rotary
Club meeting that although
"King Coal has not yet left
the building," shale gas
drilling will be the state's
best hope for jobs and
economic impact.
Codex guidelines and
standards are used as
benchmarks in World Trade
Organization disputes—and as
a WTO member, the US is
susceptible to this
pressure.
However, contrary to many
Internet rumors, governments
are not required to adopt
Codex standards, so the
effects of any Codex
decisions are never
immediate. They are drawn
out over many years.
Investors have
regained confidence in the
global economic outlook
following resolution of the
U.S. debt crisis, according
to the BofA Merrill Lynch
Fund Manager Survey for
November. With political
paralysis in Washington
overcome, a net 67 percent
of respondents now expect
the world’s economy to
strengthen over the next 12
months – up a notable 13
percentage points from
October.
The fight to curb Lake
Erie’s toxic algal blooms is
getting attention and
funding.
The Ohio Phosphorus Task
Force II today issued its
final report on findings to
support reduction of
phosphorus loading and
associated harmful algal
blooms in Lake Erie and
surrounding watersheds.
“This report gives us an
excellent road map for
moving forward in phosphorus
management in the Lake Erie
watershed,” says Dr. Jeff
Reutter, Ohio Sea Grant
Director. “The challenge
will be on the
implementation side, that is
to implement the 20
recommendations in this
report.”
Haiti, the Philippines
and Pakistan were the
countries that suffered the
most due to extreme weather
events in 2012, according to
the Global Climate Risk
Index released yesterday at
the UN Climate Change
Conference in Warsaw,
Poland.
The 2012 events that hit
these countries and, so
explain their high ranking
were Hurricane Sandy in
Haiti, Typhoon Bopha in the
Philippines, and severe
monsoon flooding in
Pakistan.
Thirty-five percent
of banks’ market share in
North America could be up
for grabs by 2020, as
traditional branch banking
gives way to digital banking
and as new competition
emerges, according to new
research published by
Accenture (NYSE: ACN).
“Given the scale of these
disruptions, traditional
full-service banks, as a
group, could lose
significant market share by
2020 -- to banks that
reorient around digital
technologies and to new
entrants from the retail and
technology sectors. Our
research shows signs of this
already occurring.”
A global hot spot for
mining frac sand; Wisconsin
could have its groundwater
contaminated by this
process, critics say.
Frac sand is "quartz sand
of a specific grain size and
shape" that is suspended in
the fluid that gets injected
into oil and gas
wells, according to a report
by the Wisconsin Geological
and Natural History Survey,
a University of Wisconsin
program.
The Arizona Department of
Emergency and military
Affairs sent out a press
release Nov. 4, announcing a
planned statewide exercise
to test the preparedness of
response agencies in case
the lights go out.
The drill was planned for
Nov 6-7, with another drill
set for Nov. 20-21, with
multiple exercises involving
over 240 agencies.
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) is
making the coal industry
nervous with a proposed rule
that would impose new
regulations on greenhouse
gas emissions from newly
constructed power plants.
This would permit
new coal plants to emit no
more than 1,300-1,400 pounds
of carbon dioxide per
megawatt hour. While the
rule is more lenient in its
standards for coal plants
than for those powered by
natural gas, coal powered
generating facilities will
need carbon capture and
storage (CCS) technology
installed in order to meet
the proposed requirement.
Monday, the Filipino
delegate to the ongoing
climate summit, Naderev
'Yeb' Saño, dared climate
change deniers to take a
hard look at what's
happening not just in the
Philippines, but the whole
world. Over the weekend, the
Philippines was hit by what
may have been the largest
typhoon to ever make
landfall: Typhoon Haiyan.
Reports are still coming in
days later; death tolls were
initially estimated to be
over 10,000 with whole
cities simply swept away,
but more recent reports are
placing the death toll lower
but still substantial.
"To anyone who continues
to deny the reality that is
climate change, I dare them
to get off their ivory
towers and away from the
comfort of their armchairs,"
Saño said
Fluor Corporation (NYSE:
FLR) announced today that
after two years of
engineering, procurement and
construction work, it
achieved substantial
completion of the Arlington
Valley Solar Energy II
facility for Arlington
Valley Solar Energy II, LLC
(AVSE II), a member of LS
Power Group. The
125-megawatt facility in
Maricopa County, Arizona -
among the world's largest
photovoltaic farms - has
already begun supplying
clean, renewable energy to
the region.
The Smart Wheel is designed
to work on almost any
bicycle. The 250W electric
motor automatically kicks in
when the user starts
pedaling, and it stops when
the user does. As is the
case with conventional
electric bikes, this allows
riders to pedal with less
effort.
The operator of Japan's
crippled Fukushima nuclear
plant will as early as this
week begin removing 400
tonnes of highly irradiated
spent fuel in a hugely
delicate and unprecedented
operation fraught with risk.
Carefully plucking more
than 1,500 brittle and
potentially damaged fuel
assemblies from the plant's
unstable Reactor No. 4 is
expected to take about a
year, and will be seen as a
test of Tokyo Electric Power
Co's ability to move ahead
with decommissioning the
whole facility - a task
likely to take decades and
cost tens of billions of
dollars.
As states like California
move forward with more
aggressive Renewable
Portfolio Standards (RPS)
and seek to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions,
state officials need to
consider the full value of
the power sources they use,
which is critical to
ensuring that consumers get
the most affordable overall
system cost and recognizing
the different reasons for
choosing clean power
sources.
A typical day in Orlando,
Florida is hot, humid, and
sunny – the perfect
environment to grow some
algae. On Monday afternoon,
Power-Gen and Renewable
Energy World attendees
headed to the Culture Fuels
site to learn about their
algal biomass technology.
According to Mike Welch,
research associate at
Culture Fuels, the company
hopes to scale-up its
technology so that it can
economically and efficiently
produce algal biodiesel. And
since algae need plenty of
carbon dioxide (CO2) to
thrive, Welch believes algae
can work hand-in-hand with
fossil fuel generation to
help offset emissions.
The Obama administration is
rushing to reach a new deal
intended to lower barriers
to trade with a dozen
Pacific Rim nations,
including Japan and Canada,
before the end of the year.
But the White House is now
facing new hurdles closer to
home, with nearly half of
the members of the House
signing letters or otherwise
signaling their opposition
to granting so-called
fast-track authority that
would make any agreement
immune to a Senate
filibuster and not subject
to amendment. No major trade
pact has been approved by
Congress in recent decades
without such authority.
The oil and gas production
industry is failing to
report measurable reductions
of its impacts on
communities and the
environment from hydraulic
fracturing operations,
according to a scorecard
report by As You Sow, Boston
Common Asset Management,
Green Century Capital
Management, and the Investor
Environmental Health Network
(IEHN), which benchmarks 24
companies engaged in
hydraulic fracturing against
investor needs for
disclosure of operational
impacts and mitigation
efforts.
Help could be on the way for
people who don't have enough
bone to support dental
implants, who are missing
bone due to a birth defect,
or who have suffered
bone-damaging injuries.
Scientists at the University
of Iowa have created an
implantable collagen patch
seeded with particles
containing synthetic DNA,
that instructs the patient's
own cells to produce the
protein that leads to bone
growth.
Shi’ites were targeted in a
wave of blasts and other
attacks, while many of them
were taking part in Ashura
rituals. Overall, at least
50 people were killed and
131 more were wounded.
This solemn holiday marks
the martyrdom of Imam
Hussein in the 7th century
and has become a symbol of
the Shi’ite-Sunni schism.
Sunnis, however, also
suffered casualties in
today’s violence. Millions
of pilgrims are expected to
arrive in the holy city of
Karbala and will be easy
targets for militants.
There is a deep irony at
work in the intersection of
energy and the environment.
The biggest threat to our
planet is climate change,
caused in large part by our
profligate use of energy.
And one of the biggest
solutions is to de-carbonize
our electricity system by
building renewable energy
projects, linked to cities
and large urban centers with
new transmission lines.
These renewable energy
systems can require large
amounts of land. But with
careful planning, we can
preserve conservation values
while significantly reducing
our carbon footprint.
Japan's government is
finalizing plans to borrow
an additional 3 trillion yen
($30 billion) to pay for
compensating Fukushima
evacuees and cleaning up the
area outside the wrecked
nuclear plant, said people
with knowledge of the
situation.
Secretary of State John
Kerry has told US lawmakers
any new sanctions against
Iran would risk ruining
talks over Tehran's nuclear
programme.
He told a Senate banking
committee that the US might
lose negotiating partners if
it imposed economic
penalties.
The panel has been
considering a fresh package
but legislators are divided
on the measure.
There was a time when
learning-by-doing meant shop
class or playing Oregon
Trail. Now it means
designing on a 3-D printer.
The American Council for an
Energy-Efficient Economy
(ACEEE) has released its
seventh annual State
Energy-Efficiency Scorecard,
showing that several states
have taken major steps that
have moved them up in the
rankings.
The top 10 states for energy
efficiency are:
Massachusetts, California,
New York, Oregon,
Connecticut, Rhode Island,
Vermont, Washington,
Maryland, and Illinois, with
Mississippi, Connecticut,
Illinois, and West Virginia
moving up the ranks due to
an increased focus on energy
efficiency.
One of the reasons why
electric cars are poor
sellers is because consumers
have little understanding of
the financial incentives and
other benefits available to
owners of the vehicles.
Here is a simple
question: what percentage of
US banks' balance sheets is
taken up by loans to
businesses? The answer may
surprise some. It's just
under 11.5%, down from about
16% some 10 years back.
Banks began preferring real
estate loans (particularly
commercial real estate) to
corporate credit in the
early part of last decade.
That didn't work out so
well. Since the financial
crisis, banks' deleveraging
sent the number to new lows.
The percentage began to rise
in 2011 but has stalled
again this year.
The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission's top official
toured the Pilgrim Nuclear
Power Station on Friday and
later told reporters the
41-year-old plant, plagued
by mechanical problems, is
headed for trouble with
federal regulators unless it
improves its performance.
When asked whether the
NRC would ever close
Pilgrim, Allison Macfarlane
said the agency has the
authority to shutter any
plant for as long as it
takes for the operation to
turn around and run safely.
If you ever doubt that the
garbage man is the most
important person in your
community, just take a look
at what happens when he
doesn't come around for a
couple weeks.
The global oil market is
currently well supplied but
growing demand pressures and
ongoing disruptions in some
OPEC producing countries
could soon reverse a recent
spate of softer oil prices,
the International Energy
Agency said Thursday.
In its latest monthly
oil market report, the IEA
also raised its estimates
for world oil demand growth
this year and warned that
oil demand is poised for a
seasonal increase in the
coming months.
It's often a case of swings
and roundabouts. If you save
money by buying a house out
of town, you spend more time
and money commuting. If you
really measure the momentum
of an electron, you have no
idea where the little guy is
located. And now, according
to a new analysis by a pair
of University of Texas
electrical engineers, the
better an object is hidden
by an invisibility cloak at
a given wavelength of light,
the easier it is to see at
other wavelengths. Swings
and roundabouts.
The Defense Department said
Wednesday it is canceling
plans to buy additional
cargo helicopters from the
Russian arms export agency
that has supplied Syrian
President Bashar Assad's
military forces with arms
and ammunition.
The additional 15
Russian-built Mi-17
helicopters were to be
purchased next year at a
cost of $345 million and
then delivered to
Afghanistan's national
security forces.
Bipartisan opposition to the
Mi-17 acquisition grew as
the violence in Syria
escalated and U.S. relations
with Russia deteriorated.
The Prairie Island Indian
Community in Minnesota that
hosts twin nuclear reactors
and 35 large steel nuclear
waste storage casks that sit
just 600 yards from Prairie
Island tribal homes, wants
federal government to honour
its promise to transfer the
waste out of the community.
Rains have recharged many
Texas reservoirs over the
last few months, yet some
remain at critical levels,
according to a water
specialist with the Texas
Water Resources Institute
and reports from Texas A&M
AgriLife Extension Service
personnel.
When it leaked that the
federal government may
curtail its Renewable Fuels
Standard (RFS), the words
started to pour from the
mouths of the agricultural
and oil communities.
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency is now
trying to reconfigure the
biofuels’ mandate used for
cars that was established in
2007. According to news
reports, it could set that
target around 3 billion
gallons less than what had
earlier been done, for 2014.
The new level, at 15 billion
gallons -- and potentially
as low as 6 million gallons
-- would need to get the
thumb’s up from the White
House.
C4 event. There are
currently 8 numbered sunspot
regions on the disk. Solar
activity is expected to be
low with a chance for
M-class flares and a slight
chance for an X-class flare
on day one (15 Nov) and
expected to be low with a
chance for M-class flares on
days two and three (16
Nov, 17 Nov). The
geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet
levels on day one (15 Nov),
quiet to unsettled levels on
day two (16 Nov) and quiet
to active levels on day
three (17 Nov). Protons
greater than 10 Mev have a
slight chance of crossing
threshold on day one (15
Nov).
Dear President Obama:
We are deeply concerned
about the deteriorating
situation in Iraq. As Iraqi
Prime Minister Nouri
al-Maliki visits Washington
this week, we urge you to
press him to formulate a
comprehensive political and
security strategy that can
stabilize the country,
enable Iraq to realize its
vast potential, and help to
safeguard our nation’s
enduring national security
interests in Iraq.
By
nearly every indicator,
security conditions in Iraq
have dramatically worsened
over the past two years.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq has
returned with a vengeance:
Engineers from the
University of Sheffield have
developed a way to
significantly reduce the
volume of some higher
activity wastes, which will
reduce the cost of interim
storage and final disposal.
..
Using cerium as a substitute
for plutonium, the Sheffield
team mixed representative
plutonium contaminated
wastes with blast furnace
slag, a commonly available
by-product from steel
production, and heated them
to turn the material into
glass, a process known as
vitrification.
Syria's largest Kurdish
party has said it plans to
form an transitional
administration.
The administration would
rule Kurdish-majority areas
in the northeast until the
broader conflict is over.
Kurdish groups in
northern Syria have tried to
stay out of the civil war
between the government and
rebels.
The North American energy
industry's reputation for
ironclad secrecy is starting
to crack as producers
discover a little
transparency can help save
millions of dollars.
That is what is
motivating Continental
Resources Inc, the biggest
player in North Dakota's
prolific Bakken shale field,
to take the unusual step of
sharing its long-term
drilling plans with pipeline
companies.
The Affordable Care Act
(ACA) was formally signed
into law on March 23, 2010.
There are numerous
provisions that kick in at
various stages, through
2020. For our purposes in
this article, there are four
key elements of the ACA that
merit our attention:
This Friday, November 15,
may be a major turning point
for the Obama Presidency.
On Friday there will be a
key vote on Chairman Fred
Upton’s bill, the Keep You
Health Plan Act. It’s
beginning to look as though
a large number of House
Democrats are going to break
with the President and vote
for the Upton bill.
Ominously for the
President, the House
Democrat rebellion is
matched by an even more
visible desertion among
Senate Democrats.
Toxic algae levels have
shot up in Kentucky.
"At some locations on
five popular Kentucky lakes,
the concentrations of toxic
algae last month were more
than 10 times higher than
the level that previously
prompted the Army Corps of
Engineers to urge public
caution," Gannett's
Courier-Journal
recently reported.
Relief organizations and
first-responders are
mobilizing to provide aid to
those affected by Typhoon
Haiyan in the Philippines.
Organizations are working
tirelessly on the ground to
provide clean water, first
aid, food, and shelter to
those impacted. We've
compiled a list of
organizations to which you
can donate to support these
efforts as well as some
disaster recovery resources.
Iran appears to have
dramatically slowed work on
its atomic energy program
since the summer, U.N.
officials said Thursday. The
report could add momentum to
diplomatic efforts to
resolve a decade-old dispute
over Iranian nuclear
activities.
Your next
trip to the bathroom could
be more valuable than you
think.
Researchers have been
doing some pretty inventive
things with human waste.
Recently, a team of
researchers from the Bristol
Robotics Laboratory in
England figured out a way to
power a cellphone with
urine.
Now,
researchers from that same
lab have figured out a way
to run robots on urine.
Some 92% of back pain
sufferers were relieved by
this natural treatment, and
gout sufferers too, but now
it’s banned to make way for
an expensive new copycat FDA
approved drug...
By banning generic, oral,
and compounded colchicine,
FDA cemented Colcrys’s
monopoly.
The 15-year fixed rate
mortgage is popular.
Last quarter, a growing
number of U.S. households
refinanced out of 30-year
fixed rate mortgages, and
into 15-year and 20-year
ones. More refinancing
households moved to shorter
loan terms than during any
quarter in 10 years.
Low mortgage rates are
part of the reason. The HARP
refinance program is the
other.
Greater output, less weight,
improved production and
installation processes -
Siemens intends to apply
these approaches to reduce
the costs of offshore wind
power in the coming years.
The company is presenting
its new 4- and 6-megawatt
wind turbines at the EWEA
Offshore Trade fair in
Frankfurt/Main. At the
conference accompanying the
trade fair, high-ranking
representatives from Siemens
will present the strategies
the company plans to apply
to achieve these cost
reductions in the coming
years.
-
In 2013, infant formula
added nearly $5 billion
in global sales, making
it the fastest growing
functional food
worldwide
-
Formula feeding not only
costs thousands of
dollars a year, but also
means mom and baby are
missing out on numerous
disease-fighting
benefits
-
The increased medical
costs of diseases caused
by a lack of
breastfeeding infants in
their first six months
of life are estimated to
be $13 billion each year
in the US
-
Breast milk is nearly
always the best food for
babies; ideally, you'll
want to strive to
breastfeed your baby
exclusively for the
first 6 months, at which
point you can begin to
supplement with solid
foods and continue to
breastfeed for a year or
longer
-
A number of common
chemicals in your home
and environment are
known as endocrine
disruptors, many of
which are found in
plastic products
-
Endocrine-disrupting
chemicals are similar in
structure to natural sex
hormones such as
estrogen, thereby
interfering with their
normal functions.
Children are at greatest
risk for adverse effects
-
12 worst endocrine
disruptors are: BPA,
dioxin, Atrazine,
phthalates, perchlorate,
fire retardants, lead,
mercury, arsenic, PFC’s,
organophosphate
pesticides, and glycol
ethers
-
The connection between
endocrine disrupting
chemicals and cancer is
of particular concern.
Children who are exposed
to these chemicals from
a young age may be
predisposed to cancer at
increasingly earlier
ages
-
A recent report
co-produced by the World
Health Organization and
the United Nations
Environment Program
suggests a ban on
endocrine disrupting
chemicals (EDCs) may
actually be needed to
protect the health of
future generations
November 12, 2013
Three Colorado cities
voted Tuesday to ban
fracking, the kind of test
that might be coming to
states from California to
North Carolina as oil and
gas drilling surges from
coast to coast.
The Colorado vote,
happening in a state with a
long history of energy
development, was a trial of
whether the oil and gas
industry could overcome
passionate opposition to the
drilling practice that's
helped create an American
energy boom.
Nuclear isn’t dead,
according to Morningstar
analysts, but cheap natural
gas has shuttered some
plants and left others at
risk...
“In the last year, U.S.
utilities have closed or
announced plans to close
five nuclear reactors in
addition to the canceled
development plans,”
according to Morningstar’s
Utilities Observer
report for November,
“leading to speculation that
prolonged low gas prices
could drive more plant
closures given the high
maintenance capital
investment requirements.”
Both sides of the costly
and high-stakes GMO labeling
battle in Washington state
say they see an even bigger
national fight ahead despite
the apparent defeat of the
mandatory labeling measure
by Washington state voters
this week.
The measure died 47.05
percent to 52.95 percent,
according to results updated
Thursday night by the
Washington Secretary of
State's office as results
continued to trickle in. The
likely loss followed a
similar defeat last year in
California when a ballot
initiative there also failed
to pass.
It was a two-way
conversation that revealed
both great frustration with
Washington, which seems
impervious to change, and
great optimism about
America, where lots of
exciting things are
happening every day.
The nation's aging,
vulnerable power grid and
the threat of natural
disasters and terrorist
activity make a long-term
collapse that could leave
millions of Americans in the
dark a growing likelihood.
-- To experts, it's not if,
it's when. -- Parts of the
nation's system have gone
down. -- In 2003, human
error and a computer bug
plunged 50 million people
into darkness for up to two
days after high voltage
lines brushed against
foliage in Northern Ohio.
Multiple interconnected
systems went down as one
failure led to another in a
cascade of collapse that
sparked about $6 billion in
economic damages in the
northern U.S. and Canada.
Eleven deaths were
attributed in part to the
failure. -- No system is
immune.
A new estimate of bat deaths
caused by wind turbines
concludes that more than
600,000 of the mammals
likely died this way in 2012
in the contiguous United
States. The estimate,
published in an article in
BioScience, used
sophisticated statistical
techniques to infer the
probable number of bat
deaths at wind energy
facilities from the number
of dead bats found at 21
locations, correcting for
the installed power capacity
of the facilities.
...I’ve read that he
has made them—that he does
that to honor us. Without
understanding the journey of
our country and the
Holocaust that Native
Americans have gone into—I
think he’s in the wrong
country making that comment.
I think he needs to go to
Germany and try to have,
likewise, a team with a
Jewish symbol as a mascot in
Germany to say that’s to
honor the Jews. That’s the
only parallel that can be
made. I would try to compare
apples with apples and
oranges to oranges.
New statistics from
the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency showed
that the biodiesel industry
has cracked the
1-billion-gallon mark for
the third consecutive year,
with several months of
production remaining.
“This is a
tremendous achievement that
is a testament to the hard
work of the biodiesel
industry and the success of
the Renewable Fuel Standard
as an effective policy for
diversifying our fuel
supplies,..
Fossil fuel companies
stand to miss out on $9
trillion to $12 trillion in
profits by the end of the
century if carbon emissions
are taxed at a high enough
level to meet international
climate goals. Cry us a
river, right?
That’s because demand for
coal, oil, and natural gas
would fall as prices are
pushed higher, leading
companies to leave vast
volumes in the ground,
according to a new study.
It's not every day that
the weatherman reports on
atmospheric river
storms...but we may be
hearing the term more
frequently now as
researchers have linked
climate in the Pacific Ocean
and West Coast mountains to
these distinctive storms.
An atmospheric river is a
narrow stream of wind, about
a mile high and sometimes of
hurricane strength. Crossing
the warm tropical Pacific in
a few days, it becomes laden
with water vapor. A
moderate-sized atmospheric
river carries as much water
as the Mississippi River
dumps into the Gulf of
Mexico in an average week!
When the river comes ashore
and stalls over higher
terrain, the water falls as
snow or rain.
Attorney David Schorr
slapped a court-appointed
shrink with a defamation
lawsuit for telling the
judge deciding a custody
battle with his estranged
wife that he was an unfit
parent — for refusing to
take his son to the fast
food joint for dinner.
“You’d think it was
sexual molestation,” Schorr,
43, told The Post Thursday.
“I am just floored by it.”
As part of the fallout from
Arizona Public Service's
(APS) scandal surrounding
lying about funding dark
money organizations to
attack rooftop solar and in
response to Edison Electric
Institute's (EEI) series of
television and radio ads
against rooftop solar in
Arizona, the Alliance for
Solar Choice (TASC) wants
EEI to disavow what TASC
calls "APS's underhanded
behavior" and state whether
or not EEI has used dark
money.
Hazards of exposure to these
common products include
reproductive harm, cancer
and endocrine disruption.
Common feminine care
products used by millions of
women are laced with
hazardous chemicals
including carcinogens,
toxins and endocrine
disruptors, a new report
reveals.
For many of Japan's
oldest nuclear refugees, all
they want is to be allowed
back to the homes they were
forced to abandon. Others
are ready to move away,
severing ties to the ghost
towns that remain in the
shadow of the wrecked
Fukushima nuclear plant.
But among the thousands
of evacuees stuck in
temporary housing more than
two and a half years after
the worst nuclear accident
since Chernobyl, there is a
shared understanding on one
point - Japan's government
is unable to deliver on its
ambitious initial goals for
cleaning up the areas that
had to be evacuated after
the March 2011 earthquake
and tsunami disaster.
Think tank says support for
coal, oil, and gas is
locking the world into a
high-carbon future and
failing to benefit poorer
people.
Average fossil fuel
subsidies in the world's
richest countries have
reached $112 per person,
draining national treasuries
while undermining
international efforts to
avert dangerous climate
change, according to an
influential think tank.
France's national geological
and environment agencies
have published a joint study
outlining several
significant risks of coalbed
gas exploration without
using hydraulic fracturing,
and called for access to
exploration sites to examine
specific dangers.
Geological agency BRGM and
industrial environment
agency INERIS studied
findings from coalbed
methane projects around the
world, and in a summary
published Friday, the groups
said several environmental
risks remain in bringing the
gas to the surface.
Is Israel really planning to
attack Iran, or are
declarations about the
possibility of a pre-emptive
strike at Teheran’s nuclear
program simply bombast? Does
President Obama’s “we have
your back” comment about
Israel mean the U.S. will
join an assault? What
happens if the attack
doesn’t accomplish its
goals, an outcome predicted
by virtually every military
analyst? In that case, might
the Israelis, facing a long,
drawn out war, resort to the
unthinkable: nuclear
weapons?
-
School-aged children who
drank raw milk were 41
percent less likely to
develop asthma and about
50 percent less likely
to develop hay fever
than children who drank
store-bought
(pasteurized) milk
-
The beneficial effect
may have been due to
whey proteins, including
BSA and
alpha-lactalbumin, in
the raw milk, which were
destroyed by the heating
process in the
pasteurized milk
-
Raw milk is rich in
beneficial raw fats,
amino acids, and
proteins in a highly
bioavailable form, all
100-percent digestible
A resolution to the crisis
that has crippled Libya's
oil sector, pushing its
production down to just
250,000 b/d, could be close
after prime minister Ali
Zeidan at the weekend
threatened unspecified
action within 10 days
against protesters that have
blockaded key oil
infrastructure across the
country since the summer.
All four of this year's
marijuana-related proposals
came out victorious on
November 5.
As Amanda Polchies knelt
down in the middle of the
blocked-off highway with
nothing but an eagle feather
held aloft separating her
from a solid wall of blue
advancing police officers,
she prayed.
“I prayed for the women
that were in pain, I prayed
for my people, I prayed for
the RCMP officers,” the
28-year-old Elsipogtog First
Nation member told Indian
Country Today Media Network.
“I prayed that everything
would just end and nobody
would get hurt.”
The Morro Bay Power Plant,
which became a fixture of
the city's landscape and a
major contributor to the
city budget 60 years ago,
will be retired around
February, a spokesperson for
the plant's owner confirmed
Friday.
Mortgage bonds worsened
last week after Friday's
October Non-Farm Payrolls
report showed U.S. labor
markets performing better
than Wall Street expected.
The data sparked a
full-scale mortgage market
selloff. By the week's end,
mortgage rates had surged to
a 9-week high and momentum
appears to be pulling rates
north.
Typhoon Haiyan made landfall
last week, causing much
destruction in Southeast
Asia. With death counts
estimated to be in the
thousands, this storm is one
of the most powerful
recorded typhoons to ever
hit land and likely the
deadliest natural disaster
to hit the Philippines. So
far, the typhoon is said to
have affected at least 9.7
million people in 41
provinces.
Insiders reveal a figure
that, if accurate, falls
radically short of
expectations...Health
officials had told Congress
the initial enrollment tally
for HealthCare.gov would be
low, but the numbers fall
far short of the 500,000
that the Administration had
set as a target for the
site’s first month.
The Philippine delegate
at U.N. climate talks began
a fast on Monday in protest
at a lack of action on
global warming that he
blamed for fuelling a super
typhoon that has killed an
estimated 10,000 people in
his country.
Delegates from almost 200
nations held three minutes'
silence to mourn victims of
typhoon Haiyan, one of the
most powerful storms ever
recorded, at the start of
November 11-22 talks to plan
a U.N. deal in 2015 to slow
climate change.
Rescue workers struggled
to reach ravaged towns and
villages in the central
Philippines on Monday as
they tried to deliver aid to
survivors of a powerful
typhoon that killed an
estimated 10,000 people and
displaced more than 600,000.
The United Nations said
some survivors had no food,
water or medicine. Relief
operations were hampered
because roads, airports and
bridges had been destroyed
or were covered in wreckage,
it said.
The Tennessee Valley
Authority has polluted
groundwater supplies around
all its coal-fired power
plants, including ones near
Gallatin and Clarksville, a
national environmental group
concluded in a newly
released report.
The report, released last
week by the Environmental
Integrity Project in
anticipation of December's
fifth anniversary of a
massive coal ash spill in
Kingston, found that TVA's
pollution problems extend
far beyond the damage done
by that environmental
disaster. It said TVA could
be doing more to protect
drinking water supplies.
Southern California Edison
(SCE) has made documentation
publicly available showing
that for more than 16
months, "Mitsubishi failed
to offer any viable,
implementable and licensable
plan that would safely and
reliably restore the
replacement steam generators
to 100-percent power for
their promised 40-year
operational life" at the San
Onofre Nuclear Generating
Station (SONGS). The
publication of these
materials follows the
September 20, 2013 finding
by the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission that Mitsubishi's
replacement steam generators
at SONGS failed, in part,
due to a flaw in
Mitsubishi's proprietary
computer code used to design
and manufacture them.
The risk of skill shortages
threatens to limit renewable
energy expansion in Canada,
according to research from
Electricity Human Resources
Canada (EHRC). Several
scenarios demonstrated that
recruiting the required
numbers of skilled workers
will exceed the limits of
current training programs
and bring renewable
electricity employers into
competition with hiring
anticipated in other
industries.
Restoring ocean fisheries in
24 countries could provide a
meal for close to a billion
people a day. New Englanders
can also help ocean
ecosystems recover by eating
wild fish, choosing small
fish, buying fish from the
United States and eating
mollusks, according to
Andrew Sharpless, CEO of
Oceana.
It's best to
avoid eating shrimp because
they are caught in nets that
bring many species up
accidentally, Sharpless
said. The unwanted species
are known as "by catch" and
are tossed back into sea,
usually dead. He also said
carnivorous fish such as
salmon should be caught in
the wild rather than farmed.
National Coalition approves
"interim government" and
says it will take part in
peace talks if Assad is
removed.
Syria's internationally
recognised opposition group
has approved nine
"ministers" for an interim
government charged with
running Syrian territory
that is in rebel hands.
The North American energy
industry's reputation for
ironclad secrecy is starting
to crack as producers
discover a little
transparency can help save
millions of dollars.
That is what is
motivating Continental
Resources Inc, the biggest
player in North Dakota's
prolific Bakken shale field,
to take the unusual step of
sharing its long-term
drilling plans with pipeline
companies.
The solar industry has
been very hot. Record
amounts of new solar
capacity have been installed
over the past two years. The
accelerating pace of
adoption of solar panels for
distributed generation
(installed at the point of
use, rather than sold into
the power grid) and the
downward trend of module
prices have created
exuberance over the
industry’s future.
Solar has reached and
eclipsed price parity with
traditional fuel sources in
some markets, and ultimately
the potential market for
solar PV is huge. A solar
module costs approximately
1% of what it did 35 years
ago and prices for solar pv
panels have plummeted since
2010, with an average price
per watt for panels falling
from $1.81 in 2010 to less
than $0.70 and today.
The sun's energy has been a
central component of the
renewable energy cache,
including several harnessing
technologies such as solar
heating, photovoltaics,
thermal, architecture and
artificial photosynthesis.
Researchers at the
University of Cincinnati are
bringing forth a new method
of solar capture and storage
called SmartLight that
includes the use of
electrofluidic cells in
concert with embedded
photovoltaics placed at the
top of a building's windows.
These solar capture elements
are then used to project
light into the building
through a continuous
grid-strip of electrofluidic
cells.
Global warming poses a
mounting threat to health,
economic growth, crops and
water supplies, according to
a draft report by top
scientists that puts
unprecedented emphasis on
the risks of a changing
climate.
A leaked 29-page draft by
the U.N. Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC), about the impacts of
rising temperatures and due
for release in March 2014,
mentions "risk" 139 times
against just 41 in its last
assessment in 2007.
The amount of greenhouse gas
in the globe's atmosphere
hit a record high in 2012,
the United Nations said on
Wednesday.
Carbon
dioxide, which makes up 80
percent of greenhouse gas
levels, was higher in 2012
than its average growth rate
over the last decade, the
U.N. World Meteorological
Organization (WMO) said in
an emailed bulletin.
Let's face it -- no matter
how you slice it, and no
matter how many billions of
bucks huge corporations pour
into research and marketing,
there's just no copying
nature. But that sure hasn't
stopped Big Food fat cats
from trying.
As a
result, genetically modified
foods have flooded our local
supermarket shelves, and we
have no idea what the
long-term health
consequences of these
freakish Frankenfoods may
be. Even worse, they've now
taken to the airwaves in an
all-out effort to squash the
kind of food-labeling that
would allow you and me to
know exactly which foods
have been monkeyed with.
Wind farms and solar
parks are changing hands at
record rates, signaling both
an increased taste for the
assets among pension funds
and hard times for utilities
that are the biggest
sellers.
About 43 percent of the
275 deals completed in the
power industry in the first
nine months were for
renewable generators, up
from 37 percent in the
year-earlier period,
according to data compiled
by Ernst & Young LLP. The
value of all the deals
increased to $104 billion
from $93 billion.
First, Russia shows the
impotence of our Syrian
policy and now France
demonstrates how we are
appeasing Iran foolishly.
It’s not been a good year
for Obama’s foreign policy.
The world is catching on.
But for the objections of
the newly stand-up French,
led by Foreign Minister
Laurent Fabius, the 5+1
talks would have led to an
abject surrender to Iran,
allowing the terrorist-state
to continue to build a
plutonium plant and to
freeze its uranium
enrichment centrifuges just
one notch below bomb-level.
Solar power and keg
stands have one thing in
common: Wal-Mart wants to
profit from them.
In the race for
commercial solar power,
Wal-Mart is killing it. The
company now has almost twice
as much capacity as
second-place Costco. A
better comparison: Wal-Mart
is converting more sun into
energy than 38 U.S. states.
Water UK, a body which
represents the major UK
water and waste-water
service suppliers, is
expected to conclude in a
study set to be published
soon that risks of
contamination to water
supplies during shale gas
exploration can be limited.
"The study is not
actually out yet but it is
due soon," a spokesman for
Water UK told Platts Monday.
"The water industry's view
is that there are risks but
they can be mitigated."
The next time you
experience a cold or the
flu, remember this: rather
than take conventional drugs
to suppress uncomfortable
symptoms, it’s better for
your health to allow the
cold or flu to run its
course while you get plenty
of physical and emotional
rest.
Conventional medicine and
the pharmaceutical industry
would have you believe that
there is no “cure” for the
common cold, that you should
protect yourself against the
flu with a vaccine that is
laden with toxic chemicals,
and that during the midst of
a cold or flu, it is
favorable to ease your
discomfort with a variety of
medications that can
suppress your symptoms.
The medications Tamiflu
and Relenza are not good
options for treating the
flu. They are
ineffective and
expensive, and are
associated with severe
side effects.
For acute viral
infections, including
the flu, supplementing
with vitamin D3 (50,000
units per day), vitamin
A (100,000 units per
day), and vitamin C
(10,000 mg twice per
day, if your stomach can
tolerate it) is very
helpful for the immune
system. However, you
should not take these
large doses for more
than two days without
consulting a healthcare
provider.
In what may very well prove
to be a landmark discovery,
researchers at Chalmers
University of Technology
(Sweden) and the Polish
Wroclaw University of
Technology (Poland) have
proven phototherapy to be a
more effective means of
treating diseases such as
Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s,
and Mad Cow, then the
current method, which
involves chemicals.
The U.S. government had been
"closed for business" while
a looming debt ceiling
crisis was pending. Now
those same lawmakers must
decide whether to extend the
wind energy Production Tax
Credit (PTC). President
Obama's official position is
that the PTC should be
extended indefinitely. Many
in Congress disagree and
there are is ample private
sector and research lab
commentary on both sides of
the question.
November 8, 2013
Despite what you may have heard, the flu vaccine is not for
everyone.
Under assault from a massive public relations campaign from
drug store
chains, big
pharmaceutical
companies, and
government
agencies, people
who don’t get
the flu shot are
often accused of
being
uneducated, or
even worse,
socially
irresponsible.
But many experts say this type of flu shot fanaticism is
misguided.
At least 29 people were
killed and 29 more wounded
in mostly shootings and
small bomb attack.
ALARMclock might look like a
simple wooden alarm clock,
but its meek exterior hides
its true raison d'etre,
which is to energize each
morning by shocking users
awake with facts and figures
highlighting the harsh
realities of life.
A new alloy of aluminum
that can store hydrogen
could open the door to
lightweight, efficient fuel
cells of the future,
Japanese researchers say.
Lightweight interstitial
hydrides -- compounds in
which hydrogen atoms occupy
the interstices (spaces)
between metal atoms -- have
been put forward as a safe
and efficient means for
storing hydrogen for fuel
cell vehicles. While
hydrides based on magnesium,
sodium and boron have been
manufactured, they have
proven unsatisfactory as a
hydrogen repository.
California will need new
policies, new technologies
or both to meet its
ambitious greenhouse gas
reduction goals by 2050,
according to an analysis
released Monday by Lawrence
Berkeley National
Laboratory.
The study gives an
encouraging but sobering
assessment of California's
fight against global
warming.
During World War II, amid
a gasoline shortage, many
European commuters had to
improvise, often resorting
to installing clunky power
generators that converted
wood into fuel for their
engines. (Check out this
rig!) But once fossil
fuels were readily available
again, these briefly popular
machines were, for the most
part, tossed into the
dustbin of history.
Today, in a renovated
former artists’ space in
Berkeley, an alternative
energy startup, has slowly
begun resurrecting this more
than century-old technology
known as gasification.
In what may be the best news
for chocoholics since
scientists at the University
of Cambridge found that
higher chocolate consumption
was associated with a
significant reduction in
cardiovascular disease,
diabetes and stroke,
researchers at the
University of Granada are
reporting that it's also
associated with lower levels
of total fat deposits – in
the bodies of adolescents at
least.
They came by car, airplane
and train. Some were
grandparents, others still
in their 20s. They traveled
from at least five states --
executives, politicians,
scientists, labor
representatives and
homemakers.
The critics insist that
food shortages are due to
financialization of the
physical commodity markets.
As the article’s author,
Dennis Kremer, explains:
“To put it bluntly, the
allegations are that up
there in the boardrooms of
the financial institutions
they are making big money at
the expense of the world’s
poorest; and in the face of
more than 840 million people
who are starving – who would
not find this abominable?”
Indeed. But Kremer
proceeds to deftly unpack –
and refute – the
allegations. He starts by
discussing a pair of
agricultural economists...
The United States military
is investing heavily in
electric vehicles (EV),
including hybrid electric
vehicles (HEV) and plug-in
electric vehicles (PEV), to
capture the economic,
environmental, and strategic
benefits offered by vehicles
that do not run on fossil
fuels. One of the largest
supporters of various types
of alternative drive
vehicles, the U.S.
Department of Defense (DoD)
is expected to increase its
purchases of EVs in the
coming years. In fact, the
DoD will acquire more than
92,400 EVs for non-tactical
purposes from 2013 to 2020,
according to Navigant
Research.
When four of the most
prominent climate scientists
emerged this week and said
that nuclear energy was a
must-have fuel to combat
global warming, the message
caught their biggest fans
off-guard. Indeed, the green
groups are saying that the
four know a lot about
science but not that much
about nuclear power.
Residents from Kansas,
Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa
testified at the regional
Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) office in
Lenexa, calling on officials
to enact the strongest
possible limits on carbon
emissions from coal and
gas-fired power plants at
the EPA's listening session
for its upcoming carbon
pollution proposal. Coal and
gas-fired power plants emit
more than 2.3 metric tons
per year of carbon
pollution, approximately 40
percent of total U.S.
energy-related carbon
pollution and is the main
contributor to climate
change, according to the
EPA.
I predict Democrats in the
House and Senate will force
President Obama to stop
canceling insurance policies
and restore those he has
already caused insurance
companies to cancel. The
party simply cannot go into
the next election with tens
of millions of voters angry
with its members for costing
them their health insurance.
After the president made "If
you like your healthcare
plan, you can keep your
healthcare plan" the
signature statement of his
administration's policy,
these cancellations carry
too big a political price
for his party to bear.
For years we have
trusted the Arizona
Corporation Commission (ACC)
to properly regulate our
utility monopolies. This,
after all, is what we have
elected these officials to
do on our behalf. But it’s
no easy task.
Our utilities do
everything they can,
hopefully within the
constraints of the law, to
influence policies which
will further their business
interests. This is a pretty
commonplace practice and
makes perfect business
sense. But the real question
becomes whether or not
everything going on is
legitimate and truly in the
best interest of the people
these bodies represent.
- Ford continues to
expand the use of
near-dry machining, also
known as Minimum
Quantity Lubrication or
MQL, which considerably
reduces water and oil
use, and improves plant
air quality by
eliminating the airborne
mist produced by
traditional wet
machining
- Ford now has six
plants in North
America, Asia
Pacific and Europe that
have implemented the MQL
process
- MQL replaces the use
of large quantities of
conventional
metal-working fluids and
provides the same amount
of lubrication with much
less environmental waste
Two things are happening
this week that will
re-infuse nuclear energy,
perhaps giving it a more
prominent position in the
global energy portfolio: A
compelling letter released
by four high-powered
scientists and the national
showing on Thursday night of
Pandora’s Promise by CNN.
The United States hasn’t
built a new nuclear warhead
or bomb since the 1990s, but
it has refurbished several
types in recent years to
extend their lifetime. The
DOE is currently
refurbishing as many as
2,000 submarine-based W76
warheads at a cost of
roughly $2 million each.
The Internal Revenue
Service issued $4 billion in
fraudulent tax refunds last
year to people using stolen
identities, with some of the
money going to addresses in
Bulgaria, Lithuania and
Ireland, according to a
Treasury report released
Thursday.
The IRS sent a total of
655 tax refunds to a single
address in Lithuania, and
343 refunds went to a lone
address in Shanghai.
The Virginia election
returns confirm what
political insiders have
known for many decades --
that the real gap in our
politics is not between men
and women, but between
married men and married
women on the one hand and
single men and single women
on the other. It doesn't
matter if you are divorced,
separated, widowed or never
married. If you are single
you are much more likely to
vote Democratic.
This insight raises the
question of motivation.
100,000 people in a town
called Tecoma, in Victoria,
Australia, are fighting a
battle to keep McDonald’s
away from their town, where
McDonald’s wants one of its
junk stores to be built near
the school, naturally,
because when you push food
that addicts people like
drugs do, you want to be
where you can create
customers for life. The
people of the town have even
taken the fight to Chicago.
With the world’s first laser
enrichment plant having
received a construction and
operating license from the
US Nuclear Regulatory
Commission in 2012, the
stage has been set for a
radical change in the
industry. So how does laser
enrichment work, and what
commercial benefits, along
with proliferation concerns,
does this new process
present compared to current
methods?
When the great Oracle of
Omaha speaks, it pays to
listen.
Guess what! He hinted at
a bombshell just ahead — one
I've predicted for months
...
Concerns about the
potential environmental
effects of fracking have
spurred new regulations in
Michigan.
The Michigan Department
of Environmental Quality
proposed new regulations
this month that would slap
reporting and monitoring
requirements on drilling
companies, affecting how oil
and gas companies approach
water issues.
For instance, "fracking
operations will be required
to install a well to monitor
groundwater levels if there
is a water supply well
within 1,320 feet of the
fracking operation," Crain's
Detroit Business
reported.
The scheduled shutdown of
Japan's sole operating
nuclear reactor on September
15 could equate to
additional LNG requirement
of around 18 Bcf of imports
from September until the end
of the year, according to a
Bentek and Platts analysis.
But with LNG burn at
power plants already close
to maximum, coal and oil are
seen more likely to fill the
vacuum.
Anti-nuclear activists
and industry employees
packed a meeting Monday on
whether nuclear power plants
can safely store spent fuel
between the time plants
retire and a permanent
federal disposal site opens.
A federal appeals court
last year vacated the
Nuclear Regulatory
Commission's "waste
confidence" rule, in which
the agency said used fuel
could be safely stored for
at least 60 years after
plants retire.
There have been two
ways to harness the sun to
generate electricity: build
a large, single array that
might produce as much as 50
megawatts to feed directly
into the grid in much the
way the output of a
traditional power plant
would, or, install small
rooftop units and use net
metering to offset a
homeowner's electric bill by
the amount the rooftop solar
panels contribute. From the
utility's perspective, the
rooftop option is really a
net loss. And with a payback
period of perhaps six or
seven years, although that's
much shorter than the 12 to
15 years for rooftop solar
installed just a few years
ago, it remains a rather
low-return, long-term
investment for the
homeowner.
-
The US Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) was
in talks with the
cosmetics industry to
enact tighter
regulations and safety
testing, but the major
players in the industry
have backed out of the
negotiations
-
There are no FDA
regulations requiring
cosmetics’ manufacturers
to use specific tests to
demonstrate the safety
of individual products
or ingredients
-
It is the companies and
individuals who
manufacture or market
cosmetics that have an
ethical responsibility
to ensure the safety of
their products
-
Known toxic chemicals,
including parabens,
phthalates, triclosan
and formaldehyde are
commonly used in
personal care products
-
Your skin is an
excellent drug delivery
system, so you should be
just as careful with
what you put on your
skin as you are with
what you eat, if not
more so
Federal regulators will be
watching Pilgrim Nuclear
Power Station's operation
more closely because of
complications during
unplanned shutdowns at the
reactor over the past year.
Baltimore Gas and Electric
Co.'s third request for
higher rates in as many
years brought out zero
customers -- angry or
otherwise -- to offer their
opinions to state regulators
Monday night.
[Ed: Have you noticed
the recent increase into M
and X events?]
An emerging method to store
global warming carbon
dioxide (CO2) underground
faces challenges in gaining
public acceptance,
especially when the global
benefits carry localized
costs. A new study on the
public acceptance of carbon
capture and storage (CCS) in
Indiana, a heavily
coal-reliant state, shows
that capturing carbon
emissions and injecting them
underground for long-term
storage is supported by 80
percent of the population,
but about 20 percent of the
initial supporters
disapprove of the use of the
technology if the carbon
storage facility would be
built close to their homes
and communities.
Graduate student Ackeem
Ngwenya has combined the
6000 year-old wheel with
modern materials to develop
a new type of all-terrain
wheel assembly that switches
from narrow to wide tread at
the turn of a screw. His
Roadless wheel system, while
envisioned for rural
applications in his native
Malawi, has the potential to
be as big a change to road
(and off-road) transport as
was the introduction of
anti-lock braking.
SafeFlame
technology converts
water into hydrogen
and oxygen gas
The pressurized
acetylene and propane
gas used in brazing and
related tasks is highly
flammable, and thus very
dangerous. You know what
isn't flammable, though?
Water. Bearing that in
mind, the European
Union-funded SafeFlame
consortium has developed
a torch system that
generates a flame using
nothing but H2O and
electricity.
The Senate passed a
historic piece of gay rights
legislation Thursday that
would ban workplace
discrimination against gay
and transgender employees,..
Historical events have a way
of jolting us – again and
again and again – into the
reminder that energy plays a
big role in our well-being.
October marked two such
events for the U.S. It was
the one-year anniversary of
Superstorm Sandy, the
massive storm that knocked
out power for days to
millions in the Northeast.
And it was the 40th
anniversary of the oil
embargo, the first time
America experienced oil as a
weapon used against it. In
the time between, we’ve seen
other altering experiences
— Three Mile Island, natural
gas price spikes of the
1990s, Enron, the Northeast
Blackout, Fukushima, to name
a few. We often stagger
away with new resolve to
secure a cleaner or more
independent energy supply;
to redouble renewable energy
efforts.
Reports of "vast
devastation" in city of
Tacloban as gusts reach 275
kph...
Haiyan is reported to
have surpassed the Dvorak
scale, commonly used to
estimate typhoon intensity.
[Ed: Is anyone
else impressed by the
obvious "imbalance" this
season of
hurricanes/cyclones?
Does anyone else have
suspicions about human
intervention?]
"It is stunning more than
two and half years after the
tragic events to see
firsthand the destructive
force of the tsunami," Moniz
said upon his return.
"[TEPCO faces] a daunting
task in the cleanup and
decommissioning of Fukushima
Daiichi, one that will take
decades and is being carried
out under very challenging
conditions. The TEPCO
workforce is facing
unprecedented challenges and
is clearly focused on
devising and implementing
solutions."
While consumer advocate Erin
Brockovich and the northern
Salt Lake City, Utah
community of Foxboro loudly
protest the human health and
environmental hazards of a
Stericycle medical waste
incinerator in their
backyard, the rural
community of Blanding in
southern Utah quietly
disposes of its own medical
waste - quickly,
cost-effectively and without
harmful emissions to the
community in which it
operates.
-
On November 5,
Washington State voted
on a law to label
genetically modified
organisms (GMOs) and
genetically engineered
(GE) foods
-
To take control of your
health, you need to
address your diet.
Processed foods are one
of the primary drivers
of chronic disease, so
switching from processed
foods to natural
(ideally organic) whole
foods is the first step
-
Planting your own
“Victory Garden” can go
a long way toward
healthier eating, and in
the long run, it can
provide incentive for
industry-wide change,
and a return to a diet
of real food, for
everyone, everywhere
-
Regardless of the
season, where you live,
and how much space you
have, you can grow your
own food. one of the
simplest and most
inexpensive alternatives
is to grow sprouts
-
Whatever veggies you
have left over you can
easily ferment, which
will provide you with
superior, nutritious
foods year-round
If water is the new oil and
shale gas is the new energy
savior, something has to
give. That’s because the
exploration for the
unconventional form of
natural gas uses so much
water that it is encroaching
on society’s other needs.
Not only do
utilities consume it. So
does big industry and small
residential households.
Complicating things, the
demand for electricity in
this country is expected to
rise by 1.5 percent over the
next 20 years. Governments
and businesses alike are now
calling for concerted
conservation efforts and
technological advances.
Over the summer, both the
House and Senate passed
wildly different versions of
the Farm Bill. Now, through
a conference committee
(where both chambers of
Congress meet to merge their
separate bills into one),
your legislators are trying
to bridge a $36 billion
dollar gap between the two
bills.
ANH-USA followed the
money—and uncovered why
doctors are abandoning the
AMA by the thousands...
Who benefits from the CPT
code system? Only two
groups: insurance companies,
and the American Medical
Association.
On the first Friday of
each month, the Bureau of
Labor Statistics publishes
its Non-Farm Payrolls
report. Most commonly known
as "the jobs report",
Non-Farm Payrolls highlights
employment changes across 10
private sectors including
insurance and finance; and
also includes government
hiring statistics.
It's a report closely
watched by Wall Street, and
one which directly affects
the U.S. mortgage market.
Police reports say a
woman in the 100 block of
East Judson Avenue shot a
man who broke into her house
early Friday.
Police were called to the
home about 2:15 a.m. for a
burglary in progress, where
dispatchers told them they
heard a woman scream, a man
yell “don’t do it, don’t do
it,” and the line then went
dead.
November 5, 2013
As a troublemaker
I’ve always been ambivalent
about the Redskins epithet,
because I identify with the
redskin that will kill a
white dude, scalp him and
raise the bloody trophy
along with an ear-piercing
victory war whoop. Did I
make that ritual up? No, it
has somehow become ingrained
inside of me and millions of
others. That’s one of the
main reasons we rez and
urban NDNs call ourselves
"skins."
At least 56 Iraqis
were killed and 117 more
were wounded, mostly in
northern Iraq. At least two
separate bombings occurred
in the Tikrit-Shirqat
region.
Local climate change
experts applauded President
Barack Obama's signing an
executive order Friday
directing federal agencies
to take steps to help the
nation adapt to the effects
of climate change, signaling
an acknowledgment that
dramatic transformation in
the global environment is
inevitable.
hickens could be the
unexpected beneficiaries of
the growing biofuels
industry, feeding on
proteins retrieved from the
fermenters used to brew
bioethanol, thanks to
research supported by the
Engineering and Physical
Sciences Research Council
(EPSRC).
Coal's affordability and
reliability as an energy
source, coupled with
emission reduction
technology, could give the
United States a significant
edge competitively over
other countries, but instead
regulators are squandering
an opportunity by proposing
emission standards that
cannot be met with current
technology, with the likely
result of shutting down half
of the country's coal-fired
power plants. That is what
the Pennsylvania Coal
Alliance's CEO John Pippy
testified to before the
Congressional Subcommittee
on Oversight and
Investigations, which is
examining the effects of the
Environmental Protection
Agency's regulatory actions
on jobs and local
communities particularly
reliant upon the coal.
Ousted Egyptian president
Mohamed Morsi has rejected
the trial against against
him, insisting that he is
the country's "legitimate
president."
Monday's
opening trial session lasted
only minutes, after a
defiant Mr. Morsi and his
co-defendants began chanting
in protest, and a judge
adjourned the proceedings
until January 8.
As China forges ahead
with its goal to generate
120,000 megawatts of
renewable energy by 2020,
they are damming more and
more rivers. According to
China, this is a safe
strategy that will curb
pollution, control floods,
and minimize climate change.
Conservationists and
scientists across the globe
however, disagree.
Environmentalists assert
that China is, instead,
blocking the free flow of
rivers, destroying the
ecology, uprooting millions
of people, increasing the
chances of earthquakes and
ultimately "selling their
country’s soul in their
drive for economic growth".
The use of electronic
products has grown
substantially over the past
two decades, changing the
way and the speed in which
we communicate and how we
get information and
entertainment. According to
the Consumer Electronics
Association (CEA), Americans
now own approximately 24
electronic products per
household.
Total greenhouse gas
emissions by China and other
emerging nations since 1850
will surpass those of rich
nations this decade,
complicating U.N. talks
about who is most to blame
for global warming, a study
showed on Thursday.
Political activists,
environmental advocates and
employees from utility and
coal companies are among
hundreds of people from
across the Midwest who will
converge on a Kansas City
suburb Monday afternoon for
what amounts to a giant
brainstorming session.
European Union member
states will be encouraged to
tax or even ban plastic bags
under proposals to tackle
the tons of plastic waste
that enters the water system
and kills wildlife.
Some countries, such as
Denmark, have greatly
reduced the use of plastic
bags by introducing
mandatory charges. Monday's
initiative aims to spur all
28 EU states into action.
Winter heating bills
won't take quite as much
cold cash from Tennessee
Valley consumers this month
compared with a year ago.
TVA is raising its fuel
cost adjustment today to add
about 64 cents to this
month's typical residential
electric bill in
Chattanooga. But compared
with November 2012, electric
bills for the average
Chattanooga household using
1,461 kilowatthours of
electricity will be down by
$7.76 this month.
The Senate pushed a major
anti-bias gay rights bill
past a first, big hurdle
Monday, a clear sign of
Americans' greater
acceptance of homosexuality
nearly two decades after the
law prohibiting federal
recognition of same-sex
marriage.
The vote of 61-30
essentially ensured that the
Senate has the votes to pass
the Employment
Non-Discrimination Act that
would prohibit workplace
discrimination against gay,
bisexual and transgender
Americans.
-
The health dangers of
genetically engineered
(GE) foods are
masterfully presented in
this documentary by
Jeffrey Smith, one of
the world’s leading
authorities on GE foods
-
Americans get sick more
often than Europeans or
people from any other
industrialized nation,
and scientific evidence
suggests a significant
factor may be the
genetic engineering of
our food supply
-
Genetically engineered
organisms are created by
taking one or more genes
from one species and
forcing it into the DNA
of another species. Such
genetic cross-breeding
between incompatible
species can never occur
in nature
-
GE foods trigger immune
attack because your body
recognizes them as
foreign invaders rather
than food; this immune
response can lead to
chronic inflammation,
raising your risk for
multiple additional
health problems
-
The two main types of GE
foods are
herbicide-tolerant crops
and pesticide-producing
crops; both are
imprecise processes that
are riddled with
unexpected consequences
The United States avoided
a fiscal accident after
Congress struck a deal to
end the partial government
shutdown and bought time to
resolve differences over the
federal budget. Assuming
political discord will not
result in another standoff,
the U.S. economy is
projected to show steady and
stronger growth in 2014
compared with 2013. The
unemployment rate is
predicted to gradually trend
down, while inflation is
unlikely to be problematic
and should hold within the
Federal Reserve’s 2%
long-term target. The Fed is
expected to commence a
reduction in asset purchases
in early 2014, assuming
fiscal uncertainty is not on
the horizon.
Hydrogen has for many
years been a valuable
commodity gas, and today it
is increasingly recognized
as an important fuel and
energy storage vector of the
future. Demand for hydrogen
as a fuel for fuel cells, in
both transport and
stationary applications (the
power-to-transport and
power-to-power vectors,
respectively) will continue
to rise in the coming years,
along with demand for
hydrogen for energy storage
(the power-to-gas vector).
When the Israeli Supreme
Court handed down a high
profile decision, it caught
the world’s notice: The
government there will be
able to legally export 40
percent of the country’s
natural gas, which is a
newfound asset there that
could benefit its internal
economy as well as its
foreign relations.
U.S. home prices are
climbing, up more than 12
percent since last year.
And, as home values rise,
the increase is diminishing
the value of this year's
most popular mortgage
refinance program -- the
HARP 2 mortgage.
Fewer U.S. homeowners are
requesting the "ultra-high"
LTV mortgages which the HARP
2 program allows. Through
the first 10 months of 2013,
the majority of HARP queries
asked for loan-to-value
(LTV) of 105% or less.
Kamakura
Corporation reported Friday
that the Kamakura troubled
company index ended the
month of October at 6.50%,
an increase of 0.23% since
last month. The index
reflects the percentage of
the Kamakura 35,000 public
firm universe that has a
default probability over
1.00%. An increase in the
index reflects declining
credit quality.
At almost $7 billion, one
of the state's largest
infrastructure projects is
about to be completed with
little or no fanfare.
The last legs of a
3,600-mile system of
transmission lines bringing
wind-generated electricity
from West Texas to the
state's urban areas will be
finished by the end of the
year.
Scientists have
discovered three new species
of animals in a rainforest
'lost world' in Australia,
protected for millions of
years by almost impenetrable
stacks of granite boulders.
The new animals are a
leaf-tail gecko, a
golden-colored skink and a
boulder-dwelling frog living
in the unique rocky
rainforest in Cape Melville,
some 1,500 km (900 miles)
north west of Brisbane,
Australia's third most
populous city.
"The global clean energy
race is increasingly
competitive, and our bill is
the best way to help America
take the lead and build a
thriving clean energy
economy," Tom Udall said
The number of scientists
who have signed onto a
statement challenging the
safety of genetically
modified organisms (GMOs)
has climbed to more than 230
today.
The list is expected to
continue growing as more
scientists are given the
opportunity to weigh in on
the safety of the organisms,
which were quietly
introduced into the US food
supply in the late 1990s
with no labeling
requirement.
Mortgage markets worsened
last week, bucking this
season's trend toward lower
rates. Mortgage rates
climbed for all loan types
including HARP 2, jumbo
loans, purchase loans, and
FHA and VA Streamline
Refinances.
Does this mean the end of
low mortgage rates forever?
Maybe it does.
The reality and the need
are there. There are plants
that are going to have
trouble getting the right
people into the mix.
In another move to
address the impact of
climate change, President
Barack Obama ordered a
bipartisan task force on
Friday to help U.S.
communities brace for longer
heat waves, heavier
downpours, more severe
wildfires and worse
droughts.
Friday's executive order
set up a panel of governors,
mayors, county officials and
tribal leaders to advise the
White House on how the
federal government can
respond to communities hit
by the effects of a changing
climate.
South Korea's spy agency
said Monday that North Korea
was using Russian technology
to develop electromagnetic
pulse weapons aimed at
paralysing military
electronic equipment south
of the border.
The National Intelligence
Service (NIS) said in a
report to parliament that
the North had purchased
Russian electromagnetic
pulse (EMP) weaponry to
develop its own versions.
What if they held an
auction but nobody came? The
Obama administration’s
efforts to auction off more
land for renewable energy
development got off to a
disappointing start on
Thursday when no one showed
up to bid on solar energy
rights on federal lands.
The Bureau of Land
Management offered up three
land parcels covering 3,700
acres for solar development.
Officials said five solar
companies were interested in
the land, but no one
submitted any sealed bids or
even bothered to show up to
the auction at the agency’s
Colorado headquarters.
Vermont's Norwich
University celebrated the
opening of its $6.2 million
biomass heating plant Oct.
25.
The facility will source
and combust 13,000 tons of
wood chips annually from
locally harvested wood
sources within a 100 mile
radius. “Over 80 percent of
the wood comes from a state
or federally approved forest
management program with a
balance coming from land
that has been approved for
clearing for agricultural or
development purposes,”..
NYMEX December crude
settled near flat Monday
after falling to a
four-month low early in the
session, while the rest of
the complex drifted in
sedated trade as inventors
await economic data and oil
inventory reports later in
the week.
December
crude settled at
$94.62/barrel, up 1 cent.
The contract fell to
$94.06/b in pre-open outcry
trade -- the front-month
contract's lowest level
since June 26.
President Obama’s
reelection campaign raised
the hackles of conservatives
last year when it released
an interactive web graphic
called the Life of Julia.
The graphic depicted
“Julia’s” cradle-to-grave
reliance on government, and
many viewers felt it offered
a disturbing glimpse of the
President’s ideology.
One out of every five
sun-like stars in the Milky
Way galaxy has a planet
about the size of Earth that
is properly positioned for
water, a key ingredient for
life, a study released on
Monday showed.
The analysis, based on
three years of data
collected by NASA's
now-idled Kepler space
telescope, indicates the
galaxy is home to 10 billion
potentially habitable
worlds.
As of November 1, 2013
the price of electricity
will be going up as
residents will pay $4 more
per month on their electric
bills. This increase will
also impact small business
in Ontario with that cost
per business operation
increasing by more than five
times that! Energy costs for
small business have
increased year over year and
in the most recent
announcement of another
energy increase, this will
no doubt hurt the bottom
line again of businesses
across Ontario.
Pollution Cut, No Change
in Reliability
Green energy is getting a
bit of a tail wind now that
a major grid operator is
saying that the power source
can provide clean power
without jeopardizing
reliability. Critics,
though, immediately pounced
on the study, saying that it
was performed by GE Energy
Consulting, whose parent has
high stakes in wind
production.
From the military to main
street, the United States is
trying to avoid Superstorm
Sandy-like blackouts by
developing more backup power
in the form of microgrids.
Many of these mini
networks produce power
onsite and store it for
emergencies. They operate
independently of the
nation's electrical grid,
which distributes power from
coal, natural gas or nuclear
plants, so they can keep the
lights on when a storm
brings down the grid.
A union representing
electricians in Hawaii is
asking state regulators to
require that a licensed
electrician be involved in
all phases of the
installation of solar
photovoltaic systems.
The International
Brotherhood of Electrical
Workers Local 1186 maintains
that the installation of PV
panels meets the definition
of "electrical work" under
state law, and therefore
requires a one-to-one ratio
of licensed electricians to
nonlicensed electrical
workers on a job site to
ensure that PV systems are
properly grounded.
The asthma drug-like
growth additive has enjoyed
stealth use in the US food
supply for a decade despite
being widely banned
overseas.
Have you ever heard of
ractopamine? Neither have
most US food consumers
though it is used in 80
percent of US
pig and cattle operations.
The asthma drug-like growth
additive, called a
beta-agonist, has enjoyed
stealth use in the US food
supply for a decade despite
being widely banned
overseas. It is marketed as
Paylean for pigs, Optaflexx
for cattle and Topmax for
turkeys.
A "significant milestone"
is at hand for cleanup of
Japan's Fukushima nuclear
plant, with spent nuclear
fuel removal likely to start
on schedule, the U.S. Energy
Secretary said on Friday
after a visit to the site.
"It appears that spent
nuclear fuel will begin to
be removed from Unit 4 as
scheduled in mid-November,"
Ernest Moniz said in a
statement. "This will be
significant milestone for
Tepco and the Japanese
government and in the
process of decommissioning
the site."
C3 event observed.
There are currently 7
numbered sunspot regions on
the disk. Solar
activity is expected to be
low with a chance for
M-class flares and a slight
chance for an X-class flare
on days one, two, and three
(05 Nov, 06 Nov, 07 Nov).
The geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet
levels on day one (05 Nov)
and quiet to unsettled
levels on days two and three
(06 Nov, 07 Nov).
Earthquake risks at the
nuclear power plant near
Richland were underestimated
when the facility was built
and plant officials have
downplayed the possible
threats, a new study says...
Faults near the plant
stretch longer and deeper
than originally thought,
additional faults have been
found and new signs of
relatively recent seismic
activity discovered, the
study says.
Kurdish fighters have driven
jihadists from 19 towns and
villages across northeastern
Syria in recent days, a week
after capturing a key Iraqi
border crossing, a
monitoring group said
Monday.
The Committees for the
Protection of the Kurdish
People (YPJ), the main
Kurdish militia in Syria,
has battled other rebel
groups in a bid to carve out
an autonomous region in the
northeast, where the army is
no longer deployed.
The Obama administration's
top national security
lawyers on Monday shunned
the idea that the government
should stop collecting
copies of every American's
telephone records every day.
The lawyers told an
independent oversight board
that it would lose valuable
time if each time it began a
terror investigation it had
to seek the private billing
records from individual
phone companies.
Among the hundreds of
cases brought by individuals
across the United States
claiming their Toyota
vehicles accelerated without
warning, only Bookout v.
Toyota Motor, tried in
Oklahoma County, Okla.,
resulted in a verdict
against Toyota. This was
also one of the first
unintended acceleration
cases to go to trial since
the Japanese carmaker began
recalling millions of
vehicles in 2009 over this
very issue.
In addition to teaching
clean energy for most of his
life, Olmsted's family had
fully embraced the idea of
converting their own home to
solar power for it's main
energy source several years
ago. When the results were
overwhelming, the rest of
the board couldn't say no to
paneling the school's roof.
A
bill passed 417-3 yesterday
by the House of
Representatives authorizes
the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers to authorize a
number of water resource
development activities,
including those associated
with hydroelectric power
generation.
The Water
Resources Reform and
Development Act of 2013
-- or
officially House
Resolution 3080 --
preserves Congress's
role in authorizing
projects at Corps dams
and reservoirs, while
also preventing ad hoc
alterations that could
present a risk to
federal hydropower
generation.
U.S. Department of Energy
Secretary Ernest Moniz said
the U.S. is willing to help
with the cleanup and
decommissioning of the
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear
power plant in Japan, and
the plant’s operator said it
would work with the U.S.,
according to the Associated
Press.
Venezuela is quietly
seizing control of two oil
rigs owned by a unit of
Houston-based Superior
Energy Services after the
company shut them down
because the state oil
monopoly was months behind
on payments.
The seizure started
Thursday after a judge in
the state of Anzoategui
entered a Superior depot and
ordered the company to hand
over the rigs to an
affiliate of state-owned
PDVSA. Four members of the
local police and national
guard are overseeing the
equipment's removal.
The deep orange color is
more than just different
than white potatoes; it's
one of the indications of
beta-carotene presence,
shown by numerous studies to
be especially rich in sweet
potatoes. The vitamin A per
serving even rivals that of
green leafy vegetables (yams
only have 3%!), providing
769% of the daily value per
serving. In fact, the only
food that has more vitamin A
is three ounces of beef
liver! The 65% daily value
of vitamin C and 29% DV of
vitamin B6 isn't too bad,
either.
Projections indicate that
our rate of trash production
will keep rising past 2100—a
concern, because waste can
be a proxy for all other
environmental stresses
In 2013, if you’re
someone who cares about the
environment, your first and
foremost concern is probably
climate change. After that,
you might worry about things
like radioactive
contamination, collapsing
honeybee colonies and
endangered ecosystems, among
other contemporary
environmental perils that
fill recent news headlines.
-
Zilmax is class of
non-hormone drugs
recently used in animals
to promote growth. It,
and others like it are
fed to cattle in the
weeks prior to slaughter
to increase weight by as
much as 30 pounds of
lean meat per cow
-
Tyson Foods announced in
September that it would
stop buying Zilmax-fed
cattle for slaughter due
to concerns about Zilmax
potentially causing
health or behavioral
problems for some cattle
-
Zilmax is already banned
for use in horses due to
severe side effects,
including muscle tremors
and rapid heart rates
that can last as long as
two weeks after stopping
the drug
-
Before beta-agonsists
like Zilmax were
approved, scientists
worried that this class
of drug could result in
increased cardiovascular
risk for consumers
-
Merck is actively
working on getting
Zilmax back on the US
and Canadian markets
November 1, 2013
- Less than 10% of
unvaccinated children
suffer from allergies of
any kind. This
compares with 40% of
children in the USA ages
3-17 reporting an
allergy to at least one
allergen and 22.9% with
an allergic disease.
- .2% of unvaccinated
children suffer from
asthma. This compares
with 14-15% of
vaccinated children with
asthma in Australia,
4.7% in Germany, and 6%
in the USA.
- 1.5% of unvaccinated
children suffer from
hayfever. This
compares with 10.7% in
Germany.
- 2% of unvaccinated
children had
neurodermatitis. This
auto-immune disorder
affects over 13% of
children in Germany.
- ADHD was present in
only 1-2% of the
unvaccinated children.
This compares with
nearly 8% of children in
Germany with ADHD and
another 5.9% borderline
cases.
- Middle ear
infections are very rare
in unvaccinated children
(less than .5%). In
Germany, 11% of children
suffer from this
problem.
- Less than 1% of
unvaccinated children
had experienced
sinusitis. This
compares with over 32%
of children in Germany.
- Only 4 unvaccinated
children out of the
7,600+ total surveys
reported severe autism.
In all 4 cases, however,
the mother tested very
high for mercury. In
the USA, approximately 1
in 100 children suffer
this neurological
illness and 1 in every
38 boys in the UK.
-
According to a recent
animal study, Oreo
cookies are just as
addictive as cocaine or
morphine, activating
more neurons in the
brain’s pleasure center
than exposure to illicit
drugs
-
Most processed foods are
actually created to be
addictive—whether we’re
talking about cookies or
pasta sauce—through the
masterful use of
addictive ingredients
like salt, fat, sugar
and a wide variety of
proprietary flavorings
-
In a shocking twist, the
European Union has
approved a health claim
for fructose, slated to
take effect as of 2014
-
Food manufacturers that
replace at least 30
percent of the glucose
and/or sucrose content
in their food with
fructose will be allowed
to state their product
has a positive effect on
carbohydrate metabolism
and insulin sensitivity
-
While fructose creates a
lower glycemic response
immediately after eating
it, compared to sucrose
or glucose, it is
grossly misleading to
say it’s therefore
healthier for you, as
this completely ignores
its overall metabolic
consequences
House Budget Committee
Chairman Paul Ryan was right
last week to predict the
budget conference would not
succeed by trying to reach a
“grand bargain.”
“If we focus on some big,
grand bargain then we’re
going to focus on our
differences, and both sides
are going to require that
the other side compromises
some core principle and then
we’ll get nothing done,”
Ryan told the Washington
Post. “So we aren’t
focusing on a grand bargain
because I don’t think in
this divided government
you’ll get one.”
The Fresno County Sheriff's
Office continues to
investigative a home
invasion robbery that left a
suspect dead.
Authorities say two armed
men posing as law
enforcement officers forced
their way into a home in
Orange Cove Sunday night and
exchanged fire with the
homeowner.
One of
the suspects was shot and
killed, while the homeowner
was hit numerous times.
The utility is
"fundamentally changing how
we operate" to address four
areas of the global energy
challenge: aging
infrastructure, a revolution
in energy supplies, extreme
weather conditions, and an
aging workforce and skills
gap, according to Holliday.
The revolution in energy
sources is being driven by
aging power stations and
wires, a growing realization
of the impacts of climate
and the need to reduce
carbon emissions, and shale
gas, according to Holliday.
A federal appeals court on
Thursday blocked a judge's
ruling that found the New
York Police Department's
stop-and-frisk policy
discriminated against
minorities, and it took the
unusual step of removing her
from the case, saying
interviews she gave during
the trial called her
impartiality into question.
Forty-eight million
Americans will have their
food stamps benefits slashed
starting Friday, when a
recession-era boost in the
Supplemental Nutrition
Assistant Program (SNAP)
expires.
The move to cut back
benefits will be the first
wide-scale change to the
program affecting nearly
every single participant.
The 13.6 percent cut comes
out to about $36 a month
less for a family of four
getting government
assistance or $420 a year,
according to the Department
of Agriculture.
Global warming is popularly
viewed only as an
atmospheric process, when,
as shown by marine
temperature records covering
the last several decades,
most heat uptake occurs in
the ocean. How did
subsurface ocean
temperatures vary during
past warm and cold
intervals?
Rosenthal
et al present a temperature
record of western equatorial
Pacific subsurface and
intermediate water masses
over the past 10,000 years
that shows that heat content
varied in step with both
northern and southern
high-latitude oceans.
The budget deficit for
Fiscal Year 2013 dropped to
$680.3 billion, the
government reported
Wednesday -- the first time
in five years the shortfall
has been below $1 trillion.
Both the Obama
administrations and
congressional Republicans
cited their own cost-cutting
efforts.
The deficit "is now less
than half of what it was
when the president took
office," said Treasury
Secretary Jacob Lew in a
statement.
Egyptian authorities on
Wednesday detained senior
Muslim Brotherhood figure
Essam al-Erian, one of the
last few leaders of the
Islamist movement to have
escaped a security
crackdown, the interior
ministry said.
Energy markets in upstate
New York can be a future
strength, two of the state's
most powerful energy
executives said Wednesday at
the Center for Economic
Growth's high-tech
infrastructure summit in
Colonie. ..
Richard Kauffman, Gov.
Andrew Cuomo's energy
"czar," said the state has
to think differently about
its clean energy programs if
it wants the renewable
energy industry to gain more
traction.
A federal district court
judge issued a memorandum
opinion Tuesday stating the
U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency has 60
days to inform the court of
when the agency plans to
complete a review and
revision of its regulations
concerning coal ash. The
memorandum was written in
response to a lawsuit filed
by multiple environmental
and public health groups in
the U.S. District Court for
the District of Columbia.
The U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
today released its draft
Climate Change Adaptation
Implementation Plans for
public review and comment.
In support of President
Obama’s Climate Action Plan
and Executive Order on
Preparing the United States
for the Impacts of Climate
Change announced today, the
Implementation Plans provide
detailed information about
the actions EPA plans to
take across the country to
help communities adapt to a
changing climate.
After two days of meetings
in Washington -- including
with the NSA chief --
European lawmakers said that
President Obama must rein in
surveillance.
Fannie Mae sued nine of
the world's largest banks on
Thursday, accusing them of
colluding to manipulate
interest rates and seeking
more than $800 million of
damages.
In a complaint filed in
the U.S. District Court in
Manhattan, the
government-controlled
mortgage company accused the
banks of conspiring for many
years to suppress Libor, or
the London Interbank Offered
Rate, including during the
2008 financial crisis.
Uncle Sam and Big Food are
cozier than two fat guys in
a sleeping bag, and neither
one gives a damn if you or
your loved ones get sick.
But we do. That's why I tell
you to always buy organic
meat locally from a farmer
that will look you in the
eye -- and won't be
embarrassed to show you how
his animals live.
It's the Wild West out
there, and the sheriff's
asleep on the job. Your best
weapon is a little knowledge
-- and a whole lot of trust
in yourself.
Five years after
the sweeping economic crisis
upended global markets, most
investors in the U.S. and
worldwide remain risk
averse, and hold a sizable
percentage of their assets
in low- or no-return cash
investments, according to
the first-ever Global
Investor Pulse Survey from
BlackRock (NYSE:BLK).
“More than ever in a new
world ushered in by crisis,
people at all income levels
need answers on how to
better manage their money
for the future”
The global High-Voltage
Direct Current (HVDC)
converter stations market
will expand significantly in
the next few years, driven
by the rising demand for
electricity in the
Asia-Pacific region and the
growth in renewable energy
generation,...
At least 48 people were
killed and 89 more were
wounded as Prime
Minister Nouri al-Maliki was
in Washington to ask the
U.S. government for help in
fighting a surge in violence
that many say he spawned
with an attack on protesters
in April. Since then, the
bloodshed has been
relentless.
Israel behind the attack on
Russian SA-8 surface-to-air
missiles near Latakia,
according to various U.S.
sources.
Reuters quoted a Syrian
opposition source as saying
that the Israeli planes had
struck a strategic missile
battery near a village
called Ain Shikak where
President Bashar al-Assad's
forces kept long-range
Russian missiles that are
among their most powerful
weapons.
When Ben Bernanke completes
his second term as Federal
Reserve Board chairman in
January, Janet Yellen should
be more than ready to take
the helm of the U.S. central
bank, according to Wharton
faculty and other experts.
Current Federal Reserve
Board vice chairwoman
Yellen, appointed on October
9 by President Obama to
succeed Bernanke, is widely
respected as a first-rate
academic economist with
decades of real-world
experience in monetary
policy.
One of Europe's largest
utilities is on the cusp of
reportedly transforming its
business from being a
centralised energy provider
into a decentralized energy
provider.
The 'mind-reading' neurocam
prototype Perhaps you know
someone who's a member of
the "lifelogging" community
– these are people who
record pretty much all of
their waking hours,
typically using small,
wearable video cameras. The
problem is, they inevitably
end up with a lot of footage
that's just ... well,
boring, even to them. That's
where the neurocam comes in.
It's a prototype headset
camera, that only records
when it detects that its
wearer is interested in what
they're seeing.
Scientists have
had success at
capturing rare earth
elements diluted in
industrial
wastewater
Rare earth elements
are an integral part of
many of today's
electronic devices,
serving as magnets,
catalysts and
superconductors.
Unfortunately, these
minerals are also ...
well, rare, and
thus very pricey.
Recently, however,
scientists discovered
that some of them can be
reclaimed from
industrial wastewater,
instead of being mined
from the earth.
In this slide from a
National Security Agency
presentation on “Google
Cloud Exploitation,” a
sketch shows where the
“Public Internet” meets the
internal “Google Cloud”
where user data resides. Two
engineers with close ties to
Google exploded in profanity
when they saw the drawing.
Question: Now that it
appears that 16 million
Americans will lose the
health insurance they
currently have as a result
of ObamaCare, where will
they turn for coverage?
Answer: ObamaCare
From broken water pumps,
leaky valves and steaming
pipes to elusive electrical
problems, it's been a tough
year for Pilgrim Nuclear
Power Station.
Entergy, Pilgrim's owner
and operator, has poured
$500 million into the
41-year-old plant since
buying it from Boston Edison
in 1999, yet mechanical
problems and off-site power
outages have forced the
operation to shut down six
times since January, making
it No. 1 among the U.S.
fleet of 100 commercial
nuclear reactors for
shutdowns this year.
X2 event observed yesterday.
M1 event observed today.
There are currently 7
numbered sunspot regions on
the disk. The
geomagnetic field is
expected to be at quiet
levels on days one, two, and
three (01 Nov, 02 Nov, 03
Nov).
Reser's Fine Foods of
Beaverton, Oregon is
voluntarily expanding its
October 22, 2013 recall of
refrigerated ready-to-eat
products because they may be
contaminated with
Listeria monocytogenes.
Listeria is an organism
which can cause serious and
sometime fatal infections in
young children, frail or
elderly people and
individuals with weakened
immune systems. Healthy
people may suffer only short
term symptoms such as high
fever, severe headache,
stiffness, nausea, abdominal
pain and diarrhea. Listeria
infection can cause
miscarriages and stillbirths
among pregnant woman.
A three-month bipartisan
truce over nominees broke
down yesterday when
Republicans opposed two of
President Barack Obama’s
candidates, Representative
Mel Watt to head the Federal
Housing Finance Agency and
Patricia Millett for a spot
on a federal court in
Washington, D.C.
“This is a war on the
other two branches of
government and their ability
to do the jobs the American
people need them to do,”
Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley,
a Democrat, said in
statement after the nominees
were blocked. “The Senate
rules must change.”
If you want to go green in
Albany County, just flush
the toilet.
The heat produced by the
processes will be used for
building warmth during
colder months as well.
Getting a pet for your
family might seem like an
added chore for mom and dad.
Though pets do require an
investment of time, money,
and care, research suggests
that the health benefits of
pets are more than worth it.
A family pet can get you and
your kids to be more
physically active, improve
everyone’s health, and help
buffer the effects of
stress, not to mention the
unconditional love and
affection a pet gives to its
people.
-
Sleep is deeply
interconnected with your
health in a myriad of
ways. For example,
previous research has
found that sleep
deprivation has the same
effect on your immune
system as physical
stress or illness
-
Recent research shows
that your brain has a
unique waste management
system, similar to the
lymphatic system in your
body. This system,
dubbed the glymphatic
system, is activated
during sleep
-
By pumping cerebral
spinal fluid through
your brain’s tissues,
the glymphatic system
flushes the waste from
your brain back into
your body’s circulatory
system and into your
liver, where it’s
ultimately eliminated
-
During sleep, your brain
cells also shrink by
about 60 percent, which
allows for more
efficient waste removal
-
Amyloid-beta, for
example—proteins that
form the notorious
plaque found in the
brains of Alzheimer’s
patients—is removed in
significantly greater
quantities during sleep
There may be a brighter
future for solar power in
Georgia one day.
But the chances of it
arriving sooner through a
proposal in the state House
are pretty dim, judging from
lawmakers' reactions at a
hearing Wednesday.
Findings showed that those
who drank moderate amounts
of alcohol, mostly wine, had
similar protective effects
on depression to those who
have been observed for
coronary heart disease. The
lowest rates of depression
were seen in subjects who
drank two to seven small
glasses of wine per week.
These results remained
significant even when the
researchers adjusted for
other lifestyle and social
factors, such as smoking,
diet, and marital status.
October 29, 2013
--At least 50 people
were killed and 21 more
wounded across Iraq.
The worst attack was a
triple suicide bombing
at a banquet near
Baghdad.
All declared equipment and
sites for producing chemical
weapons rendered unusable,
international watchdog OPCW
says.
Syria has destroyed all of
its declared chemical
weapons production and
mixing facilities, meeting a
major deadline in an
ambitious disarmament
programme, the international
chemical weapons watchdog
said in a document seen by
Reuters news agency.
More evidence is
emerging that the US
economic activity has slowed
recently. In addition to the
manufacturing output decline
and slower home sales, the
latest private payrolls
number from ADP now shows a
decline in job creation.
The Indians of the Central
Valley, with the exception
of the Chowchilla tribe,
were peaceful. They had a
good life and welcomed the
strangers who visited their
valley.
Gold was
discovered and, suddenly,
their tranquil foothills
were filled with activity as
miners poured into the area
in search of riches. The
miners had little regard for
the Indian's way of life.
They settled where they
wished and took what they
wanted.
There’s no actual debt
ceiling right now.
The fiscal deal passed by
Congress on Wednesday
evening to re-open the
government and get around
the $16.4 trillion limit on
borrowing doesn’t actually
increase the debt limit. It
just temporarily suspends
enforcement of it.
That means Americans have
no idea how much debt their
government is going to rack
up between now and Feb. 7,
when the limits are supposed
to go back into place and
will have to be raised.
A 400-megawatt solar
photovoltaic system being
installed at Turtle Bay
Resort is the latest in a
series of energy-saving
initiatives the resort says
will reduce its electricity
demand by as much as 50
percent.
The United States is
committed to working with
China on the development of
new nuclear reactors in both
countries and will encourage
joint bids for projects
elsewhere, U.S. Energy
Secretary Ernest Moniz said
in Beijing on Wednesday,
according to Reuters.
Moniz said the U.S.-based
Westinghouse, one of the
world's leading nuclear
firms, was prepared to bid
for reactor tenders in
Britain with the China
National Nuclear Corporation
(CNNC) and the State Nuclear
Power Technology Company
(SNPTC).
The U.S. House of
Representatives has
rediscovered the formula for
peace, harmony and an end to
gridlock after a month of
partisan warfare: $8 billion
worth of harbor dredging,
dam and lock construction
and other federal waterway
improvements.
The bill got only modest
attention in the aftermath
of a government shutdown and
the technological woes of
President Obama's health law
when it passed last week by
a vote of 417-3.
Freddie Mac (OTCQB:
FMCC) yesterday
released the results of its
Primary Mortgage
Market Survey®
(PMMS®), showing average
fixed mortgage rates
declining for the second
consecutive week amid recent
data showing softening in
the housing market. Fixed
mortgage rates are at their
lowest levels since June.
The Federal Open Market
Committee (FOMC) maintained
the size of its securities
purchase program at $40
billion of agency
mortgage-backed securities
(MBS) and $45 billion
longer-term Treasuries
monthly. The fed funds
target was held in the 0.00%
to 0.25% range. The Fed
reiterated that downside
risks to the economy and
labour market have fallen
since last autumn and stated
that policy is geared to
keeping downward pressure on
longer-term rates, mortgage
rates, and keeping financial
conditions accommodative.
The U.S. government has
booked a loss of $9.7
billion on the nearly $50
billion bailout of U.S.
automaker General Motors,
according to a quarterly
report to Congress on
Tuesday. In 2009, the
U.S.Treasury extended $49.5
billion in loans to GM in
exchange for $2.1 billion in
preferred stock and a 60.8
percent equity stake.
Consumers Energy has asked
the state to approve a bond
issue that will allow it to
close and demolish three
coal-fired power plants in
Michigan, according to the
Associated Press.
Infrastructure needs have
never been so great, and yet
capital investment is
historically low. A handful
of strategic water projects
may hold the key to
kick-starting a new age of
infrastructure spending and
renewal.
The important question for
the former secretary of
State, on the other hand,
is: What did she know? And
why didn't she speak out
against it?
We know
this: Clinton -- and Obama
-- routinely received
wiretap intercepts and
briefings on the
intelligence gathered.
Documents released by
whistle-blower Edward
Snowden specify that the
State Department was a
"customer" for the
information the surveillance
unearthed.
The state likely won't
appeal to the U.S. Supreme
Court in its efforts to
block the Yucca Mountain
nuclear dump site being
located in Southern Nevada.
[Ed: Yes, the state
has spent lots of money on
this case, as have the
feds...all from the
taxpayers pockets.]
Eye-tracking technology
confirms that breasts,
waists and hips get longer
looks.
The eyes don't lie: Men
really do look at women's
bodies more than their
faces, according to a new
study that used eye-tracking
technology to prove what
many women have long
observed.
But it's not just men who
do it -- the study found
that women look at other
women's bodies, too.