Final Thoughts on a Dead Climate Bill

Photo via the Guardian

I know I’ve ranted and raved a fair amount about the ignominious death of comprehensive climate and clean energy legislation. But lest we all head into our weekends wholly downtrodden and helpless-feeling, a few more words need to be uttered before the casket is lowered into the ground for good (am I getting carried away with this metaphor, here?). Here are some important final thoughts on the demise of the climate bill — and where we can and should go from here. …
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Could shaking batteries power gadgets?
Brother Industries’ prototype batteries can be recharged by shaking them. Just don’t hurl your remote control at the TV.

Originally posted at Crave

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Introducing the Senate’s Pathetic New "Energy" Bill

Okay, so I’ve been up in arms about the official demise of the climate bill in the Senate. I took pains to document who was responsible for killing it. But I neglected to mention amidst all the ranting that the Senate is still working on something. Something they’re calling an ‘energy bill’, but in reality, it hardly qualifies as such. Here’s the pathetic energy package that we can look forward to in lieu of a proper effort to reduce carb…
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Toyota Suggests Putting a Glass of Water on Your Dash (Well, Not Really)

Image: Toyota

For a 10% Fuel Consumption Reduction…
No, Toyota isn’t trying to con you into buying a “water powered car“. They are simply trying to illustrate a simple point about fuel-efficient driving that, sadly, too few people seem to know: If you drive smoothly and try to avoid abrupt acceleration and deceleration as much as possible, you’ll save fuel. It’s sound advice (of cou… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Today on Planet 100: Shark Finning 101
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Today on Planet 100: Shark Finning 101
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Today on Planet 100: Shark Finning 101
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NASA Releases New Map of Aquatic Dead Zones

Image: NASA, public domain.

In 2008, 415 Dead Zones Were Identified
NASA has just released a new map of oceans showing aquatic dead zones around the world (places where water is so low in dissolved oxygen that sea creatures can’t survive, something we’ve written about a lot <a href=”http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/06/above…
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GM plans ‘green’ air-conditioning refrigerant for selected 2013 models
General Motors Co. plans a new greenhouse gas-friendly air-conditioning refrigerant for 2013 Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac models.

Originally posted at The Car Tech blog

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Solar Powered, Driverless Cars To Drive 8,000 Miles from Rome to Shanghai

Image Credit: VisLab Intercontinental Autonomous Challenge

If you’re planning on driving from Rome to Shanghai this summer, you might encounter two small, orange cars along the route. Covered with seven cameras and four laser scanners each, they’ll look a bit different from your car. And the driver…well that’s the thing. There is no driver. The cars, which really look like little vans, are autonomous, controlled by an on-board computer called GOLD: Generic Obstacle and Lane Detector.

Traveling the 8,000 miles of the old Silk Road over three months, the cars are the work the Artificial Vision and Intellige… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Pro Athletes Visit Gulf Oil Spill, Say "No More Drill, Baby Drill"
In this Sierra Club video, athletes speak about their trip to the Gulf Oil Spill.

I am back home from my second trip to Louisiana since the oil spill. This time I was joined by other professional athletes to take a tour of the massive environmental catastrophe that is the Gulf oi…
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Imported Cattle Threaten African Livestock Diversity & Continent’s Food Supply

photo: Joris-Jan van den Boom via flickr

Even though locally-adapted, diversified agriculture and farming is a key component of both food security today and in a warmer more climate-stressed future, the Big Ag trend is still towards less crop diversity and more uniformity. Here’s a perfect example of the downside of that: The International Livestock Research Institute says urgent action is needed to stop the “rapid and alarming loss of genetic diversity” among African cattle, which not only provide fo… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Imported Cattle Threaten African Livestock Diversity & Continent’s Food Supply

photo: Joris-Jan van den Boom via flickr

Even though locally-adapted, diversified agriculture and farming is a key component of both food security today and in a warmer more climate-stressed future, the Big Ag trend is still towards less crop diversity and more uniformity. Here’s a perfect example of the downside of that: The International Livestock Research Institute says urgent action is needed to stop the “rapid and alarming loss of genetic diversity” among African cattle, which not only provide fo… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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Zephyr Solar Plane Lands After Over 2 Weeks (!!!) in the Air, Setting New World Record

Photo: Qinetiq

Thanks to Solar Power
A week ago we wrote about the Zephyr “Eternal Aircraft”, an unmanned solar plane that had just broken many records by staying up in the air for 7 days. Well, the Zephyr has finally landed at the US Army’s Yuma Proving Ground in Arizona after 14 days and 24 minutes, setting a new record that will no doubt be broken the next time the Zephyr decides to take off (at this point, breaking records seems to only be a matter of being patient enough, since the so… Read the full story on TreeHugger
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