Preventing Pollution

Even Alcatraz goes green

It's wind and sun that will soon power the hybrid ferries that will take tourists out to look at Alcatraz. The National Park Service has paired with Hornblower Cruises and Events to create these green ferries in a ten-year multi-million dollar contract. {mosimage}

The use of solar and wind energy will lead to zero emissions at the wharf, and the ferries have been touted to get much better mileage and pollute half as much as the previous vessels.

The first ferry will be built within the next two years, and the second will be built by year five.

Water vessels are making big strides going green -- Canal Boats, Inc. has launched a bio-diesel/electric hybrid ferry named "Clay Shaw." These ferries are powered by a 100KW John Deere bio-diesel Genset 6068 TFM that uses an 80/20 mix of diesel fuel and vegetable oil.

Via: Ecofriend .

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Bush admin: maybe global warming exists, buuuut...

Dave Burdick

Things just aren't going well for Bushies these days. Low approval ratings, the Texas Rangers probably aren't going to be able to sign Roger Clemens and now -- can you believe it? -- scientists who are totally doing science on the government's dime are claiming that global warming is a thing.

Like a real thing.

{mosimage}

The New York Times' Andrew C. Revkin checked out the government-commissioned report , released two days ago, and said this:

"The report's authors all agreed that their review of the data showed that the atmosphere was, in fact, warming in ways that generally meshed with computer simulations. The study said that the only factor that could explain the measured warming of Earth's average temperature over the last 50 years was the buildup heat-trapping gases, which are mainly emitted by burning coal and oil."

That's a big Hallibummer for the White House, but they stayed cheery by pointing out that this report was just the first of 21 on the subject, so they're not convinced yet.

You know how 4 out of 5 dentists recommend whatever the hell? I'll bet the fifth dentist is going to be a very happy, very rich man before all of this is over.

:NYT

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More cell towers in Yellowstone?

Dave Burdick

There's a thing here somewhere. Yellowphone. Cellowstone. I don't know. But the point is, Yellowstone National Park officials are looking at what their spokesman calls "an environmental assessment for wireless communications."

The Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) nabbed some documents{mosimage} via that pesky Freedom of Information Act that showed that park officials had contacted a few telecommunications companies asking for ideas. No harm in asking for suggestions, I guess, but who wants cell towers in national parks?

Frankly, I'm okay if nobody can call me while I'm in the park. They should have just come with me in the first place.

And it's not as if there's no reception there now -- just spotty. The photo, by the way, is a tower that Yellowstone put up not too far from Old Faithful about five years ago.

Here's the AP story at CNN.com.

And here's the excitingly-titled "TELECOMS’ SECRET PLAN TO WIRE ENTIRE YELLOWSTONE PARK" press release at PEER's site. I'm getting shivers!

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Greenin' the suburbs

Dave Burdick

Q: What happens when hippies grow up, become successful and move to the burbs?

A: Gas-powered leaf-blower bans. {mosimage}

Yep. Gas-powered leaf-blowers are bad for the environment and bad for the peaceful volume level required by subdivisions, etc., etc. A few forward-thinking and suburb-thinking cities have considered gas-powered leaf-blower bans.

Palo Alto, Calif., known for Stanford University among other things, enacted such a ban on June 13, 2005. Here's a sometimes snarkily-written FAQ on that city's ban .

And here's a site called Zero Air Pollution, Los Angeles. Guess what they want. Here's my favorite quote:

"There is no containing fugitive dust and Particulate Matter, once it is disbursed through the air in such a violent manner by any of the blowers."

They're so down with ending leaf-blowing that they get into stuff termed "fugitive dust," which sounds like what you'd call Harrison Ford's dandruff, but it might actually be even more dangerous than that. Here's one expert's description:

"Fugitive dust is a relatively new term for an old problem. Simply put, fugitive dust is a type of nonpoint source air pollution - small airborne particles that do not originate from a specific point such as a gravel quarry or grain mill. Fugitive dust originates in small quantities over large areas. Significant sources include unpaved roads, agricultural cropland and construction sites. Most rural Missouri citizens, particularly those living near unpaved roads, are familiar with the nuisance of fugitive dust (Figure 1). Recent research indicates that there are significant health considerations involved as well."

And here's the whole document, for more than you ever wanted to learn about fugitive dust .

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Green One-Pot Chemistry

Hank Green

{mosimage}A couple of EcoGeeks over at Georgia Tech. might have made a discovery that will make both large chemical manufacturers and environmentalists happy.

There's not a lot of common ground between chemical manufacturing and environmental protection since the byproducts of chemical manufacturing are generally second only to nuclear wastes in deadliness and longevity.

But, really, Dupont doesn't like byproducts either. Every liter of waste is a liter they don't make money off of, and have to pay to properly dispose of. These guys over at GT are using magnetic nanoparticles to introduce catylists into a reaction, remove them in a pure form, the introduce another catylist for the next step in the reaction, then remove that one in a pure form, until the reaction is complete.

Basically, every extra step they can do in one 'pot', could potentially save dupont and the environment from the creation of millions of tons of useless toxic waste. And that is the power of the ecogeek!

From Science Daily

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Even Alcatraz goes green

Bush admin: maybe global warming exists, buuuut...

More cell towers in Yellowstone?

Greenin' the suburbs

Green One-Pot Chemistry

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