Fracking: What’s the Deal?
Posted by on August 21, 2011 (1 Comment)
You’ve probably seen the “No Fracking Way” signs around town and heard about hydrofracking here and there, but what exactly is hydrofracking?  For those of you who don’t know, hydrofracking is a method of drilling in shale deposits underground.  Natural gas accounts for 24% of New York State’s energy supply, and New York has very large underground shale deposit... Read More
Why Are Southern States Getting More Snow Than Northern States?
Posted by on March 7, 2011 (No Comments)
I have a friend that lives in Houston, TX, a place that has received lots of snow this winter.   She called me the other day and while we were talking she asked me innocently, “If global warming is really going on, why are Southern states getting more snow than Northern states?”  I admitted that I had wondered the same thing and wasn’t really sure about the answer... Read More
African Elephants in Peril
Posted by on February 25, 2011 (No Comments)
Elephant populations in Chad have been significantly reduced due to poaching and conflicts with humans.  Poaching for ivory has a very long history in Africa, and although African elephants have been listed as an endangered species, elephant populations are diminishing at an alarming rate, from an estimated population of 300,000 in the 1970’s to less than 10,000 today. ... Read More
Coca-Cola and CSR
Posted by on February 17, 2011 (No Comments)
Over the past year Coca-Cola has endeavored to meet a series of goals aimed at increasing sustainability, including increasing energy efficiency and phasing out HFC-refrigerating units (What is HFC & why should it be eliminated?).  It accomplished all of these goals except for its initiative to replenish water used in manufacturing to the environment at levels that ca... Read More
From Recycling to Upcycling
Posted by on November 15, 2010 (No Comments)
A clothing company called Worn Again has started “upcycling”, where they reuse materials such as air balloons and airplane seat covers to make clothing and bags.  Upcycling converts discarded material to products that can be reused over and over rather than taking up space in landfills, whereas recycled paper and plastic products are eventually degraded as they are re... Read More
A Different Approach to Energy Efficiency
Posted by on October 28, 2010 (No Comments)
In Salina, KS, and many other small towns across the United States, a nonprofit group called the Climate and Energy Project is making strides towards helping these towns decrease their fossil fuel emissions.  However, rather than talking about climate change to convince people to become more energy-efficient, they focused on ideas like frugality, patriotism, and economic ... Read More
An Economic Take on Deforestation
Posted by on October 21, 2010 (No Comments)
According to a study commissioned by the EU, deforestation results in costs on the scale of $2-5 trillion a year, about 7% of global GDP. These costs actually exceed the losses from the current banking crisis, which are estimated to be from $1 to 1.5 trillion. The study took into account ecological services that trees provide, such as carbon dioxide uptake and providing ... Read More
Drilling for Methane
Posted by on October 6, 2010 (No Comments)
On top of all the conflicts with the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that occurred earlier this year, Japan currently plans to drill for methane in the sea floor.  Frozen methane gas deposits, called methane hydrates, are stored in the sea floor and in the frozen ground of countries at high latitudes.   Japan currently imports over 99% of its oil and wants to produce en... Read More
The War in Afghanistan and the Environment: Hidden Casualties
Posted by on September 28, 2010 (No Comments)
On top of all the human casualty and destruction that has resulted from the war in Afghanistan, there have been atrocious, but rarely reported, environmental harms.   Many animals such as snow leopards, gazelles, bears, and wild sheep are suffering from habitat loss from bombings, as well as human invasion as refugees and combatants move further into the mountains.  Mor... Read More
Finding Ways to Bring Sustainable Technology to Disadvantaged People
Posted by on September 16, 2010 (No Comments)
When we go to the dining areas on campus, we rarely notice the lack of trays or the separate bins for composting and recycling.  At Cornell, sustainability has become so commonplace in our daily lives that it’s hard to imagine life without it, but in fact, many other parts of the world lack the same kinds of environmentally friendly goods and services that we take for g... Read More