Deca-BDE is the most commonly used flame retardant material in the US, and around the world as a whole. However, by 2013, this material will be completely removed from application in the United States, as a result of a new deal between Chemtura and Albemarie Corporation, its US producers – ICL Industrial Products Inc, and the Environmental Protection Agency.

(more…)

NASA’s  new Ares I-X  test rocket is on the launch pad at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, in preparation for its debut launch scheduled for October 27.

The Ares I-X  is a prototype for the Ares 1 rocket NASA plans to use to launch its shuttle successor, the Orion spacecraft. The flight test will provide NASA with an opportunity to test and prove flight characteristics, hardware, facilities and ground operations associated with the Ares I.

(more…)

Major business groups in the United States have warned US Congress that it will trigger what may be called a “green trade war” if Congress passes a climate change bill which “threatens” other countries with taxes on energy-intensive goods.

In a letter to US Senate leaders, the National Foreign Trade Council, the United States Chamber of Commerce and two other groups urged the Senate to desist from including provisions that could “negatively impact US relations with key trading partners and disrupt the global trading systems.”  Climate change, the letter adds, is a global problem which requires international cooperation and not “unilateral ultimatums.”

(more…)

They say the balance of power shifts with the control over natural gases and oil reserves. It might be the right notion with Russia, US, Canada and Denmark staking their claim over the region that falls north of the Arctic Circle.

These countries would get back to staking their claims as scientists from the USGS in collaboration with international researchers have revealed that the Arctic may hold twice the oil previously found there. Not just the oil reserves, the sedimentary basins in the area, also house natural gas reserves.

(more…)

Irrespective of the reasons that have contributed to this, it is indeed heartening to see that the amount of crude oil that is being used currently in the US, has dropped to the consumption levels of 2003.

According to the American Petroleum Institute, demand for oil in the U.S. in 2008 went down by 6% to 19.4m barrels/day. And while that still forms huge chunks of carbon dioxide constantly released into the atmosphere, it still is a considerable decline indeed.

The reduction in oil consumption might have come from a variety of reasons. From the bad economy that forces more commuters to use public transportation to a switch the alternate fuel, this is obviously a development that one can be slightly happy about.

Still, no reason to feel ecstatic.

The US oil consumption in 2003 was no small number in itself and despite the 3.3 percent drop in use of gasoline one cannot help but think that this has more to do with the ‘green dollars’ rather than ‘green thoughts’.

Is environmental awareness starting to become a by-product of sound economy? Very well could be and we are not complaining as long as the results keep flowing in.

Source: TreeHugger & AutoBlogGreen
Original Image by marinephotobank