research & reports
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Switzerland Tops Environmental Index, US Lags
Posted by davidwfox on 23 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: research & reports
My friend Christoph will be pleased: Switzerland scored top marks among 149 countries measured in six environmental areas including air pollution, water quality and how they control industrial pollution, according to the 2008 Environmental Performance Index released at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum. Maybe its the way they handle ‘trash’.
Sadly, my birth country of Australia ranks even lower than the US 
“This is another reminder of the legacy of the Liberals in government,” the Minister for Climate Change and Water, Penny Wong, said in a statement. “Their climate change denial and confusion have left Australia with a lot of work to do.” Thats an understatement! More Aussie perspective in the Sydney Morning Herald.
Do You Know How Much Water You Really Use?
Posted by davidwfox on 22 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: liveable cities, research & reports
Enter the H2O Calculator at http://www.h2oconserve.org/, a project of ICCR, GRACE, Food & Water Watch, and the Johns Hopkins University Center for a Livable Future.
“Water scarcity is a growing problem throughout the US and abroad, and it is crucial that individuals and communities make efforts to conserve and protect this precious resource. H2O conserve is a web-based project that offers tools and knowledge that enable individuals to make water conservation part of their everyday lives.”
Hear more via an interview with Wenonah Hauter, executive director of Food and Water Watch at Living on Earth.
Two Degrees of Separation
Posted by davidwfox on 21 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: research & reports
Treehugger looks into the people behind the ‘non-partisan’ Stats.Org finding it to be “…a front designed to confuse the public about science, operated by an extremist conservative think tank.”
Sourcewatch by the Center for Media and Democracy is a great resource if you want to do a ‘connecting the dots’ excercise of your own.
Zerofootprint Gets Calculated About Climate Change
Posted by davidwfox on 20 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: company, enablers, research & reports
“It’s hard to tell, at first glance, whether Zerofootprint is a serious business or a feel-good environmental action group. The answer, easily discovered before long, is that it is likely both…the company as two separate entities: A non-profit umbrella group, the Zerofootprint Foundation, and separate for-profit arms that handle building out the calculator for cities and other companies. Zerofootprint can thus profit from the various websites it builds out, getting revenue from advertising, partnerships with other organizations, and payments from its clients…Zerofootprint currently has six cities signed up for its service, including Boulder, Colo. and Seattle, Wash.” Continued in Venturebeat…
Google to Host Terabytes of Open-Source Science Data
Posted by davidwfox on 20 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: research & reports
Wired reports that “Sources at Google have disclosed that the humble domain, http://research.google.com, will soon provide a home for terabytes of open-source scientific datasets. The storage will be free to scientists and access to the data will be free for all. The project, known as Palimpsest and previewed to the scientific community at the Science Foo camp at the Googleplex last August, missed its original launch date this week, but will debut soon…”
Going Green a Boon to Business
Posted by davidwfox on 10 Jan 2008 | Tagged as: research & reports
“Businesses, governments and NGOs are laying the foundations for the world’s first sustainable global economy, the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute says in an uncommonly upbeat State of the World report for 2008.” More…
Briefing by WWI: Jan 30th: http://www.worldwatch.org/node/5563
