Feed aggregator
Americans want a tax on carbon pollution, but how to get one? | Dana Nuccitelli
A new study finds that Americans are willing to pay an extra $15 per month on energy bills to tackle climate change.
According to a new study published by Yale scientists in Environmental Research Letters, Americans are willing to pay a carbon tax that would increase their household energy bills by $15 per month, or about 15%, on average. This result is consistent with a survey from last year that also found Americans are willing to pay an average of $15 to $20 per month to combat climate change. Another recent Yale survey found that overall, 78% of registered American voters support taxing and/or regulating carbon pollution, including 67% of Republicans and 60% of conservative Republicans.
Continue reading...Consultation on the Regulation Impact Statement for a national phase out of PFOS
Captive wildlife footage in Blue Planet 2 'totally true to nature', say producers
Most filming was done in the wild – including armoured octopuses and hypnotic cuttlefish – but some crucial behaviour had to be captured in lab conditions
Footage of captive wildlife inserted into the BBC’s Blue Planet 2 series remains “totally true to nature”, according to the makers of the flagship show that reveals new insights into life in the oceans.
An octopus that armours itself with shells and rocks, fish that use sign language and tools and dazzling cuttlefish that appear to hypnotise their prey are among the new spectacles uncovered by the series, which starts later this week.
Continue reading...Country diary: Henry III’s charter helped this tree survive to a ripe old age
Epping Forest For centuries commoners were allowed to lop the beeches here for firewood. Now this ancient pollard is big enough to create its own microclimates
Centuries of sunlight have solidified into this beech’s massive presence, which creates its own woodland world. I stand beneath the grandeur of its shaded columns in veneration. But it was not always this way. This great beast was made to bend to the will of generations of commoners, lopped for the humblest of produce, a 10-yearly crop of firewood. It was a labourer, a working tree.
Until the mid 19th century, that is, when cropping ceased. Today, 20 poles, each the size of a mature tree, thrust skywards from the lumpen head of this ancient pollard. And around its great girth, in its crevices and creases, the microclimate changes with the compass. Dominating the trunk’s north-west curve, like a coral outcrop, the bracket fungus Perenniporia fraxinea fans out dramatically in three layers more than 120cm wide. For 20 years I’ve watched this veteran grow so large that its soft, skin-coloured underbelly is now punctured by a million tiny spore-producing pores.
Continue reading...30 reasons to question the National Energy Guarantee. And it’s not just politics
Bertrand Piccard will go around the world again – with 1,000 solutions
Why the NEG could be a “terrible outcome” for renewables
McConnell Dowell / Downer JV Selected as Preferred EPC Contractor for Kidston
Investor confidence could be smashed without additional detail
Victoria Renewable Energy Target written into law, without support of LNP
Young bush detectives look for clues and feeding poddy lambs
Sir David Attenborough: 'The wonder and beauty'
Enova wins at the Green Globe Awards
Greensmith and AEP launch hybrid hydro energy storage project in USA
More acidic oceans 'will affect all sea life'
What if eco-friendly hybrid cars aren't that green?
World Pollutionwatch: evidence grows of lifelong harm from polluted air
Historical data from studies on museum bird specimens, combined with current research, gives us a picture of the long-term harm from air pollution
There is growing evidence about the lifelong harm from air pollution. The air that we breathe as children can stunt our lung growth, potentially causing problems later in adult life. Air pollution breathed decades ago has been shown to shorten lives in the UK today. However, investigating these lifelong impacts is hampered by a lack of historic measurements.
Can the natural environment help us? Starting with lichens in the Jardin du Luxembourg, Paris in 1886, biomonitoring has helped to track air pollution. In a new twist, researchers in the US have constructed a 135-year history of pollution in America’s rust belt by studying soot in the feathers of museum bird specimens. Tests on 1,347 birds showed that air pollution between 1880 and 1920 was worse than we thought. The birds also revealed useful data for climate modellers. It appears that soot pollution started to decrease around 1910, earlier than thought; with dips in the great depression and a rise for the second world war.
Continue reading...Specieswatch: efforts are being made to preserve the Arctic char in Britain
Some 10,000 young char have been released into Kielder Water with the aim of saving this ancient fish, an important relic of our past
The Arctic char, Salvelinus alpinus, is a remarkable survivor from the ice age in Britain, having been trapped in various lakes and Scottish lochs for 10,000 years. As a result, if you manage to catch one, the fish may look considerably different from those in other lakes, because they have had many generations to evolve to survive in local conditions after being cut off from the oceans when the ice retreated.
Some scientists went to the trouble of designating each of these populations of Arctic char as separate species because of these different characteristics, but this idea has generally been dropped as too difficult, not least because there are dozens of cut-off populations, some yet to be described.
Continue reading...Call for vehicle testing overhaul as Australia's emissions fight moves to roads
AAA says motorists are being misled by lab tests of emissions and fuel efficiency but green groups accuse it of delaying tactic
Australia’s motoring lobby is launching a campaign for “real-world” vehicle emissions testing, arguing the current system needs an overhaul because it is misleading consumers and regulators.
The Australian Automobile Association will on Monday release results from emissions and fuel consumption tests on 30 passenger and light commercial vehicles showing discrepancies between real world and official fuel consumption established in laboratory testing.
Continue reading...Fracking protesters vow to 'put their lives on line' after scaling rig
Invasion of site in North Yorkshire comes as campaigners say they have seen letter stating exploration is due to start
Protesters in a tiny North Yorkshire village have vowed to put their lives on the line to prevent the first fracking operation in six years from taking place this week.
Two campaigners had to be rescued from an 18-metre (60ft) rig on Sunday after scaling the structure and waving flares – leading police to warn them of “the serious risk created by open flames and sparks on a live gas site”.
Continue reading...