Los Angeles became the largest city in the US to pass a plastic bag ban, when the City Council voted 13 to 1 today to disallow the use of plastic bags in supermarkets.
Tags: · bag ban, Los Angeles, Oceans, plastic bags, plastic debris, waste
In a bygone American era, Detroit shone proudly as a center of industry, home to the Model T and other symbols of American progress. The decline of the car industry in recent decades, though, has cut the city’s population in half and left poor neighborhoods in even more derelict condition. Detroit is now home to thousands of acres of vacant land, most of it unmaintained, left to collect weeds and waste. The result? Many of the city’s residents live in what is termed a
“food desert.”
Tags: · Detroit, environmental films, growing food, Los Angeles, school gardens, urban gardens, Urban Roots
CODA, the innocuous looking sedan that boldly promises the best range of any electric car on the market, officially entered its production phase this week.
The first fully outfitted silver, all-electric five-passenger Coda rolled off the assembly line at the plant in Benicia, Calif., on Monday, as factory workers cheered and company executives pledged to kick butt in a field that includes the Nissan Leaf, the Chevy Volt and the pricey Tesla Roadster.
Tags: · all-electric sedan, California, Coda, EV competition, EV markets, Los Angeles, production EV models
OK, this is a hard one: What can cities in the Sunbelt do to find more energy sources?
Hint. It works best n the Sunbelt. Hmmmmm. That’s right, install solar panels!
In Los Angeles, homeowners have been installing solar panels for decades — when they can afford it. But the LA Business Council has concluded that solar power could benefit all Angelenos, and is hatching a pilot program to put apartment rooftops into solar service, especially in disadvantaged areas.
Putting solar panels on apartment rooftops could easily help add 300 megawatts of power to the city’s grid over the next five to ten years — enough to power 30,000 homes, according to a report issued by the Los Angeles Business Council’s Sustainability Summit.
Tags: · disadvantaged LA neighborhoods, greenrightnow.com, Los Angeles, rooftop solar, solar panels, Solar Power
Ford has donated one of its two prototype Electric Ford Focuses to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
But unlike past electric car “retirements” in California, this one marks a beginning, not an end. The Focus Electric is expected to hit the consumer market late this year.
“This donation signifies Ford’s transition from a prototype version of Focus Electric to the real production vehicle,” said Matt VanDyke, Ford director of U.S. Marketing and Communications. “We still believe the Focus Electric prototype can continue to create awareness and excitement for electric vehicles like it did during the Green Car Challenge.”
Tags: · Electric Cars, Ford Focus, Green Car Challenge, greenrightnow.com, Jay Leno, Los Angeles, Peteren Automotive Museum
Climate action group 350.org wants us to see, really see, what’s happening as the result of climate change here on Earth.
So it’s taken to space to get a better view. Satellites began snapping photos of giant art installations, many involving humans forming pictures, last Friday and will continue through this week. The photos include one of a giant eagle in Los Angeles, created to represent the “Earth to Sky” solutions to climate change; a mural in New York City that shows how the area would look after the seas rise; a picture of a girl on a delta in Spain and a flash flood in New Mexico created by humans with blue posters.
Tags: · 350.org, Brooklyn, Climate Change, coastlines, cool roofs, Flooding, global warming, heat island effect, Los Angeles, New York City, rising oceans, rising seas, Santa Domingo, satellite art images, Solar Power
Is is warm out there, or is it just us?
2010 brought above-average warmth, month after month. Even October, while bringing a cool breeze to most of the U.S., was warmer than most, according to the climate scientists at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.
In fact, this past October was the second warmest one in the 32-year satellite climate record, says Dr. John Christy, professor of atmospheric science and director of the Earth System Science Center at The University of Alabama in Huntsville.
Tags: · Climate Change, Earth System Science Center, global warming, greenrightnow.com, Los Angeles, record heat, temperature increases, University of Alabama, weather trends
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is pursuing enforcement against California metal finishing companies for violations of federal hazardous waste laws discovered during inspections conducted in Los Angeles, Rosemead, Sun Valley, Compton, Van Nuys, South El Monte and Santa Clara during the current fiscal year. Nine companies paid fines ranging from $2,000 to $48,500 and have returned to compliance with federal law, EPA officials said.
Tags: · Compton, Environmental Protection Agency, hazardous wastes, Los Angeles, Rosemead, Santa Clara, South El Monte, Sun Valley, Van Nuys
Looking for something to do on Oct. 10, also known as 10/10/10? Take the fight against climate change into your hands with a “global work party” on that once-in-a-lifetime date. The efforts are coordinated by 350.org, an action-oriented non-profit focused on creating solutions to global warming. The group’s name is a reference to 350 parts per million of carbon dioxide, which scientists say is the safe limit in the atmosphere for humans, the group says. Right now, we’re at 390 parts per million. Not good.
Tags: · 10/10/10, 10/10/10 global work party, 350.org, 350.org global work party, climate change event, global work party, Los Angeles, New York City, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco
California stands ready to be the first state to ban disposable plastic bags, a move that supporters say would help staunch plastic waste on land and in the ocean.
The Bag Monster, festooned in 500 plastic bags, will ride in San Francisco next week.
Tags: · Ban the Bag, California, Los Angeles, plastic bag ban, Plastic Pollution Coalition, San Francisco
(Photo: Green Right Now)
Scientists from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy have collaborated in developing new water quality software that enhances a water system’s ability to detect when there has been intentional or unintentional contamination. Officials said the software, called Canary, can help detect a wide variety of chemical and biological contaminants, including pesticides, metals, and pathogens. Once contamination is detected quickly, a water utility could issue a “Do Not Drink” order to prevent customers from ingesting the water.
Tags: · Canary software, Department of Energy, Greater Cincinnati Water Works, Los Angeles, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, water quality software
San Francisco, the city that banned plastic bags, bottled water and Styrofoam, is taking another big step down the path to sustainable urban living. In March 2011, the City of San Francisco will begin installing more than 17,000 LED street lighting fixtures, effectively replacing most city-owned street lamps.
Tags: · Anchorage, CFLs, Davies Symphony Hall, fluorescents, LED lights, LED street lights, LEDs, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, San Francisco environmental program, San Francisco green, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, Seattle, street lamps, street lights
The village of Stella, Missouri, has constructed a veterans’ memorial of attractive design in the center of the village. Read more
Barbara Kessler
Andrew Winston
Danielle Nierenberg
Anthony Swift