San Ramon, CA - Much will be said at the Chevron Corporation’s shareholder conference this week; the agenda is full. However, there will be little said about Chevron’s involvement in controversial projects concerning tar sand. Despite the requests of shareholders owning $31.4 billion dollars, Chevron will remain quiet, keeping the Alberta tar sand projects off the agenda.
Tar sand, a source of non-conventional oil, consists of bitumen, a sticky, tar-like form of petroleum which is so thick and heavy that it must be heated or diluted before it will flow. Harvesting tar sand requires huge amounts of energy and water.
In addition to heavy water use, extraction of Alberta’s Athabasca oil sands also involves clear-cutting of the Boreal Forest, formation of toxic “tailings” lakes, habitat destruction of iconic species such as the woodland caribou, and up to five times higher greenhouse gas emissions than conventional oil extraction. All of these factors lead Canada’s Environmental Defence to label tar sand development “the most destructive project on Earth.”
By Olga Orda •
June 6, 2008
Image source: it all skyrocketed with Gutenberg’s printing press…
A Green Printer dispatch.
Ever wondered how much energy and thought it took to produce that shiny brochure your marketing staff handed to you this week? And no, it’s not just the brand and visual design genius we’re talking about.
Let’s face it: making a few pieces of paper look pretty takes up some pretty hefty resources and the paper and pulp industry is there [...]
By Leslie Valentine •
March 12, 2008
This post is by Fred Krupp, President of the Environmental Defense Fund.
Earth: The Sequel tells the story of an exciting race that is just beginning — the race to develop low-carbon energy in time to turn our greatest environmental crisis into our greatest economic opportunity.
Many people have expressed surprise that I’d write a book like this about a problem so serious. And global warming is serious. With each passing year, scientists get more and more alarmed at the increase and extent of disturbing impacts. But this book is not about the doom and gloom of global warming. In fact, it’s just the opposite.
Earth: The Sequel is about hope, invention, ingenuity, entrepreneurialism, capital markets, commerce, and profit. These are words that most people don’t think of when they hear the term “global warming,” and they especially don’t expect to hear them coming from me. After all, I’m an environmental lawyer running one of the country’s most respected and influential environmental groups, advocating for good environmental policy.
I wrote this book because, after 20 years of studying global warming and trying to craft solutions to stop it, I know that government policy alone is not the answer. Enacting a hard cap on carbon will play a key supporting role, but the starring role belongs to American commerce.
By Amy Stodghill •
September 3, 2007
Fish is a source of healthy omega-3 fatty acids, but unfortunately because of the pollution in our waters, fish and other seafoods also contain toxins such as mercury and PCBs. Then there’s also the issue of overfishing, and the debate between wild-caught and farm-raised fish to consider. So how do you know what fish choose?
To help you sort out the "good" fish from the "bad" fish, Environmental
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By Amy Stodghill •
February 27, 2007
Image source: ENS
The campaign against 11 proposed dirty coal-fired power plants in Texas ended with the announcement of the buyout of utility giant TXU and a deal with environmental groups.Two private equity firms, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Company and Texas Pacific Group, will purchase TXU for $32 billion. Part of the deal included scrapping the plans for 8 plants, and increased efforts toward emission reductions.
TXU's stock had been dropping steadily since the grassroots
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