No decision on China CO2 tax, says official: Pt Carbon - The Times of India
Jan 12 2012

China remains undecided whether to tax carbon emissions, as the government weighs how it could impact plans to launch an emissions trading scheme and whether it is feasible given current high domestic tax levels, a senior official said on Wednesday.

Endangered Species of the Week: Adelaide pygmy bluetongue skink - Green Fudge
Jan 22 2012

Species: Adelaide pygmy bluetongue skink (Tiliqua adelaidensis) Status: Endangered (EN) Interesting Fact: The Adelaide pygmy bluetongue skink shelters in burrows created by spiders! Surprisingly, the tongue of this skink is not blue as the name suggests, but is instead a rose pink colour. The mottled mixture of browns on the rest of its body enables this species to blend in perfectly with its surroundings in its native Australian habitat. During the heat of the day, the Adelaide pygmy bluetongue skink shelters in holes that, rather than being excavated by the skink itself, are quarried by wolf spiders and trapdoor spiders....

Amsterdam: Can tourists save the world? - Green Fudge
Jan 23 2012

It may sound like a Dutch version of UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s Big Society: the government cuts social programs and individuals volunteer to pick up the slack. But in Amsterdam it’s also tourists who are expected to chip in. Imagine a tourist cleaning up your street or telling you to close your shop door in order to save energy by not letting the heat out. The organization Tourist Save the World puts tourists to work doing good deeds instead of just gawking and buying stuff. But will people start to love tourists or just hate them more? Well, it’s...

Endangered Species of the Week: American burying beetle - Green Fudge
Jan 28 2012

Species: American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) Status: Critically Endangered (CR) Interesting Fact: The American burying beetle buries a whole carcass to feed its young! The largest carrion beetle in North America, the American burying beetle is an attractive species with bright orange markings. These beetles are named for their specialised mechanism of parental care that involves providing the growing larvae with carrion upon which to feed. At night, beetle pairs will locate a suitable carcass and then cooperate to bury it in the soil, thus protecting their find from competition with other species. Once the carcass is beneath the soil,...

Anyone entitled to move Green panel on environmental issues: NGT - The Times of India
Dec 27 2011

National Green Tribunal (NGT) has held that any citizen can approach it for protection of environment.

India against binding pact on emission cuts: Jayanthi - The Times of India
Dec 27 2011

India will not accept any binding targets under a new post 2020 climate regime until the principle of differentiation based on equity is defined, Union environment and forests minister Jayanthi Natarajan told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday.

India opposes UN panel’s ‘back door’ for green caps - The Times of India
Jan 30 2012

A high-profile panel of the United Nation Secretary General (UNSG) on Global Sustainability has recommended that the world adopt sustainable development targets.

New tech to boost solar cell efficiency - The Times of India
Jan 21 2012

Researchers have devised a new technology, which can dramatically increase the amount of sunlight that solar cells convert into electricity up to 45 percent.

Copenhagenize Index: The Measure for Bicycle Friendliness in Major Cities - Green Fudge
Jan 18 2012

One European bicycle culture consulting firm, Copenhagenize Consulting, released there results for a study exploring the world’s most bicycle friendly cities.  By no coincidence, this index is named after the world capital for bicycle culture, Copenhagen.  The index takes 20 major cities and analyzes them on 13 categories, including; advocacy, bicycle culture, bicycle infrastructure, perception of safety and social acceptance to name a few.  Each category was rated on a scale between zero and four points, with twelve bonus points built in for any impressive efforts or features.  A total of 64 points are possible.  To almost no surprise, Copenhagen and...

Would you drive a folding car? - Green Fudge
Feb 02 2012

Folding bikes are great. I’ve owned two inexpensive models and even used one of them in the snow. You can park them everywhere, keep them indoors in your apartment or house so they aren’t at risk of being stolen and take them on trains and buses. Germans are often spotted on them on holiday. I guess they bring them on boats or in their cars. A folding car, however, makes me think of the Jetsons or some other comical view of the future as envisioned in the 1950s during the Space Race. But now the folding car has become a...

Drinking water scare in Chinese city after industrial pollution - The Times of India
Jan 28 2012

Authorities in China have swooped into action to monitor drinking water safety more closely after cadmium pollution, caused by a mining firm, has been found downstream of a China river.

UK: Invasive species and wild big cats! - Green Fudge
Jan 19 2012

The UK is now home to a host of non-native plant and animal species. So-called ‘invasive species’ were invariably imported to the UK as pets, introduced for farming and aquaculture or taken here for some other reason – by humans, of course. Now that their impact has (sometimes) proven negative or inconvenient, many people don’t want them around anymore. The Independent features an article on some of the more exotic and rare animals to establish themselves in the UK, including rumors of lions, pumas, panthers and cougars prowling the English countryside, but also wild boars, which used to be native...

Double renewable energy by 2030, EU tells developing nations - The Times of India
Feb 03 2012

The EU wants countries meeting at a conference in June under the UN’s Rio+20 mechanism to double their share of renewable energy by 2030 under an international obligation.

UN sustainability report calls for big changes - Green Fudge
Jan 30 2012

United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability is presenting its report today in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to address global problems of growing inequality, economic instability and environmental crisis. The report, entitled Resilient People, Resilient Planet: A Future Worth Choosing ‘contains 56 recommendations to put sustainable development into practice and to mainstream it into economic policy as quickly as possible’.   From the report: The signposts are clear: We need to change dramatically, beginning with how we think about our relationship to each other, to future generations, and to the eco-systems that support us. Our mission...

NASA releases stunning “Blue Marble” image of Earth - Green Fudge
Feb 02 2012

By Andrew Freedman NASA released a new, high-resolution “Blue Marble” image of Earth this week, taken from instruments aboard the recently launched Suomi NPP satellite. The image is actually a composite of many pictures from Jan. 4, 2012 that were stitched together, and shows North America in stunning detail. One feature that is notably absent from the picture is snow cover, which is confined to parts of the Rocky Mountains and Sierra Nevada. In many parts of the country, snowfall has been running well below average so far this year. The image was taken by one of the five instruments...

Vendanta to meet MoEF officials regarding Orissa refinery - The Times of India
Jan 22 2012

Vedanta Aluminium plans to meet officials of the environment ministry "soon" to chalk out its strategy related to expansion of alumina refinery in Orissa, following rejection of its review petition by the Orissa high court last week.

Sunday videos: Sustainable waste in Vietnam; rare tiger cubs in China - Green Fudge
Jan 22 2012

We’ve got two bits of eco-news from Asia this weekend. First we’re off to Vietnam to see how megacity Hanoi is coping with a growing waste problem with the help from scientists in Germany. Enormous amounts of waste, a rising population, over-crowding, and an aging infrastructure: Vietnam’s capital Hanoi is a perfect example of a fast-growing megacity. Scientists at Darmstadt University have developed a pilot project that combines wastewater treatment, waste disposal and energy production in one. Their goal is to design a biogas plant for Hanoi that digests waste to generate electricity and heat. –Deutsche Welle Next we jet...

Coal India's three projects recommended for green clearance - The Times of India
Jan 04 2012

An environment ministry's panel has recommended Coal India's three projects, including one for capacity augmentation, for green clearance.

Storms beach baby harp seals in Netherlands - Green Fudge
Jan 26 2012

Due to recent storms in Europe, over 100 baby harp seals have washed up on the northern shores of the Netherlands. The amount of seals found on the country’s beaches has increased within the past two to three years. An animal rescue center in England has also received stranded seals because of the storms and is now caring for 41.   The incident is an extreme example among a recent increase in pup strandings, experts say. Overfishing has reduced the seals’ available prey, and the polluted fish the animals do catch often make them sick. –National Geographic For more on...

Biodiversity crisis overshadows climate changes - The Times of India
Jan 20 2012

The challenges of conserving the world's species against their rapid decline are perhaps even larger than mitigating the negative effects of global climate change, scientists said.

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