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Los Angeles IS cool! Even the roofs!
Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the U.S., has made history by becoming the first major city to require all new and refurbished homes have a “cool roof.” On December 17, 2013 the Los Angeles City Council unanimously passed an update to its Municipal Building Code. A cool roof is one that “reflects…
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Shell Puts an Internal Price on Carbon Pollution
There is a section within Royal Dutch Shell’s 2012 sustainability report, released last spring, which describes the oil company’s self imposed carbon pollution price. Yes, you read those last three words correctly and they are not a typo.
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IKEA Invests In Canadian Wind Farm
IKEA is the world’s largest home furnishings retailer, with over 340 stores in 40 countries, including 38 in the U.S. That’s one big reach. IKEA would like its reach to be powered with renewable energy.
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Plastic Bag Ban Passes in LA
The Los Angeles City Council voted on Tuesday, June 18 to approve a ban on single-use plastic shopping bags. The Coucil voted 11 to 1 in favor of the ordinance, and a final vote is scheduled for next week. Last year, the Council voted 13 to 1 to move forward on banning single use plastic…
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Vancouver Uses “Warm Mix” Paving Process, Uses Recycled Plastic in Asphalt
The Canadian city of Vancouver is using innovative materials to pave its new roads: asphalt made up of wax from recycled plastic. The city is calling the asphalt mix a “warm mix” paving process, according to Fast Coexist. Using a warm mix, as Fast Coexist explains, allows asphalt to be “produced and transported at lower…
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American Meteorological Society confirms Climate Change and Man’s Role
Weathercasters in the U.S. not only tend to not ever mention climate change, but the majority of them do not even believe it is human-caused, as an article I recently wrote shows. However, that may change. The American Meteorological Society (AMS) released an official position statement on climate change this week which not only said…
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Environmental Advertising Increases When the Economy Is Stronger
Environmental concern is greater when the economy is stronger, a study found which looked at environmental advertising in National Geographic over three decades. Specifically, the study, conducted by three researchers at Penn State University, found that consumers are more receptive to environmental appeals and marketers do more environmental advertising when the economy is improving. There…
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Can Making Rum be Sustainable? Serrallés thinks so!
Rum production produces rather nasty wastewater which needs to be disposed of some how. The Serrallés Rum Distillery in Ponce, Puerto Rico produces DonQ, its main brand of rum, which is the most popular rum in Puerto Rico. It is one of the largest rum distilleries in the Caribbean with an annual output capacity of…
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Majority of Americans Agree: Protecting the Environment Creates Jobs
The majority of Americans (58 percent) think that protecting the environment improves economic growth and creates new jobs. The results are from a recently released poll by Yale University and George Mason University’s climate change communication program. Only 17 percent of the poll’s respondents think that environmental protection hurts the economy and job growth, and…
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Bill To End Fossil Fuel Subsidies Introduced Into Congress
The End Polluter Welfare Act would end fossil fuel subsidies, and save over $10 billion a year and more than $110 billion over 10 years. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Keith Ellison announced they would introduce the bill to Congress during a press conference with 350.org. The bill would specifically end tax breaks for…