Larry's Environmental Issues Blog December 2007 Archive

What is the relationship between global warming and the El Niño and La Niña climate cycle that the Earth's atmosphere undergoes every few years? Are the two climate effects influencing ... Read More

When you consider the benefits of recycling versus the cost, is recycling worth the expense? Some people argue that recycling uses more energy than it saves, which could even make ... Read More

Ever since the chemicals used to make Teflon were linked to health hazards, consumers have been wondering about the safety of their Teflon pots and pans and whether they should ... Read More

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney may have been the behind-the-scenes Santa that gave U.S. automakers an early Christmas present. Cheney, who met with auto executives about a month ago, is ... Read More

Is it more environmentally friendly to hand-wash dishes or to use a dishwasher? The everyday household question of how you wash up after a meal raises issues related to the ... Read More

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency today stunned the environmental community and state officials nationwide by denying California’s request for a waiver under the Clean Air Act, which would have enabled ... Read More

President Bush today signed into law a new energy bill that achieves more than any energy legislation in recent history, but less than the version first passed by the U.S. ... Read More

Genetically modified foods have been shown to cause lesions in mice, and they are banned in Europe. But genetically modified foods are a staple of American agriculture -- even though ... Read More

Green living is in the details. So when it comes to buying and shipping your holiday gifts, doing business with eco-friendly retailers and shipping companies is half the battle. Thanks ... Read More

Al Gore and R.K. Pachauri were in Oslo, Norway this week to pick up the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded jointly to Gore and the Intergovernmental Panel on ... Read More

U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Ishii today handed down a landmark decision when he ruled that California has the right to regulate vehicle greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to global ... Read More

All you have to do is look at your January credit card statement to know that Christmas doesn’t come cheap these days. But that’s just the financial cost of Christmas. ... Read More

Chemicals used to make plastics soft and flexible have been cited for making toys and other children's products toxic and posing serious health threats for kids. A growing number of ... Read More

The U.S. House of Representatives passed landmark energy legislation that would begin the hard work of breaking America’s dependence on fossil fuels, but then Senate Republicans used a filibuster to ... Read More

Democratic leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives struck a deal late Friday night (November 30, 2007) that will raise fuel-economy standards for cars and light trucks 40 percent by ... Read More

Americans throw away almost 100 billion plastic bags every year, and only 1 percent to 3 percent are ever recycled, leaving the rest to clog streams, foul landscapes, and kill ... Read More

Every Christmas you ask yourself the same question: Is it better to get a real Christmas tree that has to be discarded after a few weeks, or a fake Christmas ... Read More

Everyone knows about the power of mistletoe at Christmas, right? It makes holiday romance democratic by making everyone equally kissable. But there is more to mistletoe than kissing and holiday ... Read More