EcocentricUncategorized
The Japanese press had an interesting report out over the weekend: Prime Minister Naoto Kan is considering a plan to require all new buildings in Japan to install solar paneling by 2030. The plan, which would cover all new homes and commercial buildings, is expected to be announced at the end of the week at the two-day G8 summit in …
EcocentricWaste
Processing Indian and foreign electronic waste has become a crucial source of income for thousands of Indians working in the nations’ sprawling scrap markets, but at what cost? Despite laws that prohibit e-waste dumping, India is only growing as a repository for the rest of the world’s electronic waste, and the workers who dismantle …
EcocentricPsychology
The Midwest has every reason in the world to be sick of tornadoes by now. In April alone, there were a shocking 600 of them, and in the past two months more than 400 Americans have been killed by the storms. At least 116 more were added on May 22 in the massive twister that cut a 6-mile (9.6 km) swath across Joplin, Mo., generating winds …
EcocentricUncategorized
On Saturday, the leaders of the world’s second, third and 15th largest economies got together in Fukushima City and ate veggies to demonstrate how safe it is to do just that. I think it’s always a little embarrassing to observe politicians in orchestrated eating and/or drinking events (see Obama’s three-guys-just-having-a-beer moment …
EcocentricUncategorized
Tokyo Electric Power Company’s head honcho stepped down today as the company announced $15 billion losses for the fiscal year that ended in March. Here’s my post over at Global Spin on how — and if — Tepco can survive.
EcocentricFood
This is a guest post from TIME’s Kayla Webley:
As a full-fledged carnivore, I attended Farm Sanctuary’s 25th Anniversary Gala last weekend to eat a three-course vegan meal. Having been a vegetarian in years past and as a general lover of tofu, quinoa and other vegan staples, I was very open to the evening’s eats.
During the …
EcocentricUncategorized
For all its remoteness, the North Pole generates a lot of controversy. In 1909, the American admiral Robert Peary reported that he successfully reached the geographic North Pole, a feat of navigation that is now widely disputed. Nearly a century later, another expedition to the remote top of the globe caused a stir when Russian …
EcocentricEnergy
Of all the crucial decisions that Tepco engineers faced at the Fukushima Power Plant in the frenzied hours after the March 11 earthquake, none was more agonizing or difficult than this: should the company intentionally vent gas from the overheating reactors even though doing so would release radioactivity into the atmosphere?
The …
EcocentricEcocentric
Britain today became the first country in the world to declare a legally binding target for greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2020—and it’s a fairly ambitious one at that.
EcocentricEcocentric
Just a quick note on a couple of interesting articles that surfaced today about the five-month drought in central China. The AP reports that Chinese businesses and residents are facing the largest energy crisis in years, as hydroelectric capacity is now at a low. Elaine Kurtenbach reports about the worst-affected areas:
The worst will
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