The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports that CO2 emitted by jets can survive in the atmosphere for upwards of 100 years, and that its combination with other gas and particulate emissions could have double or four times the warming effect as CO2 emissions alone.
Dear EarthTalk: Why is it that airplane exhaust is so much worse for the environment than engine emissions on the ground?-- Winona Sharpe, New York, NY
For nearly a decade, New Hampshire has been seeking hundreds of millions of dollars from oil companies over the chemical additive MTBE, which the state says caused contamination in the state’s groundwater. The legal proceedings originally involved 26 oil companies; as trial began this week, there were just two left, ExxonMobil and Citgo, and now there may be just one.
A proposed wind farm in the Newfound Lake area has once again raised familiar themes in New Hampshire: A desire for the Granite state to use more clean energy, versus local concerns over property values, as well as impacts on the environment and tourism. We’ll re-examine these arguments in light of this new proposal.
In a new book, author David Owen exposes the complexities of what it means to truly be “green”. He says supposedly earth-friendly ideas like hybrid cars or solar panels create efficiencies which allow us to consume more! Efficiency, Owen says, once considered the Holy Grail of our environmental problems, turns out to be part of the problem!
