February 1st, 2008

Environmental News Review, Jan. 2008

Posted by Jessica Jensen

Here we offer a summary of key environmental news from the month of January 2008.

How Green Is Your Candidate? (Courtesy of Grist.org)

Forget boxers or briefs. You want to know about candidates’ stances on energy and the environment, right? Well, you’ve come to the right place. Compare the candidates’ green policy positions using our handy chart. And you can watch video of some of the candidates speaking at the first-ever presidential candidate forum focused on climate change and energy policy, cosponsored by Grist.  To see all of Grist’s candidate coverage, click here.

Toyota to Offer Some Plug-In Hybrids by 2010 (Courtesy of Environmental News Network)

Toyota Motor Corp plans to market a test fleet of rechargeable hybrid vehicles to companies or government agencies by the end of 2010, raising the stakes in a race with rival General Motors Corp to bring the first mass-market plug-in to market. Toyota has also already begun preparations to build a factory that will produce the next-generation lithium-ion batteries needed for plug-ins and purely electric vehicles, Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe told reporters on Monday. Read the rest of the article here. 

Gore Says “Changing Lightbulbs Not Enough” (Courtesy of Reuters)

Climate campaigner Al Gore urged world policymakers on Thursday to change laws “not just light bulbs” in tackling global warming, and a UN official said world market turmoil must not be allowed to delay action. An annual meeting of world political and business leaders in Davos, Switzerland, this year has scheduled a record number of sessions and workshops on global warming. But a sharp downturn on markets and fears of recession have dominated discussion. Read the article here.

Antartica Lost Billions of Tons of Ice in Last Decade (Courtesy of Environmental News Network)

Antarctica lost billions of tons of ice over the last decade, contributing to the rising seas around the world, a climate researcher said on Monday. The ice melted from two particular parts of the southern continent, according to Eric Rignot and colleagues, who wrote about the phenomenon in the journal Nature Geoscience. Read the rest here.

Fee Enterprise–California Considers Charging Polluting Cars Fees (Courtesy of Grist.org)

California is pursuing new ideas to reduce vehicle emissions in the state after the U.S. EPA denied the state a waiverit needed to implement its vehicle greenhouse-gas emission standards. California lawmakers are expected to vote on a bill this week that would set up a “feebate” system for new car purchases. Excessively polluting vehicles would become more expensive to buy while the cost of buying efficient cars would fall. One-time fees of up to $2,500 would be charged for new inefficient vehicles like Hummers and Chevy Tahoes while cars like Civic and Prius hybrids could earn similarly large rebates.  Read the full article here.

Penguins in Peril as Climate Warms (Courtesy of WWF–Climate Change)

The penguin population of Antarctica is under pressure from global warming, according to a WWF report. The report, Antarctic Penguins and Climate Change, shows that the four populations of penguins that breed on the Antarctic continent - Adélie, Emperor, Chinstrap and Gentoo - are under escalating pressure. For some, global warming is taking away precious ground on which penguins raise their young. For others, food has become increasingly scarce because of warming in conjunction with overfishing. Read the article here.

China Bans Free Plastic Bags (Courtesy of National Geographic)

Declaring war on the “white pollution” choking its cities, farms, and waterways, China is banning free plastic shopping bags and calling for a return to the cloth bags of old—steps largely welcomed by merchants and shoppers on Wednesday.  The measure eliminates the flimsiest bags and forces stores to charge for others, making China the latest nation to target plastic bags in a bid to cut waste and conserve resources. Read the article here.