Current Event 5/30/12

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/30/on-climate-change-its-money-vs-mouth/ This article is about how many big companies like ExxonMobil, General Electric, Caterpillar and Boeing all claim to support climate change science, but in reality go behind consumers backs and greatly contribute to politicians and research groups that deny threat of global warming. These companies put out in image to the world that they believe in as well as want to stop climate change. The Union of Concerned Scientists researched and found out that in actuality, these companies are donating large amounts of money to support groups and funds that try to play down global warming and its causes.

Current Event 5/16/12

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/a-new-tactic-for-climate-skeptics/ I chose this blog because just the other day we discussed and learned about the unabomber. The company, Heartland, used Ted Kaczynski on their billboard to stop global warming. The billboard read, “I still believe in global warming. Do you?” with a picture of his face right next to this saying. Within hours of the billboard being posted, it was taken down due to the shocked reactions of people passing by. The company has been known to use dramatic images and people to get their message across such as Charles Manson, Fidel Castro, Osama bin Laden and James J. Lee. The Heartland Institute does not apologize for the dramatic billboard and they "will continue to experiment with ways to communicate the ‘realist’ message on the climate.”

Current Event 5/9/12

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/07/sipping-from-the-garden-hose-think-again/ The Ecology Center, a nonprofit environmental organization, released a study talking about potentially hazardous chemicals in gardening tools. They tested around 200 gardening products, including hoses, gloves, kneeling pads and tools for lead, cadmium, bromine, chlorine, phthalates and bisphenol A. They found that two-thirds of the products tested had contained levels of one or more chemicals in the allowable amount for consumers. 30 percent of products tested contained lead exceeding the Consumer Product Safety Commission‘s standard of 100 parts per million for children’s products. To show how chemicals can move from garden hoses to water, the researchers left a section of garden hose filled with water out in the sun over multiple days. When the water was tested after being out in the sun, it was found to exceed federal standards for safe drinking water for several chemicals, including four times the standard considered safe for phthalates, 18 times that for lead and 20 times that for BPA. THe link above includes the video discussing the study and results.

Current Event 4/25/12

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/23/on-our-radar-floating-wind-turbines/ This week, my blog is about the upcoming invention of floating turbines. Scientists are looking to design wind turbines that float in the ocean. Out in deep waters, winds are much stronger, creating a lot more energy than the standard turbines. Mexico’s Senate agrees with a change bill that calls for cutting the country’s greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2020. These turbines, are supposed to be the answer.

Current Event 4/11/12

http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/04/03/on-facebook-some-friendly-energy-rivalry/

This week, my article is about how a company, Opower, created an app allowing people to post their energy usage bills online. This allows people to see how much other people are paying, even their neighbor right next door. This actually gives people the desire to lower their energy usage due to competition. When people see that their neighbor is paying hundreds of dollars less, it gives them the desire to improve due to competition, rather than knowing the basic fact that it is bad for the environment. People as well as the plant end up benefiting from this healthy competition.

Current Event 4/4/12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcWpkWBX04E

I think this video has a lot of interesting facts. I didn't realize how bad air pollution really was. I can't believe that in some places, like China, just breathing the air outside is equivalent to smoking 2 packs of cigarettes a day. I also didn't know that car pollution is up to 90 percent of the total air pollution. This makes me think that we definitely need a new way of transportation, because the pollution is already too much. If anything, I think we should make a better effort of carpooling and walking when possible to places.

Current Event 3/27/12

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/21/us/politics/new-rules-planned-on-school-vending-machines.html?_r=1&ref=nutrition

Since childhood obesity has more than tripled over the past 30 years, people are looking in every direction to eliminate the bad food choices for children. Vending machines are a huge target, because studies show that kids eat about 50 percent of their daily food intake in school. With vending machines filled with candy, chips, cookies, and sugary drinks, there are many bad possibilities to intake. Some school districts question whether students would actually buy the healthy foods found in the school vending machines and school stores. Frequently, vending machines found with healthy snack alternatives are ignored, and kids bring snacks from home or buy them at local stores.