Green News Round Up | Monday, June 23

The Wall Street Journal reports that presumed Republican presidential nominee John McCain is hoping to solve the country's energy crisis by offering a $300 million government prize to whoever develops a new automobile battery that significantly tops existing technology. Sen. McCain said the battery should deliver power at 30% of current costs and should be of a size - and a cost - to make a real difference and 'leapfrog' commercially available hybrids or fully electric cars. McCain also proposed that auto-makers guilty of skirting existing fuel-efficiency standards pay heavier fines. Moreover, the Senator's 'Clean Car Challenge' would offer a $5,000 tax credit for anyone who purchases a clean car, thereby encouraging American auto-makers to develop such zero-emission vehicles.

The New York Times reports that Dr James E Hanson, a famous and well-respected NASA climate scientist, will testify before a House of Representatives committee hearing that it is very nearly too late to begin defusing a “global warming time bomb.” Hanson will call for cuts in emissions and will vigorously warn Congress about the risks of continued inaction. The United States must begin a sustained effort to exploit new energy sources, according to Hanson; and it must phase out the current practice of uninhibitedly burning finite fossil fuels. We must enact a moratorium on further construction of coal-burning plants that lack systems for capturing and burying carbon dioxide; and we should aim to cease coal emissions worldwide by 2030. Additionally, we must construct a nationwide grid for distributing and storing electricity that accommodates large-scale use of "renewable, but intermittent, energy sources" such as wind turbines and solar-powered generators.

The Washington Post reports that college campuses throughout America are shining the spotlight on environmental issues with growing fervor. Campus 'greening' has moved way past drives to recycle plastics or offer organic food; environmentalism is "transforming the curriculum, permeating classrooms, academic majors and expensive new research institutes". Universities are seeing everything from "green" real estate strategies for landscape architects to ideas for building homes out of discarded shipping containers. Though green issues were once a "fringe interest" or fad, they have now become deeply and fully entrenched in university life; environmental issues are affecting how students live, what they learn, and, after graduating, how they will live as environmentally-conscious members of workplaces and neighborhoods.

The Philadelphia Enquirer reports that interest in solar power is growing in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. The mid-Atlantic region, following a trend in the nation at large, is witnessing a explosion of solar-power projects, especially in New Jersey. In fact, the state is now the second-largest solar market in America, after California. The mid-Atlantic explosion is made up largely of mini-power plants that can power energy-hungry facilities or just add megawatts to the electrical grid. In New Jersey incentives to build such energy sources are high; consequently, new solar systems can pay for themselves in less than five years. Moreover, energy costs can be locked-in so as to insulate companies from future price hikes.

The Associated Press reports that 10 US Parks have been identified as at risk due to coal power plants. According to The National Parks Conservation Association, pollution that would be emitted from new coal-fired power plants that are either planned or under development near the following parks pose a serious risk to those parks: Great Smoky Mountains, Tennessee and North Carolina; Shenandoah, Virginia; Mammoth Cave, Kentucky; Theodore Roosevelt, North Dakota; Mesa Verde, Colorado; Capitol Reef, Utah; Zion, Utah; Great Basin, Nevada; Wind Cave, South Dakota; Badlands, South Dakota.

The Guardian reports that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown will plead with Saudi Arabia and other oil producing nations to channel some of the nearly $3 trillion in windfall profits from the recent 'oil shock' into renewable energy sources such as wind, tidal and nuclear power. Brown will convey his two-pronged plan, which would help wean the west off increasingly insecure and expensive oil while allowing Opec countries to benefit from the new environmentally friendly energy sources, currently being developed in the western world, that will eventually displace oil and other fossil fuels as the primary energy source.

Reuters reports that the Vatican has cautioned vacationers to be environmentally friendly as they travel and relax. The Vatican issued basically a series of suggestions for tourists to follow so as to minimize or offset any damage to the environmental that they may cause. Tips ranged from reducing the amount of luggage one carries on airplanes and in cars to planting trees to repair one's carbon footprints. The Vatican's green suggestions continue a move toward increased environmental awareness and advocacy that the Catholic Church began under the previous pope, John Paul II.

A group of 150 environmental advocates - Scientists, politicians and business leaders - has teamed up to tell the world that it has "gone too far in one direction" and must reverse course and take significant actions to save the planet from the worst effects of climate change. The made their argument in a series of full-page advertisements in the world's leading newspapers - including the Financial Times, the New York Times, and the International Herald Tribune - encouraging the world to cut the level of atmospheric carbon dioxide to below that of 20 years ago - a cut that is deeper than most government plans.