The Green Grok Blogs on Waste
GM Declares Bankruptcy
by Bill ChameidesJun 01, 2009
filed under: transportation, business, air pollution, automobile, automakers, health, Wall Street Journal, carbon dioxide emissions, General Motors
The end of an era, to be sure. But how did this happen? The result of meddling by “pointy-headed busybodies” or the inevitable march of time?
Cash-for-Clunkers Agreement: Still Not Ready for Prime Time
by Bill ChameidesMay 08, 2009
filed under: U.S. Congress, greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, climate change, legislation, global warming, cars, transportation, carbon dioxide emissions, Cash for Clunkers
Congress has been kicking around the idea of paying people to scrap their old cars and buy new, more fuel-efficient ones. On May 5, Democratic lawmakers and President Obama reportedly agreed on a one-year cash-for-clunkers proposal. Unfortunately, as far as the planet is concerned, the proposal ... well, kind of clunks.
Sympathy for the Oil Industry?
by Bill ChameidesMay 06, 2009
filed under: oil shale, oil, greenhouse gas emissions, natural gas, T. Boone Pickens, climate change, energy, oil reserves, global warming, oil drilling, Robert Samuelson, Washington Post, oil resources, pollution, global economy, economy
The poor oil industry. After years of record profits, things have soured with the collapse of oil and gas prices. And now I read of an Obama “bias” against the industry. Heavens!
Statistically Speaking: Toxic Releases: How Much Do We Really Know?
by Bill ChameidesMar 26, 2009
filed under: TRI, air pollution, Statistically Speaking, REACH, TSCA, Environmental Protection Agency, waste, European Union, pollution
Last week the U.S. EPA issued the Toxic Release Inventory for 2007 – a compilation of the toxic chemicals and compounds that industries released to our land, water, and air during 2007. Great. But does the TRI tell the whole toxic release story?
Exxon Valdez 20 Years Later
by Bill ChameidesMar 18, 2009
filed under: oil, waste, oil company, oil spill, oceans, Exxon Valdez, Prince William Sound, ecosystems, fossil fuels, pollution
Prince William Sound, 2009. Pictures of picturesque beaches and icy-blue waters might suggest that the effects of the 1989 oil spill are long gone. Dig a little deeper, and a very different picture emerges.
Finally Standards for Coal Ash … Just in Time?
by Bill ChameidesMar 11, 2009
filed under: waste, toxins, water pollution, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, coal ash, policy, Environmental Protection Agency, power plants, Tennessee Valley Authority, pollution
On Monday, while the Environmental Protection Agency sought information from electric companies about their coal waste disposal practices, a new crisis was bubbling up around Maryland. It’s about time EPA acts on coal waste. But is it enough?
Environmental Roundup
by Bill ChameidesMar 05, 2009
filed under: wetlands, air quality, lead, air pollution, water, health, recycled paper, Environmental Protection Agency, waste
From coastal wetlands and "green" tissue paper to getting the lead out, here are four environmental news items theGreenGrok thought you might want to know about.
Obama On Tar Sands - Or Should I Say Oil Sands
by Bill ChameidesFeb 20, 2009
filed under: Canada, oil shale, oil, greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, global warming, tar sands, global economy, Barack Obama, Stephen Harper, Carol Browner, pollution
Yesterday President Obama and Canadian Prime Minister Harper talked about Canadian tar sands. They spoke of them euphemistically, calling them “oil sands.” Now, politicians choose words wisely – perhaps they employed the term to make tar-sand oil seem less egregious? PC talk fixes nothing.
Does the United States Need Bolivia’s Lithium?
by Bill ChameidesFeb 19, 2009
filed under: Nevada, recycling, plug-in hybrids, North Carolina, electric cars, batteries, China, Chile, Bolivia, lithium
President Obama has some ambitious goals. One would put a million plug-in electric vehicles on the road by 2015. That’s going to require a lot of batteries and, given today’s technology, a lot of lithium. Where’s it going to come from?
The Old Ice Age Myth Put to Rest
by Bill ChameidesFeb 10, 2009
filed under: Europe, aerosols, air quality, air pollution, climate change, global warming, coal, cooling, paper, Germany, climate skeptics, Switzerland, health, particulate matter, fossil fuels, science
Global warming skeptics often point to an "imminent ice age” touted by the popular press in the 1970s to dissuade the public from believing today’s very real threat of global warming. The argument was always a red herring, and now a new paper resolves the scientific issues raised by the supposed warnings.
DIY: 8 Tips for Greening Your Print Jobs
by Bill ChameidesFeb 06, 2009
filed under: green office, printing, green fonts, postconsumer recycled paper, paper, Do It Yourself, pollution
Did you know there are supposedly "green" fonts that claim to reduce ink use? I'm not sure I'm ready to switch (as I'm partial to Comic Sans MS), but I thought the topic makes for a good jumping-off point. How can we rack up environmental (and cost) savings on computer printouts? Let us count the ways.
Clean Coal’s Dirty Secret - When 'Clean' Isn't Clean
by Bill ChameidesFeb 04, 2009
filed under: air quality, particulate matter, air pollution, coal, water pollution, coal ash, waste, Tennessee Valley Authority, power plants
Coal is the dirtiest fossil fuel. Burning it produces a myriad of noxious air pollutants. That's a problem. Clean coal technology supposedly scrubs those pollutants before they get into the atmosphere. Problem gone, right? Not quite. Guess where those pollutants end up.
Memo to CNN.com: You Got It Wrong
by Bill ChameidesFeb 02, 2009
filed under: cap and trade, green investments, climate change, energy, Supreme Court, New York Times, Clean Air Act (1990), air quality, renewable energy, renewables, economy, fuel economy, oil, carbon tax, global warming, Barack Obama, CNN, Department of Transportation, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), air pollution, economics, gasoline, George W. Bush, Environmental Protection Agency
It’s great when reporters call you for your opinion. It’s even better when they feature a quote from you in the story. And it’s better yet when it’s from an organization with the reach of CNN. However, it’s not great when they get what you said wrong.
Tennessee Coal Ash Contaminated With Radioactivity and Arsenic
by Bill ChameidesJan 29, 2009
filed under: aerosols, radioactivity, air quality, air pollution, particulate matter, radium, coal, Duke University, coal ash, water pollution, arsenic, Tennessee Valley Authority
Remember that huge spill of coal ash at the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Kingston coal-fired power plant on December 22nd? New measurements by Duke University scientists confirm not only the presence of toxic metals like arsenic but also dangerous levels of radioactivity.
Obama: The Environmental President?
by Bill ChameidesJan 21, 2009
filed under: cap and trade, Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Fish & Wildlife Service, Diane Feinstein, water pollution, Theodore Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan, Richard Nixon, Clean Air Act (1990), air quality, legislation, Clean Water Act, National Park Service, Kyoto Protocol, Clean Air Act, Abraham Lincoln, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, oceans, global warming, Barack Obama, Endangered Species Act, Jimmy Carter, Al Gore, air pollution, Woodrow Wilson, Montreal Protocol, George W. Bush, Environmental Protection Agency, Yosemite
It's official: there's a new U.S. president. Will Barack Obama be able to advance an environmental agenda? If so, he will have distinguished himself from Democratic administrations that promised a lot but delivered little on the environment.
See also comments on Huffington Post (36)
Is Bubble Bursting for Climate in Near Term?
by Bill ChameidesJan 15, 2009
filed under: greenhouse gases, Henry Waxman, air pollution, automobile, automakers, Supreme Court, global warming, Nancy Pelosi, House of Representatives, Barack Obama, New York Times, climate change
Could there already be an about-face? The president-elect's energy & environment picks held real promise for climate action. Now there's talk of the virtues of coal. If Obama is truly bullish on the issue, there are two steps he can take immediately.
Globe Trotters: Trash Mars a Monument and a Rare Bird Visits Texas
by Bill ChameidesJan 13, 2009
filed under: animals, oceans, pine flycatcher, plastic, Northwest Hawaiian Island Marine Monument, trash, birds, Texas, pollution
They say it’s a small world. Apparently if you are a bird or a bunch of trash that is the case.
As the World Turned: Environmental News During the Holidays
by Bill ChameidesJan 05, 2009
filed under: oceans, animals, air pollution, Clean Air Interstate Rule, global warming, moon, coal, global economy, China, Apollo 8, Wall Street Journal, sulfur oxide, octopus, nitrogen oxides
Welcome back. Here's a quick review of what happened while we were celebrating the holiday season with family and friends.
The State of Green Tech Investing: One VC's View
by Benjamin AbramDec 12, 2008
filed under: green investments, business, economics, global warming, China, pollution, economy
I'm a Duke grad, working for a venture capital firm that's focused on finding and funding the next generation of renewable fuels and clean technologies. Dr. Chameides, who is in Nepal this week, asked me to blog about the effect of the credit crisis on green tech investing.
Statistically Speaking: Detroit Does It Better in Europe
by Bill ChameidesDec 05, 2008
filed under: fuel economy, transportation, Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), air pollution, Statistically Speaking, automobile, statistically speaking, alternative fuel, diesel, Detroit, particulate matter, gasoline, carbon dioxide emissions, ultra low sulfur diesel, nitrogen oxides
So the Big Three automakers are in trouble and want some of our money to stay afloat. Before handing over any cash, we might want to look at how Detroit does when it has to.
