MJ writes: The poor cow has been much maligned by environmentalists. Their mere existence requires a massive burden on the land, and is often a cause of deforestation. To top it off, their burps and farts release enormous quantities of methane, a potent greenhouse gas. A single cow releases 440 liters of methane per day. But now a California utility, Pacific Gas & Electric, is working on project that will help cows give back to the grid. PG&E will collect thousands of tons of cow manure from California cows, and convert it into biogas. Biogas is a renewable gas source, primarily composed of methane, that can be used interchangeably with natural gas to power the electric grid, or in compressed form ... read more

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MJ writes: Seattle businesses and consumers are recycling more than ever before. Congratulations Seattle! In 2006, 47.5% of your waste went to the recycling facility instead of the landfills. Just who do we thank for this increase? Businesses are doing more of their part, with a huge 5% year over year gain. Single-owner households and apartment complexes have also increased significantly.  The laws passed in 2006 that allow food to go into the yard waste container have also helped. One thing from the press release that I don't fully understand is that the "diversion rate" of the recycling, that is the amount of trash that actually gets recycled once it gets to the transfer station, has remained steady at 17.9%. This ... read more

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MJ writes: Sorry about not posting for the last few days, but I've been busy burning down the environmentally-conscious "Street of Dreams" in the name of sustainability. And when we greenies hide-out from the law, we don't want a warm, cozy basement with a fridge full of food and an Xbox. We wrap ourselves in vines and steal out of the Starbucks dumpster, thus making our point about the wastefulness of mankind. So you can see why I've been busy. Seriously, though. I threw my back out on the Leap Day, and my doctor says I need a little less computer time while I'm recovering. So posting will be a bit slow this week. Before moving on, I do ... read more

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MJ writes: 801 mayors of cities across the United States have signed the U.S. Conference of Mayors’ (USCM) Climate Protection Agreement. The Agreement came to pass in 2005 when the United States failed to sign the Kyoto Treaty. Several cities, citing the importance of actively fighting climate change, decided to agree to the Kyoto guidelines independent of federal adoption. Since then, adoption of the agreement has been staggering. Still, the USCM represents all cities in the US with populations over 30,000. There are 1,139 such cities in the US today, so some hold-outs remain. Notable cities who haven't signed include Houston, Texas and Charlotte, North Carolina. Under the agreement, the mayors commit to taking the following actions: "Strive to ... read more

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