Okay, so maybe not entirely. But it’s something! flickr.com Mmmm…carbon Climate scientists from University of Southern California developed a kind of material — polyethylenimine, or PEI — that virtually acts as flypaper for carbon dioxide emissions. PEI essentially pulls these greenhouse gas molecules out of the air and holds onto them, preventing their proliferation into […]
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Posted inTech
Light Bulb Limbo
This week, in a budgetary move, Congress voted against the Department of Energy’s proposed phase-out of traditional incandescent light bulbs. However, while this plan toward energy efficiency is put on hold, it looks like the switch from incandescent to compact florescent lamp (CFL) bulbs is inevitable. Sarah Mirk Light Bulb Lady on her throne To […]
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PSU’s Electric Avenue Goes Groovy
There’s a new word on the street when it comes to the electric car: Psychedelic. And by “street” I mean “avenue.” And by “avenue,” I mean Portland Statue University’s Electric Avenue—the street near PSU campus designated solely for electric cars to pull in and power up. Turns out that if you drive an electric car, […]
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Smokey and Woodsy Under House GOP Fire
Your two favorite woodland creatures who dually prevent enviro-atrocities and make childhood lessons bearable are on the political chopping block. Yes, Smokey the Bear and Woodsy the Owl have been placed on the endangered list thanks to the House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s new “YouCut” program. YouCut welcomes the public to offer ideas as to […]
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NW PDX Industry Voluntarily Agrees to Pollute Less
The ESCO steel parts manufacturing plant has been in NW Portland for a long time—98 years, to be exact—melting down scrap metal for new products and releasing an ample amount of toxic chemicals in the process. Not more toxic chemicals than are allowed under state and federal clean air laws, however, and as the Nob […]
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County Bans Sale of Kids’ Products Containing BPA
Plastic Bottle: It does a baby bad. Apparently some people like babies and apparently those people are in charge of our county government. Scoff! The county commission voted unanimously today to ban the sale of kids’ products that include Bisephanol-A (BPA), a common plastic ingredient that has been linked to in infants brain damage and […]
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Salmon Victory! Watch This Dam Blow Up at Noon
Today is a very exciting day to be a fish, or to be a human who likes to watch shit blow up. The largest dam removal project in history will burst forward today as engineers cap off a decades-long effort to restore 14 miles of salmon habitat to the White Salmon River. At noon, engineers […]
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The City Left Me a Trick or Treat Bucket
This handy trick or treat bucket showed up on my doorstep last week. Sustainable candy sacks! How thoughtful. J/K, J/K. You guys remember what this is about, right? We begin Portland-wide compost pick up for houses (though not larger apartment complexes—y’all are left out for now) on October 31st. You can check your new trash […]
Posted inTech
Facebook, Greenwashed?
facebook.com My, what a sustainable logo! Soon, Facebookers will find their Farmville or Words With Friends relays up against a new competitor: Energy Consumption App! Okay, so it doesn’t have a name yet, but I’m sure it’ll be catchier. Facebook, in collaboration with energy resources Opower and NRDC, will launch a new application allowing friends […]
Posted inPolitics
Enviro Grades Are Out!
Environmental news is usually black or white: either it’s mind-blowingly uplifting or devastatingly depressing. But what about the cold hard policies and policy-makers behind these headlines — how do they rate? Oregon League of Conservation Voters released their annual environmental scorecard for the Oregon legislature to illustrate just that. First, the bad marks: OLCV dually […]
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Defining Green Jobs
Okay — So we know that they’re hip, eco-friendly and on the rise. But what really is a “green job”? Turns out The Economist‘s E.G. traveled to “eco-smug” Portland (and Austin, Texas) to answer just that. I’ve always thought about “green jobs” as the category covering work with explicit and intentional environmental benefits. Working on […]
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Oregon Knows Its Garbage
As curbside recycling (and soon, composting) projects grow across the state, Oregon receives confirmation that its on the right path when it comes to trash. According to a Department of Environmental Quality waste recovery and generation report, Oregonians diverted 46.3 percent of waste from landfills in 2010 — the state’s highest rate since the report’s […]