Energy 2.0

City Council to receive recommendations from Cambridge Climate Congress

LGlick — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:12:52 +0000

After three community meetings, the Cambridge Climate Congress finalized its recommendations for an all-city awareness and response campaign, and for city responses to the Climate Emergency. The City Council will receive the Climate Congress communication at the upcoming March 22nd City Council meeting. This would be an opportunity for the public to provide additional comments on the Climate Congress report and activities.…

Time to get Specific about Renewable Energy

jrogers — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:50:02 +0000

In Last October’s issue of Scientific American, authors Mark Z. Jacobson and Mark A. Delucchi plan how the world could derive all of its energy through a combination of renewable wind, water, and solar resources, by 2030.…

Bay Staters failing the 3R’s

JPierce — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 05:31:20 +0000

Not “reading, writing and ‘rithmetic” but reduce, reuse and—most notably—recycling. The Boston Globe has an article reporting that Massachusetts recycling rates are stagnant, and relatively low. A rather timely report given the effort by numerous organizations to get Beacon Hill to update the bottle bill.…

Measuring energy savings

JPierce — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 04:13:38 +0000

Take a hypothetical investment in your home of $1,000 for a new hot heater that will save $100 a year. Most people will “do the math” and determine that the heater will pay for itself in ten years, then decide that this is too long and put the money into something else e.g; a vacation or stashing it in savings.…

Are the Seychellois contributing to their own demise?

JPierce — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:25:07 +0000

It might sound like “blaming the victim,” but The Epoch Times has an interesting piece this week about the lack of funds for sustainable development, and the idea that some of the potential beneficiaries of the program are complicit in the situation. The IMF has its own plan for funding green projects.

Will this be the last year of the tiger?

Sarah — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 13:27:46 +0000

The critically endangered tiger could soon join the dragon as a zodiac creature that exists only in legend. The Chinese lunar calendar year known as the Year of the Tiger began on February 14th with only 3200 tigers left in the wild.…

Administration’s overlooked successes

JPierce — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 21:13:08 +0000

A few weeks ago Paul Rogers of the Mercury News wrote that despite the general perception that the current administration having accomplished relatively little Obama has in fact made major strides in national environmental policy. Some examples not included in the article are: the significant tightening of the previously weak regulations surrounding non-conventionally raised livestock, and the FTC’s stepping up efforts to address greenwashing amidst increasing complaints
and problems such as the bogus “bamboo” textiles.

Stop and smell the crocuses

JPierce — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:00:24 +0000

If you’re looking for some means of enjoying the fine weather that is expected this weekend, you might consider taking the commuter rail to Salem and checking out the Trash Menagerie, followed by a stroll along the water front.…

How accurate is your “green perception”?

Sarah — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:40:40 +0000

A New Scientist report highlights the dramatic differences between consumers’ perception of a company’s “greenness” and reality.

New Scientist investigated consumer perception via a 2008 Earthsense survey of consumer ratings, and compared those numbers to each company’s Trucost score, the estimated cost of its environmental impact as a percentage of its annual revenue.…

Greener Students

JPierce — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:20:59 +0000

A quick synopsis of recent/upcoming environmental events at local universities.

MIT’s energy conference begins tomorrow, featuring a free Energy Showcase from 5–8 PM: