From the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, Few U.S. Senators in the region supported stricter fuel standards in the most recent vote on the issue on Capitol Hill. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Sarah Hulett has more: SENATE DEBATES FUEL EFFICIENCY(Audio)

Fuel Economy and Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) Fact Sheet (requires Adobe Reader)
- posted by Daniel @ 6:32 PM

 
Another interesting article from ENN, and one that I think could help ease a good portion of global tensions, deals with the vast and growing issues of fresh water shortage world-wide.

13 August 2003
By Anna Peltola, Reuters


STOCKHOLM, Sweden — Simple innovations such as recycling household water and fixing leaky pipes would bring safe drinking water to hundreds of millions of people lacking it today, politicians and scientists said Tuesday.

More than 1.2 billion people lack access to clean water, according to the United Nations, and 12 million die of diseases caused by poor water quality each year, said speakers at World Water Week, an annual gathering of some 1,200 water experts from 100 countries.

A U.N. action plan aims to halve the number of people lacking access to clean drinking water and tolerable sanitary conditions by 2015, but little progress has been made so far.

"There are people in the semi-arid and arid areas who still have to walk about 10 hours looking for water," said Martha Karua, Kenya's minister of water resources. "That situation is totally unacceptable. Kenya is a water-scarce country, but I believe that with efficient management of our water resources, we can use the available water resources for the benefit of everybody and to cover all our needs," she said.

She said rebuilding Nairobi's crumbling water infrastructure with leaking pipes would cost more than $80 billion, but much also needed to be done to (Read on in Simple fixes could bring water to millions, say experts)
- posted by Daniel @ 5:47 PM

 
Also from ENN,

13 August 2003
By Brian Melley, Associated Press


SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The nation's toughest auto emissions regulation may finally become a reality after three automakers said Tuesday they would drop lawsuits that have threatened a California clean-car rule.

General Motors Corp., DaimlerChrysler, and Isuzu Motors said the latest incarnation of a policy that's been 13 years in the making convinced them to settle litigation with state air regulators, who agreed to drop appeals.

The settlement strengthens the possibility that automakers will be forced to build cleaner cars rather than continue fighting to weaken the emissions rules.

"This is good news for clean air in California, and it's good news for the advancement of auto technology worldwide because we're going to see clean cars hitting the streets," said Jason Mark of the Union of Concerned Scientists, which has fought to keep the regulation intact.

The deal means that GM...(Read on in California clean cars mandate gets a chance)
- posted by Daniel @ 5:42 PM

 
Coming in from ENN,

13 August 2003
By Gilbert Le Gras, Reuters


OTTAWA — Canada earmarked C$1 billion (US$725 million) in incentives for homeowners, businesses, and governments Tuesday as part of its Kyoto Protocol commitment to curb emissions of greenhouse gases.

The announcement accounts for half the C$2 billion Ottawa pledged in February's budget for a five-year spending initiative to reduce emissions blamed for global warming, after Parliament ratified the international agreement in December.

Ottawa has committed Canada to cutting emissions of greenhouse gases to 6 percent below 1990 levels by 2012. In 2001, they were 18.5 percent above 1990 levels.

Among the spending initiatives are: (Read on in Canada earmarks C$1 billion in climate change funds)
- posted by Daniel @ 5:34 PM

 
And lastly from ENN, MADRID — Bears at Madrid's zoo were licking big blocks of ice with fruit inside to keep cool as Europe sweltered in abnormally high temperatures for yet another day.

Other animals are not so lucky. Eels in the Rhine and chickens in Bosnia and Brittany have succumbed by the thousand. German cuckoos are migrating earlier, and butterflies are breeding three times instead of once.

"Birds are particularly affected because they are small and have a greater surface area to weight and a higher body temperature than humans," said Juan Carlos Atienza, a biologist at the Spanish Ornithological Society. Read on in: Birds and sealife at risk from European heatwave
- posted by Daniel @ 2:16 AM

 
More on the reason we need wind from ENN, PARIS — Scorching temperatures threatened to cut output at Europe's nuclear power stations as homes and businesses cranked up air conditioners in search of relief from a second week of searing heat Monday.

In France, where temperatures have hit about 104 degrees Fahrenheit in the past few days, the government warned there could be blackouts if electricity production continued to be stretched. At emergency talks to try to stave off cuts, it agreed to allow the country's nuclear power plants to pour cooling water back into rivers at a hotter temperature than usual to help them meet surging demand. Read more detail in: European heatwave sparks nuclear power dilemma
- posted by Daniel @ 2:13 AM

 
Also from ENN, General Motors Corporation, automobile suppliers, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have announced a new partnership to increase the competitiveness of U.S. companies while reducing environmental impacts. Read all about it in: GM, auto suppliers form partnership for the environment
- posted by Daniel @ 2:07 AM

 
From Enn, an article on the political turmoil surrounding the nation's first proposed off-shore wind farm in Nantucket sound. Read all about it in: Celebrities protest vast wind farm proposed off Mass. coast
- posted by Daniel @ 2:03 AM