State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

North America14

  • Where is the Water-Powered Car?

    This week, General Motors has been in the news as they scramble to plan for bankruptcy after the US government announced it would not grant their request for a larger financial lifeline. A year ago, however, GM was making headlines (albeit smaller ones) for their Equinox Fuel Cell— technology that promised to make the nearly…

  • Renewables May Gain Momentum in Response to Water Shortages

    Most of the time, when you hear about environmentalists decrying the construction of a new coal-fired power plant, their objections are in relation to localized pollution or carbon dioxide emissions. Less frequently do you hear about protests related to the vast amounts of water that are needed to keep these plants running – water that…

  • California’s Water Bank – A Bank With Nothing to Lend?

    California is in some serious trouble as a result of continued drought conditions and is looking to bail itself out through the creation of a water banking system. In California, this would mean buying water from owners in the northern part of the state and transferring it to water-starved areas in the south. This makes…

  • Mexico City to Treat Water Runoff

    During last week’s World Water Forum, Conagua, Mexico’s National Water Commission, announced plans to build a purification plant to treat rain and water runoff. The US$1.3 billion project is expected to be completed in 2012 and is a build/operate contract. Mexico’s per capita water availability declined to 4,312 cubic meters in 2007 from 18,035 cubic…

  • New NOAA Administrator

    As of last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a new leader. The U.S. Senate named Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D. Administrator of NOAA on March 19, 2009. As the first woman and the first marine ecologist to fulfill this position, Dr. Lubchenco is committed to using science to create sound policy. Her specific…

  • World Water Week

    World Water Week organized by the Tap Project will kick off this Sunday in major cities around the US, raising awareness and funds for the many important water and sanitation projects implemented by UNICEF.  

  • Is Water-banking the Key to California’s Water Woes?

    It’s been a bad stretch of years for farmers in California…and things don’t look like they will be getting better any time soon. Three years of consecutive drought in the state have ravaged the agricultural industry, leading Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare a state of emergency. The announcement was accompanied by pleas for municipalities to…

  • Fix a Leak Week, March 16-20, 2009

    New York’s Department of Environmental Protection is sponsoring Fix a Leak Week this week throughout the city. In addition to the free water-saving kits (mentioned below in Samantha’s post), the city seems to be actively tackling the issue of water preservation.

  • IBM’s Water Membrane

    Scientists at IBM Research, together with collaborators from Central Glass, KACST and the University of Texas, Austin have created a new membrane that filters out salts as well as potentially harmful toxins in water such as arsenic while using less energy than other forms of water purification. According to the press release, this materials in…

  • Where is the Water-Powered Car?

    This week, General Motors has been in the news as they scramble to plan for bankruptcy after the US government announced it would not grant their request for a larger financial lifeline. A year ago, however, GM was making headlines (albeit smaller ones) for their Equinox Fuel Cell— technology that promised to make the nearly…

  • Renewables May Gain Momentum in Response to Water Shortages

    Most of the time, when you hear about environmentalists decrying the construction of a new coal-fired power plant, their objections are in relation to localized pollution or carbon dioxide emissions. Less frequently do you hear about protests related to the vast amounts of water that are needed to keep these plants running – water that…

  • California’s Water Bank – A Bank With Nothing to Lend?

    California is in some serious trouble as a result of continued drought conditions and is looking to bail itself out through the creation of a water banking system. In California, this would mean buying water from owners in the northern part of the state and transferring it to water-starved areas in the south. This makes…

  • Mexico City to Treat Water Runoff

    During last week’s World Water Forum, Conagua, Mexico’s National Water Commission, announced plans to build a purification plant to treat rain and water runoff. The US$1.3 billion project is expected to be completed in 2012 and is a build/operate contract. Mexico’s per capita water availability declined to 4,312 cubic meters in 2007 from 18,035 cubic…

  • New NOAA Administrator

    As of last week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has a new leader. The U.S. Senate named Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D. Administrator of NOAA on March 19, 2009. As the first woman and the first marine ecologist to fulfill this position, Dr. Lubchenco is committed to using science to create sound policy. Her specific…

  • World Water Week

    World Water Week organized by the Tap Project will kick off this Sunday in major cities around the US, raising awareness and funds for the many important water and sanitation projects implemented by UNICEF.  

  • Is Water-banking the Key to California’s Water Woes?

    It’s been a bad stretch of years for farmers in California…and things don’t look like they will be getting better any time soon. Three years of consecutive drought in the state have ravaged the agricultural industry, leading Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to declare a state of emergency. The announcement was accompanied by pleas for municipalities to…

  • Fix a Leak Week, March 16-20, 2009

    New York’s Department of Environmental Protection is sponsoring Fix a Leak Week this week throughout the city. In addition to the free water-saving kits (mentioned below in Samantha’s post), the city seems to be actively tackling the issue of water preservation.

  • IBM’s Water Membrane

    Scientists at IBM Research, together with collaborators from Central Glass, KACST and the University of Texas, Austin have created a new membrane that filters out salts as well as potentially harmful toxins in water such as arsenic while using less energy than other forms of water purification. According to the press release, this materials in…