All Posts

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/24/AR2006112400 789_pf.html Science a la Joe Camel By Laurie David Sunday, November 26, 2006; B01 At hundreds of screenings this year of “An Inconvenient Truth,” the first thing many viewers said after the lights came up was that every student in every school in the United States needed to see this movie. The producers of…

Environmental groups urged United Nations treaty signers to bar genetically engineered trees from the Kyoto Protocol on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Genetically engineered trees have been proposed for plantations created to offset carbon emissions as part of the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism, the organizations said in a news release. However, research has shown that…

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-11-23-alternative-energy_x.htm Growing number of states requiring alternative energy Posted 11/23/2006 11:54 PM By Tom Kenworthy, USA TODAY DENVER – Renewable energy is gathering steam in several states as voters and governors push electric utilities to generate a set percentage of electricity from clean sources such as wind and solar power. In Washington state, voters approved…

[ Mississippi ] Georgia-Pacific Corp. has ended production at its Roxie chip and sawmill, leaving 70 people without jobs. The Roxie sawmill and the Gloster plywood plant were both idle for nearly three years until the plants reopened in 2005 to salvage and process excess timber destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. “The market was down, and…

[Minnesota] A 1,300-square-foot wooden house that’s made almost entirely of locally harvested, sustainably grown wood was built recently to demonstrate green building principles and the use of local, certified products. The developer, Minneapolis-based Dovetail Partners, and local officials also hope the project will help create jobs, economic opportunities for business owners and long-term affordability for…

Swedish researchers have done an energy comparison between real and artificial Christmas trees. Comparing a locally grown live cut-tree to a full size plastic tree, they found that the real tree used about a fifth of the energy (assuming that the plastic tree would be used for ten years). The problem is compounded when considering…

HUNTINGTON – A federal judge on Wednesday questioned the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ approval of the burial of more streams by mountaintop removal coal-mining operations. U.S. District Judge Robert C. Chambers pressed corps lawyers to explain why the agency doesn’t require more detailed environmental studies before approving more valley fills. Chambers also asked why…

Nov 26, 12:43 PM EST http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WV_ALLEGHENY_POWER_LINE_WVOL-? SITE=WVHUN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT Allegheny Power planning new transmission line CUMBERLAND, Md. (AP) — Allegheny Power has begun preliminary work on planning a 240-mile, 500-kilovolt transmission line it proposed last February. The line, which would extend through parts of Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Maryland and Virginia, was proposed at a cost of $1.4…

[ Tennessee ] International Paper is selling 13 lumber mills to West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. for about $325 million in cash. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2007. The companies do not expect any net loss of jobs, as West Fraser has said it plans to headquarter its U.S.…

It stretches nearly 2,200 miles, a ribbon of mountains and meadows, forests and fauna. But scientists, hikers and land managers say the Appalachian Trail is more than a footpath. Passing through 14 states and eight national forests from Georgia to Maine — including a 90-mile stretch through Massachusetts — it’s also a living laboratory that…