Environment

In much of the western U.S., water demand vastly outstrips supply. Some municipalities are moving toward a greater use of recycled waste water as a means to stretch supply. It sounds good in theory, but how far should it go?

According to Mariano Higes, leader of a team of research scientists in Guadalajara, the mystery of the disappearing bees has been solved.

I am usually reticent to repeat a press release for mass consumption, but I consider this one to be very newsworthy. A company called Range Fuels has gotten approval to open an ethanol production plant where the ethanol is produced from cellulose rather than sugar.

James Taranto, the extreme right-wing Wall Street Journal pundit responsible for the 'Best of the Web' column has a knack for being selective in his commentary if it helps him score quick points with his conservative readers. In an attack yesterday on Al Gore, Taranto made a significant slip-up in his rush to smear Gore's reputation.

A study conducted by China's environmental agency has concluded that pollution contributes to widespread unrest, riots, and over 500,000 deaths a year.

As governments fiddle while the Earth burns, businesses have begun to set their minds to profiting from going green.

Like all liquids, gasoline expands as the temperature gets hotter. Gas pumps in the U.S. measure a gallon of gas at 60 degrees F. When the temperature is over 60 degrees, you're not really getting a gallon of gas. This fact has prompted some motorists to take big oil to court.

With corn being used as food, livestock feed and for Ethanol production, farmers are in a rush to increase the size of their corn crops. As a result, the U.S. Is on track to grow the largest crop of corn since 1944.

Earlier this week, as reported here, a Dutch Agency responsible for quantifying global greenhouse gas emissions identified China as the top emitter of CO2, passing the U.S. for the first time. China has come back with an official response.

"China Passes U.S. In Greenhouse Gas Emissions" is a headline you'll see in wide circulation today. It is a headline that will be used to deflect attention away from the need for the U.S. to do something about its carbon emissions. What the misleading headline doesn't tell you is that on a per capita basis, the U.S. is still just over four times that of China.

While praising the effort made by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, former vice president Al Gore called the watered down "deal" for further climate talks a disgrace.

A bill in congress, with bipartisan support, will look to increase Ethanol production in the U.S. to six times its current levels. This despite the fact that the diverting of corn into Ethanol production is already driving food prices higher at a rate faster than inflation.

A new report, created by BP, an oil company, released yesterday says that they believe there is enough oil to last 40 years at the current rate of consumption. The independent Oil Depletion Analysis Centre disagrees: They believe we could see peak production very soon.

North Carolina has fined a driver $1,000 for using vegetable oil to power is 1981 Mercedes. Their reason: not paying taxes on motor fuel.

There is a growing battle for the future of development in the U.S. That battle is over whether suburban sprawl should continue ever onward into the sunset or should we consider what anti-sprawl advocates call "Smart Growth."