Read the full story in the New York Times Magazine.
Rob Wielgus was one of America’s pre-eminent experts on large carnivores. Then he ran afoul of the enemies of the wolf.
Day: July 11, 2018
Council greenlights new grants for global environmental health
Read the full story in Environmental Factor.
The National Advisory Environmental Health Sciences Council enthusiastically supported a global environmental health (GEH) initiative at its meeting June 4-5. The initiative will support new collaborative research projects in Brazil, China, and India. It includes joining existing projects with other National Institutes of Health (NIH) institutes and centers.
Tackling Environmental Problems with the Help of Behavioural Insights
Behavioural insights can help policy makers obtain a deeper understanding of the behavioural mechanisms contributing to environmental problems, and design and implement more effective policy interventions. This report reviews recent developments in the application of behavioural insights to encourage more sustainable consumption, investment and compliance decisions by individuals and firms.
Drawing on interventions initiated by ministries and agencies responsible for environment and energy, as well as cross-government behavioural insights teams, it portrays how behavioural sciences have been integrated into the policy-making process. The report covers a variety of policy areas: energy, water and food consumption, transport and car choice, waste management and resource efficiency, compliance with environmental regulation and participation in voluntary schemes. It shows what has proven to work – and what has not – in policy practice in OECD countries and beyond.
UN group approves standards for tracking airline emissions
Read the full story from the Associated Press.
A United Nations group is approving standards for measuring how much airlines need to reduce the growth of greenhouse-gas emissions from planes.
Iowa nitrogen pollution in the water is getting worse, despite hundreds of millions of dollars in spending, study shows
Read the full story in the Des Moines Register.
Nitrogen pollution flowing out of Iowa to the Gulf of Mexico has grown by close to 50 percent over nearly two decades, a new report shows, despite hundreds of millions of dollars spent to stem nutrients entering the state’s waterways.
McDonald’s Will End Use of Plastic Straws at Thousands of Locations
Read the full story at e360.
McDonald’s plans to stop using plastic straws in all of its 1,361 restaurants in the UK and Ireland by the end of 2019, according to a company press release. It will start testing non-plastic alternatives in select locations in the United States, Belgium, France, Sweden, Norway, and Australia later this year, as well as test only giving straws upon request in markets such as Malaysia.
Shepherd library gets $100K grant to install solar panels
Read the full story in the Herald-Mail.
Scarborough Library at Shepherd University will be home to the largest solar array in Shepherdstown with a $100,000 grant from EBSCO Information Services of Ipswich, Mass.
The grant will pay for the installation of about 170 solar panels on the library’s roof that will generate at least 60 kilowatts of power.
Organic insect deterrent for agriculture
Read the full post from the Technical University of Munich.
Traditional insecticides are killers: they not only kill pests, they also endanger bees and other beneficial insects, as well as affecting biodiversity in soils, lakes, rivers and seas. A team from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now developed an alternative: A biodegradable agent that keeps pests at bay without poisoning them.
Where 3 Million Electric Vehicle Batteries Will Go When They Retire
Read the full story at Bloomberg News.
The first batches of batteries from electric and hybrid vehicles are hitting retirement age, yet they aren’t bound for landfills. Instead, they’ll spend their golden years chilling beer at 7-Elevens in Japan, powering car-charging stations in California and storing energy for homes and grids in Europe.
Lithium-ion car and bus batteries can collect and discharge electricity for another seven to 10 years after being taken off the roads and stripped from chassis—a shelf life with significant ramifications for global carmakers, electricity providers and raw-materials suppliers.
Webinar: Meet Sustainable Minneapolis
Thursday, July 26, 2018, 1 pm CDT
Register at https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/7316903928400257795
Presented by Sustainability Program Managers Kelly Muellman and Luke Hollenkamp, along with Food Policy Coordinator Tamara Downs Schwei, this webcast will describe how the city’s commitment to equity has shaped its approach to sustainability, climate mitigation strategies, energy policy and food access priorities. The Minneapolis Green Zones Initiative will put an emphasis on bringing environmental justice to the city’s most vulnerable neighborhoods.
Register now to learn how Minneapolis plans to get 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030 on its way to cutting greenhouse gas emissions 80 percent by 2040.
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