nytimes.com - by Matthew L. Wald - December 27, 2013

WASHINGTON — To stave off climate change, sources of electricity that do not emit carbon will have to replace the ones that do. But at the moment, two of those largest sources, nuclear and wind power, are trying to kill each other off.

In the electricity market, both are squeezed by pressure from natural gas, which provides some carbon reductions compared with coal but will not bring the country anywhere near its goal for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Natural gas has a carbon footprint that is at least three times as large as that goal.

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Greg Mauch uses a shovel to clear several inches of snow from her sidewalk in Detroit, Jan. 2, 2014.
Joshua Lott/Reuters

abcnews.com - Associated Press - by Carson Walker - January 4, 2014

It has been decades since parts of the Midwest experienced a deep freeze like the one expected to arrive Sunday, with potential record-low temperatures heightening fears of frostbite and hypothermia even in a region where residents are accustomed to bundling up.

This "polar vortex," as one meteorologist calls it, is caused by a counterclockwise-rotating pool of cold, dense air. The frigid air, piled up at the North Pole, will be pushed down to the U.S., funneling it as far south as the Gulf Coast.

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CREDIT: shutterstock

CLICK HERE - STUDY - Multimodel assessment of water scarcity under climate change

CLICK HERE - SUPPORTING INFORMATION - Multimodel assessment of water scarcity under climate change

thinkprogress.org - by Ari Phillips - January 3, 2014

A new study by a diverse group of researchers from twelve countries found that of the human impacts stemming from climate change, the threat it poses to global water supplies may be the most severe.

Nets of Freedom creating mesh networks. Image: Strelka Institute / Flickr

wired.com - by Primavera De Filippi - January 2, 2014

The internet is weak, yet we keep ignoring this fact. So we see the same thing over and over again, whether it’s because of natural disasters like hurricanes Sandy and Katrina, wars like Syria and Bosnia, deliberate attempts by the government to shut down the internet (most recently in Egypt and Iran), or NSA surveillance.

After Typhoon Haiyan hit the Philippines, several towns were cut off from humanitarian relief because delivering that aid depends on having a reliable communication network. In a country where over 90 percent of the population has access to mobile phones, the implementation of an emergency “mesh” network could have saved lives.

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Watch how geothermal heat pumps heat and cool buildings by concentrating the naturally existing heat contained within the earth -- a clean, reliable, and renewable source of energy.

energy.gov - June 24, 2012

Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs), sometimes referred to as GeoExchange, earth-coupled, ground-source, or water-source heat pumps, have been in use since the late 1940s. They use the constant temperature of the earth as the exchange medium instead of the outside air temperature. This allows the system to reach fairly high efficiencies (300% to 600%) on the coldest winter nights, compared to 175% to 250% for air-source heat pumps on cool days.

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thinkprogress.org - By Kiley Kroh and Jeff Spross - December 18, 2013

While the news about climate change seems to get worse every day, the rapidly improving technology, declining costs, and increasing accessibility of clean energy is the true bright spot in the march toward a zero-carbon future. 2013 had more clean energy milestones than we could fit on one page, but here are thirteen of the key breakthroughs that happened this year.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHkKa4Zj_94

Art Berman, Labyrinth Consulting Services, Houston, talks to HGS about his research into the economics of drilling and producing unconventional reservoirs in the United States. He discusses the Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Barnett and other shale gas plays. Berman presents graphs that show shale gas uneconomic to drill and produce at current gas prices. He says the public is mislead by energy company statements that gas reserves are large and that companies are making a profit from shale gas. The Houston Geological Society is not responsible for content or conclusions presented in this talk.

By: HGSGeoEducation

http://www.hgs.org/multimedia_Education

Philadelphia is famous for its many murals that capture the city's history and spirit, like this one by artist Carl Willis Humphrey honoring W.E.B. Du Bois. The image is painted on the wall of a historical African-American firehouse. Du Bois was a founder of the NAACP and was commissioned in 1896 to survey African-Americans living in the city's Seventh Ward as part of a study on race, The Philadelphia Negro. He is depicted with a census in hand. Photo by Shrub75/Flickr

The city is home to more than 40,000 vacant properties. Now neighborhoods are hoping a new public entity can help them bounce back from the post-industrial blues.

yesmagazine.org - by Jake Blumgart - December 27, 2013

Blighted properties drain public coffers, contribute nothing to the tax base, and serve as havens for crime and trash. After years of work . . . activists hope that a bill passed this December will finally provide Philadelphians with a tool to confront this colossal problem: a land bank.

bge.apogee.net

An open-loop, ground-water heat pump, uses a surface or underground water source (such as a lake, river, or well) as the heat source and sink. Well water designs are the most common and seem to be the most cost effective. The well supplies both domestic water and water for the heat pump. Approximately three gallons per minute of well water are needed per ton of cooling capacity.

Ground water source open-loop heat pumps use the same concept as the ground coupled units - for example, in the Midwest the temperature of the earth near the surface and the water in it (aquifer) is typically around 55°F. Water is taken from the ground or surface water (pond, lake, etc.), circulated to the individual heat pumps and the returned to the ground via a disposal well, returned to the lake or pond, or where permitted discharged into a stream or river.

When more units are heating than cooling the circulating water temperature drops prior to disposal. Conversely, when more units are cooling than heating, the circulating water is warmed prior to disposal.

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gigaom.com - by Kevin C. Tofel - November 7, 2012

After 4 days without power thanks to Hurricane Sandy, something arrived today that will help keep my mobile devices fully charged and connected to the web. I backed a Fenix ReadySet on Kickstarter, which is a large battery that charges with an included solar panel.

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http://www.fenixintl.com/

Photo: Picture of a hamburger. Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com/ Jacek Chabraszewski

alternet.org - Anthony Winson - December 2nd, 2013

In many of the food environments we encounter on a day-to-day basis, it is becoming difficult to find whole foods in anything like their natural form.

Healthy nuts are rendered unhealthy by prodigious amounts of added salt and sweet "honey" glazes.

Yoghurt is laced with copious amounts of sugar or high-fructose corn syrup sweetener, typically the equivalent of seven teaspoons of sugar in a small serving size.

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An inspector general's report says the EPA was justified in investigating claims of water contamination near a fracking site in Texas.

latimes.com - By Neela Banjeree - December 24, 2013

WASHINGTON — The Environmental Protection Agency was justified in intervening to examine possible risks of gas drilling to Texas drinking water, the agency's internal watchdog reported Tuesday.

But environmentalists say the report raises fresh concerns about the EPA's 2012 decision to halt its investigation into possible well-water contamination in Parker County, Texas.

The EPA inspector general's report is the latest analysis to spotlight the regulator's handling of high-profile cases of alleged drinking-water contamination near natural gas drilling sites.

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Image: International gas consumption chart.

huffingtonpost.com - December 16th, 2013 - Maxwell Strachan

No country in the world knows how to fill 'er up quite like the good old U.S.A., not even the countries that keep gas prices well below market rates. If you need proof, take a look at this chart, via a new report on fuel subsidies by UC Berkeley Business Professor Lucas W. Davis.
The chart graphs gas consumption per person against the average price of a gallon of gas in 128 countries.

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Image: A dolphin is seen swimming through an oil sheen from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill off East Grand Terre Island, where the Gulf of Mexico meets Barataria Bay, on the Louisiana coast, July 31, 2010. Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP

theguardian.com - December 18th, 2013 - Suzanne Goldenburg

US government scientists have for the first time connected the BP oil disaster to dolphin deaths in the Gulf of Mexico, in a study finding direct evidence of toxic exposure.

The study, led by scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, found lung disease, hormonal abnormalities and other health effects among dolphins in an area heavily oiled during the BP spill.

The diseases found in the dolphins at Barataria Bay in Louisiana – though rare – were consistent with exposure to oil, the scientists said.

Image: Food being served.

nation.time.com - December 11, 2013 - Denver Nicks

Hunger is on the rise in major cities across the United States, according to a new survey released Wednesday by the U.S. Conference of Mayors.

In the survey of mayors in 25 major American cities, 83 percent said requests for emergency food aid had increased over last year while budgets for emergency food purchases increased by less than one percent. Across all 25 cities, 21 percent of those applying for assistance did not receive it.

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(VIEW 120-PAGE PDF REPORT - The United States Conference of Mayors - Hunger and Homelessness Survey)