Bugmeal?

While I have read some of the people at ScienceBlogs on a daily basis for months, I still have not plumbed the depths of what’s available in terms of good reading.  I recently came across Shifting Baselines, a good ecology/conservation biology blog written by Jennifer Jacquet, a doctoral student at the University of British Columbia, [...]

An end to Federal protection of wolves

The New York Times is reporting that wolves in Montana, Idaho and Wyoming have lost federal protection.
“Wolves are back,” said Lynn Scarlett, the deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior, in a telephone conference call with reporters. “Gray wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains are thriving and no longer need protection.”
The 66 wolves that [...]

Proposal to combat illegal logging

Logging is a major threat to tropical forests. Logging roads and clearings allow more light into the forest, resulting in a proliferation of undergrowth, and allows more desiccation during the dry season. Logging slash - large branches and the crown of the tree - are also left behind to dry out. All [...]

PB&J campaign

While I’m no fan of peanut butter, there’s an important point here - the way we raise meat has a huge impact on the environment.
Livestock create a beefy portion of all greenhouse-gas emissions: 18 percent, according to the United Nations. Could the answer be as simple as two slices of bread and a slathering of [...]

Rethinking biofuels?

The BBC reports that the Environmental Audit Committee has called on the EU to abandon its biofuel targets “because they are damaging to the environment”.
It has become fairly clear that current ideas about biofuel production have major problems. Using crop plants like corn creates a competition between food production and fuel production. Modern [...]

Cheaper than coal?

Last week, the New York Times reported that Nanosolar, a Silicon Valley start-up company, had begun selling solar panels at a cost of $1 per watt.  This would allow the production of $2 per watt systems, making new solar power systems cheaper than coal.  (New coal power plants cost $2.1 per watt.)   They managed to [...]