Good Food is First Food. It is not junk food. It is the food that connects nature and nutrition with livelihoods. This food is good for our health; it comes from the rich biodiversity of our regions; it provides employment to people. Most importantly, cooking and eating give us pleasure. …
The fragmentation of urban landscapes – or the inter-penetration of the built-up areas of cities and the open spaces in and around them – is a key attribute of their spatial structure. Analyzing satellite images for 1990 and 2000 for a global sample of 120 cities, we find that cities …
The US has reached a preliminary decision on punitive duties for Chinese solar manufacturers. An anti-dumping case is also now on the cards in the European Union. What are its chances of success?
New rules look set to speed the move from coal to natural gas. Barack Obama likes to say that he has an “all of the above” energy policy. But it is hard to see how one fuel, at least, has much of a future under the restrictions on emissions of …
In the first mega deal in the energy sector this year, public sector Oil and Natural Gas Corporation and US oil giant ConocoPhillips have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for co-operation in exploration and development of shale resources in India, North America and elsewhere besides deepwater opportunities offshore in …
The United States does not need to explode nuclear weapons in order to be sure its aging arsenal is still potent, and its ability to detect weapons tests by others is good, according to a report released Friday by the National Academy of Sciences. Those conclusions run counter to some …
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted 4 to 1 on Friday to approve a plan to build two reactors at a power plant in South Carolina, the second nuclear plant construction permit to be in granted less than two months after a 34-year hiatus. The Scana Corporation plans to build the …
A U.S. House committee pressured the Obama administration on Wednesday to accelerate diplomatic action to resolve a global dispute over a European law that would penalize airlines for aircraft emissions. A bipartisan panel of Transportation Committee members, mindful that the EU standard that took effect in January could trigger a …
A group of U.S. family farmers said on Wednesday it is appealing its lawsuit against Monsanto Co to challenge the company's patents on technologies for genetically modified seeds. The group of organic farmers and seed dealers says its industry is at risk from Monsanto's growing market dominance. "Farmers are under …
A future on Earth of more extreme weather and rising seas will require better planning for natural disasters to save lives and limit deepening economic losses, the United Nations said on Wednesday in a major report on the effects of climate change. The U.N. climate panel said all nations will …
Power plants account for about 40 percent of America’s global warming emissions — with the bulk of that coming from coal-fired plants. On Tuesday, the Obama administration took another important step for public health and the environment, proposing the first nationwide limits on carbon dioxide from new power plants. If …
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper suspended prescribed burns used to mitigate fire danger on Wednesday after a controlled blaze apparently ignited a wildfire west of Denver that killed an elderly couple and destroyed some two dozen homes. "Through this suspension, we intend to make sure that we have the procedures and …
Scientists, environmentalists and farm advocates are pressing the question about whether rewards of the trend toward using more and more crop chemicals are worth the risks, as the agricultural industry strives to ramp up production to feed the world's growing population. The debate has heated up in the last several …
The Obama administration proposed on Tuesday the first rules to cut carbon dioxide emissions from new U.S. power plants, a move hotly contested by Republicans and industry in an election year. The Environmental Protection Agency's proposal would effectively stop the building of most new coal-fired plants in an industry that …
The United States lead recycling industry will spend hundreds of millions of dollars to comply with tightening environmental rules but the pressure of rising costs eventually may force some output cuts or closures, according to industry experts. Some firms in the U.S., particularly those without well-established collection systems for old …
Hydrofluoric acid (HF) leaked from an alkylation unit at BP Plc's 406,570-barrels-per-day refinery in Texas City, Texas on Tuesday morning, triggering alarms in the plant and warnings to area residents, company and city officials said. No injuries were reported at the refinery, the fifth-largest in the United States, or in …
The world is close to reaching tipping points that will make it irreversibly hotter, making this decade critical in efforts to contain global warming, scientists warned on Monday. Scientific estimates differ but the world's temperature looks set to rise by six degrees Celsius by 2100 if greenhouse gas emissions are …
The European Union would consider limiting its new aviation carbon levy to its own airspace, but only as part of a global deal on plane emissions, a senior commission official said on Tuesday. But he said such a scheme would be technically difficult and was unlikely before a U.S. presidential …
North Korea gave details for the first time of a "weather satellite" it plans to send into orbit next month, a launch the West sees as a disguised ballistic missile test which has prompted criticism from the reclusive state's only major ally, China. The North's KCNA news agency described it …
Texas moved closer Friday to allowing low-level radioactive waste from dozens of states to be trucked in and disposed at a site in West Texas, which would become one of only four in the nation that could take low-level radioactive waste shipped from out of state. A state agency with …
The Obama administration’s proposed rule to control greenhouse gas emissions from new power plants — the first ever — could go far toward closing out the era of old-fashioned coal-burning power generation. The draft rule, unveiled on Tuesday by Lisa P. Jackson, the Environmental Protection Agency administrator, would limit carbon …
