Yes. I'm sick as a dog. Even though I have health insurance, which is deducted from my Temp Job (at the Elections office) Pay, I can't afford to go see a doctor because that would mean missing another day of work that I can't afford because I took off several due to 102+ temperature and lack of ability to breathe. I don't get sick days. I don't get personal days. I simply have to work sick knowing that if I collapse, I can at least get into the hospital because I have insurance. Anyway...Environmental News...to Use.
General Motors warns of 'peak oil.' The head of car giant GM has publicly warned the switch to biofuels such as ethanol and electric cars is now inevitable and with oil prices at record highs, motorists may soon become familiar with the phrase "peak oil". ABC News
Destruction of rainforest accelerates despite outcry. The destruction of the Amazon rainforest has surged in the past four months, so that 2008 may be a disastrous year for the world's most important eco-system, a senior Brazilian government scientist warns. London Independent
Cleanup mostly done. The well-trimmed yards and high-priced homes obscured an ugly fact for many years about the neighborhood near Little Cottonwood Canyon. Three defunct smelters had fouled the landscape with dangerously high levels of arsenic and lead. Salt Lake Tribune
Future of clean stream list uncertain. Environmental Protection Secretary Stephanie Timmermeyer on Thursday strongly defended the protection of a small number of state streams, but legislative leaders say prospects for the rule remain uncertain. Charleston Gazette
Source of levee clay is concern. The Army Corps of Engineers needs the equivalent of 20 Superdomes full of clay and mud to raise levees high enough to protect the New Orleans area from a 100-year flood. New Orleans Times-Picayune
Renewable-power option for New Orleans planned. Entergy New Orleans sketched out a plan Thursday in which customers will be given the option of paying extra money for renewable forms of power such as solar or wind. New Orleans Times-Picayune
Did pig brain tissue sicken Austin pork-plant workers? The discovery that two Indiana pork-plant workers apparently developed symptoms of the same mystery illness that struck Minnesota meatpackers may be a big break in a case that has baffled investigators. Minneapolis Star Tribune
Workers at Indiana plant show symptoms similar to those at Austin. The Centers for Disease Prevention and Control is checking pig slaughterhouse workers in Indiana for neurological illnesses similar to ones that sickened workers at Quality Pork Processing Inc. in Minnesota. Rochester Post Bulletin
Air pollution may be a top cause of heart ills. Unregulated air pollution particles about one-thousandth the width of a human hair may be a leading cause of heart disease and stroke, according to a new study. Tucson Arizona Daily Star
Parts of Sound could rise 2 feet. So do you buy that little beachfront vacation house at Ocean Shores, or will it be a foot under water in 40 more years? A new study gives updated projections for how much sea level is expected to change over the century because of global warming. Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Olympia in risk zone for rise in sea level. Olympia remains one of the more vulnerable areas in Puget Sound in the latest estimate of sea-level rise caused by climate change and melting glaciers. Olympia Olympian
Puget Sound to creep up, up. Sea levels in Puget Sound, Washington, are likely to rise half a foot by midcentury, according to a new analysis that not only factors in global warming, but also local weather patterns and geology. Seattle Times
Salmon deaths spark fear of stinging jellyfish swarm. Scientists fear Welsh beaches are in imminent danger of invasion by glow-in-the-dark jellyfish with painful stings and some scientists suspect global warming could be behind the appearance of massed jellyfish flotillas now spotted in the Irish Sea. Cardiff Western Mail
Climate change is the biggest threat facing Papua New Guinea’s lucrative marine industry. Sea temperatures were expected to rise by 4% because of global warming, forcing the migratory tuna stocks to leave for cooler waters. Boroko National
Climate change tests L.A.'s conservation success. A change in climate will herald a shift in how Southern California gets its water. All Things Considered
Avon now powered by real wind. Wind farms across Colorado are now producing 100% of Avon’s electricity. Vail Daily
Ferrari shows off earth-friendly car with extra horses to boot . Ferrari is showing a green side with designs for ecologically-friendly, ethanol-fueled vehicles drawn from its racing models. Bloomberg News
Polar bear status won't halt leases. A House committee on global warming called on the U.S. Interior Department to hold off auctioning oil and gas leases in northwest Alaska's Chukchi Sea until it decides whether to list polar bears as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Anchorage Daily News
An old issue revisited. Environmental issues along California's Central Coast still color many residents’ outlooks — including how they plan to vote in the upcoming presidential primary. San Luis Obispo Tribune
Pawlenty announces clean energy plan. Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced several initiatives Thursday designed to encourage solar, wind and other renewable energy projects at the local level and to reduce global warming emissions. Minneapolis Star Tribune
Unconventional natural gas reservoir in Pennsylvania poised to dramatically increase US production. Natural gas distributed throughout the Marcellus black shale in northern Appalachia could conservatively boost proven U.S. reserves by trillions of cubic feet if gas production companies employ horizontal drilling techniques, according to a Penn State and State University of New York, Fredonia, team. Energy Daily.
Coleman talks Farm Bill. MN Sen. Norm Coleman touted the benefits of renewable energy, talked of the need for cellulosic processing facilities and commented on global warming, but the main focus of his speech Wed. was the pending Farm Bill. Worthington Daily Globe
Winds of change in power generation. Wind power grew 45 percent last year and wind turbines generated more than 1 percent of the nation's electricity -- a first, according to the American Wind Energy Association. But the industry has a few storms on the horizon. MarketPlace
Sunny future: Pursue solar power without delay. Our reliance on finite fossil fuels creates a doomsday scenario. Fortunately, there are clean, renewable alternative-energy sources - geothermal, wind, wave, biomass - that can help address the problems. Salt Lake Tribune
Aging infrastructure and ecosystem restoration. Targeted decommissioning of deteriorated and obsolete infrastructure can provide opportunities for restoring degraded ecosystems. Science
Across the pond and beyond -- protect water supplies before a crisis hits. We need to give considerable thought to conserving our water supplies. Pembroke Mariner
Overpopulation and peak oil: The perfect storm. Americans have recently become aware of converging crises that can end life as we know it, though experts have been warning us for many years. Napa Valley Register
Riverside: conservation over development. With a current drought in the Colorado River basin, the prospect of drier years ahead caused by global warming, squabbles over water contracts and a recent court ruling that threatens to cut supplies from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta by up to 30%, these are times for serious concern about keeping the region's needs quenched. Los Angeles Times
Promoting an environment beneficial to life. The League of Women Voters promotes an environment beneficial to life through the protection and wise management of natural resources in the public interest. Crawfordsville Journal Review
U.S. should lead the way to a new energy economy. Global warming is an emergency that requires immediate action from the world community. Before the United States can rally the world to take action, we need to show leadership here at home to be responsible stewards of the Earth with which we have been blessed. Charlotte Observer
Crazy idea, but it might just work. Body warmth to power heating. Trucks that run on chocolate. Floors coated with cheese. Here's a look at new ways of turning our waste to good use. London Guardian
Panel denies 29 demolition requests by city. In the wake of questions about how easily and quietly New Orleans officials have been approving demolitions of homes that might be restored, a review committee rejected nearly a third of 91 demolitions requested by Mayor Ray Nagin's administration. New Orleans Times-Picayune