Are corporations wasting recycling opportunities?

Are corporations wasting recycling opportunities?
Today is “America Recycles Day,” but not everyone in the environmentally-conscious community is celebrating. On Tree Hugger, Lloyd Alter argues that large corporations have been promoting the need to recycle for a half century, but quietly making actions that are counter to the movement. For instance, recently, Coca-Cola dissuaded the Grand Canyon from imposing a ban on the sale of disposable water bottles at the park and pressured the producers of "American Idol" into disassociating itself from a campaign against disposable plastics. Arguing that the holiday’s name should be changed to “Zero Waste Day,” Alter also presents this graphic that shows recycling may be headed in the wrong direction.

Heather Rogers; Message in a bottle/via

Keystone XL pipeline project gets re-routed around political delay
Last week, President Obama delayed a decision on whether to approve the $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline project until after the election. Environmental activists were cautiously pleased with that development, but now, an effort is underway to circumvent such delay. TransCanada Corp. and Nebraska officials announced an agreement to re-route the proposed pipeline away from the environmentally sensitive Sand Hills region of the state, and House Republicans are working on a bill to speed up the timeline. Environmental groups aren’t satisfied that the modified plan won’t still lead to greenhouse gas emissions.

A cap-and-trade system is an economic winner, says study
The political temperature might not be right for a carbon cap-and-trade system, but according to a new study by the Analysis Group, a Boston-based consulting firm, the 10 states that have been testing one such initiative gain more than $1.6 billion in economic value added, including the creation of 16,000 jobs. Additionally, consumers saved $1.1 billion on electricity bills.

Designing an energy-efficient future: Parking lots
Here it is – the gas station of the future. Or rather, the renewable energy lot of the future. Knowing that tomorrow’s cars will need a spot to recharge, designer Neville Mars has sketched what a photovoltaic grove would look like. Here’s the design, via Inhabitat.com.

No more monkeying around in science labs?
A major push by advocacy organizations could lead to the end of chimps as research subjects, reports The New York Times. The Humane Society, the Wildlife Conservation Society are petitioning the National Institutes of Health to declare captive chimps to be endangered, a decision could be forthcoming with a year on the continued usefulness of chimps in research. What happens to captive chimps after they’ve done their service to man? A federal law passed in 2000 requires the government to take care of them, leading to chimp retirement homes like Chimp Haven, which now has 132 chimps on 200 acres of pine woods.