Listen to this Green Divas myEARTH360 Report for the latest in environmental news, including how in the world butterflies could possibly benefit from oil spills. Then read on for headlines (curated by moi) and links to read more…
Milkweed touted as oil-spill super-sucker — with benefits for butterflies
A Quebec company is taking a unique approach to cleaning up oil spills by producing the world’s only industrial crop of milkweed, which will be used as new kind of absorbent.
And the added benefit: It will supply 50 national parks in Canada with milkweed AND There’s a growing movement in North America to plant milkweed along the migration route to help the disappearing butterflies.
“The more milkweed we grow, the more monarchs we’re going to see.”
“You can leave an absorbent [milkweed] sock in water and it will only absorb the oil. It’s very unique in nature to have fibres like that,” said Simard in an interview at his factory in Granby, Que. Read more…
Senate Bans ‘Coal Rolling’ — Way to Bypass Pollution Controls on Diesel Vehicles
“After you are done making jokes about NJ, note that it is the first state to BAN coal rolling, which is a belligerent practice of intentionally sending out polluting black smoke through your truck with special pipes and is generally done directly near hybrid and EV cars. NJ doesn’t need any extra smog . . . ” ~ Green Diva Meg
The state is trying to prevent diesel-fueled trucks and other vehicles from being retrofitted to allow them to spew more soot, smoke, and other pollutants into the air.
By a 76-0 vote, the Senate approved a bill (S-2418) that would prohibit vehicles from installing smokestacks on vehicles to disable their pollution controls, a modification that allows engines to maximize their power while increasing emissions.
The practice, dubbed “coal rolling,” is viewed as a protest by some owners of diesel cars and trucks against tougher regulations from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency aimed at curbing soot and particulate emissions from motor vehicles.
“Individuals who coal roll are attempting to make a political expense of our air quality and our health and it is absolutely ludicrous,’’ said Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-Mercer), the sponsor of the bill. Read more…
Not convinced coal rolling is bad for the environment and our health? Watch this…
Clean energy provides more jobs than oilsands, report says
Which industry employs more Canadians? The oilsands or clean energy?
Guess again.
Employment in Canada’s clean energy sector has jumped 37 per cent in the past five years, says a new report from the think tank Clean Energy Canada, and now exceeds employment in the oilsands. Read more…
Hillary Praises Fracking, Stays Silent on Keystone
At a speech to the League of Conservation Voters in midtown Manhattan Monday night, before hundreds of deep-pocketed donors, Hillary Clinton praised the environmental legacy of Teddy Roosevelt, touted the prospect of new green technologies, and had warm words for Barack Obama’s aggressive efforts to combat climate change.
Absent from the former Secretary of State’s speech? Any sense of where she stood on the controversial Keystone pipeline project, or what she would do differently as president to steer the nation towards a more sustainable future.
But that didn’t mean that Clinton wasn’t clear about where she came down on environmental matters—she praised both her husband’s record of cleaning up air and water standards, and the Obama administrations recent efforts to strike a climate deal with China and to toughen pollution standards.
“We continue to push forward. But that is just the beginning. Science of climate change is unforgiving, no matter what the deniers may say,” Clinton said, reading off of prepared remarks. Read more…
