ApocaDocuments (11) for the "Recovery" scenario from this week
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Sat, Mar 6, 2010
from Ceres, via BusinessGreen:
Climate change shareholder actions hit record high
The number of climate change-related shareholder actions has soared 40 per cent during the 2010 proxy season to a record 95 resolutions, according to new figures from sustainable investment lobby group Ceres.
The flurry of shareholder resolutions, many of which call on companies to provide more detailed information on the risks they face as a result of climate change and imminent carbon regulations, are expected to increase further after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) recently released new guidance detailing how climate change can represent a material risk to a firm's operations that should be disclosed to investors.
"We want our companies to closely look at the impact climate change legislation and regulation have on them, to realistically assess those risks, and to consider the indirect consequences of climate change-driven regulation and business trends on their activities," said Jack Ehnes, chief executive of CalSTRS, a pension fund which manages $131bn dollars in assets. "The SEC's interpretive guidance outlines exactly the kind of action we have been asking our portfolio companies to take with regards to the issues raised by climate change." ...
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Sometimes, big money talks.
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Fri, Mar 5, 2010
from MIT, via PhysOrg:
Behavioral economics and the energy behavior
The argument Sendhil and I make is that we have to compare across all of these classes and say, "What's cost-effective in terms of achieving our goals?" We use the results from recent large-scale energy conservation programs that were motivated by behavioral science to show that behavioral science R&D is an underexplored and potentially cost-effective approach.... There was an academic study by psychologist Bob Cialdini and co-authors that helped provide the proof-of-concept for the OPOWER program. In this study, the researchers left door-hangers at a group of households in California. Some of the door-hangers said, "Save money by saving energy," some of them said, "Save the environment," and some said, "Here's how much your neighbors are using." And the ones that said, "Here's how much your neighbors are using" had a much stronger impact on energy consumption. In the last couple of years that study in particular has had a lot of influence. ...
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It takes a village to raise a meme.
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Fri, Mar 5, 2010
from Freeport Tribune:
'Too great a risk for the Bahamas'
The commercial fishing of Yellow-fin Tuna using purse seine nets in Bahamian waters poses too great a risk for the Bahamas, fisheries conservationist Dr David Philip warned.
He is urging the government not to permit the use of this technique - in which, he says, large game fish, dolphins, sea turtles, and other species are likely to be caught and killed along with the tuna in the large nets. "This is a huge issue and the Bahamas should take leadership and stand to be leaders in this manner and say no to this kind of fishing," said Dr Philips, a representative of the Fisheries Conservation Foundation.... Craig Riker, president of the Grand Bahama Dive Association, says no one wins with purse seine fishing. "If you take the big fish out of the ocean, what fills its place is jellyfish. Jellyfish eat baby fish and fish eggs, and even if you leave some fish to breed they can't because the jellyfish get them.
"Once that happens there is very little chance of getting fish back. It is a very dangerous slope to jump off," he said. ...
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You want to take away my freedom to fish just to save the ecosystem?
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Fri, Mar 5, 2010
from Bozeman Daily Chronicle:
Scientist: 'There's still time' to save the oceans
"There's a great opportunity to take action to save what we can while we still can, but we first have to understand what is going on," Earle said in the Montana State University Friends of Stegner Lecture at the Ellen Theatre on Thursday evening.
"What is going on," according to Earle, includes the deterioration of the world's coral reefs, the overfishing and poaching of important ocean carnivores like the blue fin tuna and increased pollution of the sea, largely a result of Western abundance and overindulgence.
Due to industrialized nations' insatiable appetite for tuna, a 200-kilogram tuna can be sold for $100,000, Earle said, making it one of the most overfished species in the world.... "We take 100 million tons of wildlife out of the sea every year," she said, "and most of it is just bycatch," caught unintentionally by fishermen after the big-ticket fish.... "This is a moment in time, maybe a decade, when there's still a chance," she said. ...
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Eminent scientists do great standup.
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Thu, Mar 4, 2010
from The ApocaDocs:
Environmental Collapse's Funnier Side
This small book [Converging Emergencies 2010-2020] is intended to be a fast, funny and frightening read, about things that matter. Sometimes we'll get a little, well, science-y. Sometimes we'll get a little silly, a little pedantic, a little too passionate, or too poetic....
But we guarantee that if you read it, you'll think about our world differently -- and laugh about it! ...
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I don't think you're supposed to make fun of this stuff.
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Thu, Mar 4, 2010
from Boston Globe:
US backs ban on bluefin tuna trade
The US government announced yesterday that it supports prohibiting international trade of Atlantic bluefin tuna, a move that could lead to the most sweeping trade restrictions ever imposed on the highly prized fish. Sushi aficionados in Japan and elsewhere have consumed bluefin for decades, causing the fish's population to plummet. In less than two weeks, representatives from 175 countries will convene in Doha, Qatar, to determine whether to restrict the trade of bluefin tuna -- valued for its rich, buttery taste -- and an array of other imperiled species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.... Japan, the world's largest bluefin consumer, opposes the idea of trade restrictions, while the European Union has yet to take a formal position.... Over the past 40 years, the adult population of eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean bluefin tuna has declined 72 percent. In the western Atlantic, the population has dropped 82 percent. The declines occurred even though bluefin fishing was being governed by an international panel that sets catch quotas and is supposed to curtail illegal fishing. ...
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I see "scientific bluefin fishing" in Japan's future.
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Wed, Mar 3, 2010
from The ApocaDocs:
The ApocaDocs Write the JokeBook on EnviroCollapse
'Docs Jim and Michael have written a free book (http://www.apocadocs.com/book/) that we want to get into as many minds and hands as possible. Please: read Converging Emergencies, 2010-2020, and pass it on. Funny? Most people say so. Scary? Your eyes will widen. Hopeful? It has hope, though truthfully, hope is only in human revolution. If you like what we do, please take a look, and then pass it on. ...
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Synthesis?
for FREE?
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Tue, Mar 2, 2010
from CalTech, via Technology Review:
Material Traps Light on the Cheap
A new photovoltaic material performs as well as the one found in today's best solar cells, but promises to be significantly cheaper. The material, created by researchers at Caltech, consists of a flexible array of light-absorbing silicon microwires and light-reflecting metal nanoparticles embedded in a polymer. Computational models suggest that the material could be used to make solar cells that would convert 15 to 20 percent of the energy in sunlight into electricity -- on par with existing high-performance silicon cells. But the material would require just 1 percent of the materials used today, potentially leading to a dramatic decrease in costs.... But the wires are treated with an antireflective coating and coated in a rubbery polymer mixed with highly reflective alumina nanoparticles. Once the polymer sets, the entire thing can be peeled off like a sticker. Over 90 percent of the resulting material is composed of the cheap polymer, and the template can be used again and again.
"These materials are pliable, but they have the properties of a silicon wafer," says Atwater. When light hits the composite solar mats, it bounces around, reflecting off the alumina particles until it can be absorbed by a microwire. ...
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Can we start pumping these out like paper, please?
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Tue, Mar 2, 2010
from New York Times:
For Pennies, a Disposable Toilet That Could Help Grow Crops
A Swedish entrepreneur is trying to market and sell a biodegradable plastic bag that acts as a single-use toilet for urban slums in the developing world. Once used, the bag can be knotted and buried, and a layer of urea crystals breaks down the waste into fertilizer, killing off disease-producing pathogens found in feces. The bag, called the Peepoo, is the brainchild of Anders Wilhelmson, an architect and professor in Stockholm. ...
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The "pissshit" didn't go over so well.
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Mon, Mar 1, 2010
from Stanford, via EurekAlert:
Discovery in legumes could reduce fertilizer use, aid environment: Stanford researchers
"We have discovered a new biological process, by which leguminous plants control behavior of symbiotic bacteria," said molecular biologist Sharon Long. "These plants have a specialized protein processing system that generates specific protein signals. These were hitherto unknown, but it turns out they are critical to cause nitrogen fixation."... This special ability allows legumes to flourish in nitrogen-poor soils, whereas other plants require applications of manufactured nitrogen fertilizer to grow well. But even legumes can't flourish without the right symbiotic bacteria.... Costs aside, the production of chemical fertilizer also adds to the problem of global warming, both by way of the fossil fuels used in production of chemical fertilizer and through the impact of leftover fertilizer that degrades into nitrous oxide, a highly potent greenhouse gas.
With the planet's ever-growing population, Long said there is going to be increased need to keep productivity going on lands that are starting to become marginal because of drought, temperature or salinity problems, among others. ...
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Maybe we can "fix" this after all.
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Mon, Mar 1, 2010
from Guardian:
British firms face onslaught from tar sands campaigners
British companies spearheading the drive to exploit the Canadian tar sands will come under renewed assault this week from an increasingly vocal group of shareholders and environmentalists who are planning to turn the forthcoming BP, Shell and Royal Bank of Scotland annual meetings into a referendum on these controversial operations.... There are signs the oil companies and the Canadian government are becoming increasingly concerned about the reputational damage that could be inflicted on them: a special "tar sands day of learning" was held at the headquarters of the Royal Bank of Canada in Toronto on 1 February to bolster the confidence of fellow bankers and investors.
The Co-op's investor briefing, designed to rally further opposition, warns institutional investors with highly diversified portfolios that allowing BP and Shell to pursue their costly tar sands extraction could undermine their holdings in other areas of the economy. ...
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So if one of my eggs can corrode all of my baskets....
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