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No more Free Water on US Air
Charging for checked luggage and legroom isn’t enough for some carriers — starting today, coach passengers flying aboard US Airways Inc. must pay for a drink of water.
This morning, US Airways began charging fliers $2 for bottled water and sodas and $1 for teas and coffees. First class members, trans-Atlantic passengers and a select group of others are exempt from the extra fees.
“This is another clever way to masquerade airfare increases without increasing airfares,” says Randy Petersen, editor of Inside Flyer Magazine. “Everything has been passed along to the consumer.”
The Tempe, Ariz.-based airline is among many other carriers scrambling to cut costs and boost revenues amid skyrocketing fuel prices. For now, other major airlines including AMR Corp.’s American Airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc., and Northwest Airlines Corp. say they won’t resort to the a la carte beverage system yet but will continue researching all possible ways to save money. Discount carriers AirTran Holdings Inc., JetBlue Airways Corp. and Southwest Airlines Co say they will also continue serving complimentary beverages.
Continental Airlines Inc. — one of the few airlines left that serves free meals on certain domestic flights — says it is unlikely to abandon its free beverage service. Continental says charging for a soda would detract from passenger comfort. “That’s always been our philosophy, and it’s one that works well with us,” says spokeswoman Julie King.
Several other low-cost carriers like Spirit Airlines Inc and Allegiant Air, LLC began charging for beverages a few years ago. These low-budget airlines say their business model offers “unbundled” deals, which strip away extra costs and charge only for the flight. Spirit and Allegiant officials say customers like this plan, which allows flyers to add on extra drinks and snacks only if they desire.
US Airways says it will provide water and drinks for passengers in cases of medical emergency and during extensive delays. If a desperately thirsty passenger does forget a few extra dollars, US Airways spokesman Morgan Durrant says flight attendants will likely “err on the side of the customer” and give him or her water. After all, the airline wouldn’t want its customers drinking tap water from the aircraft bathroom. That water is safe to drink, just not very palatable, according to Durrant.
“Frankly, that’s just not classy,” he says. Charging for checked luggage and legroom isn’t enough for some carriers — starting today, coach passengers flying aboard US Airways In... more -
China Diverting Major River to "Water" Beijing Olympics
This article was posted in February.
Landlocked Beijing has begun tapping a lattice of reservoirs, rivers, and canals across eastern China to provide plentiful water for this summer's Olympic Games.
As part of the initiative, more than 150 million cubic meters (39.6 billion gallons) of water are being diverted from the Yellow River through a network of canals stretching across three provinces to refill a lake south of the historically drought-stricken Chinese capital.
A parallel project is diverting water to the east coast resort of Qingdao, which will host the Olympic sailing competitions.
"Athletes from all over the world will come to China to join the Olympic Games [in August]," said Huang Feng, a researcher at the Yellow River Conservancy Commission, which is in charge of the river's diversion.
"So Beijing is implementing its master plan to provide the very highest quality of water."
The current rerouting is just the precursor to a 60-billion-U.S.-dollar hydro-engineering project expected to see three human-carved rivers carry water from southern China to the arid north.....Postel, of the Global Water Policy Project, predicts that conflicts over water could ricochet across Asia.
"By 2015 nearly three billion people—40 percent of the projected world population—are expected to live in countries that find it difficult or impossible to mobilize enough water to satisfy the food, industrial, and domestic needs of their citizens," she said.
Read more of the article at the link above. This article was posted in February. ... more -
Spain suffers worst drought
"Spain is reeling from its most severe drought in 70 years with the nation's reservoirs on average just half full, the Environment Ministry reports.Rainfall has been less than half of what's considered normal for the last six months and reservoir levels were already low after two years in which normal rain levels failed to rebound from the driest 12 months on record -- October 1, 2004 to September 30, 2005." "Spain is reeling from its most severe drought in 70 years with the nation's reservoirs on average just half full, the Envir... more
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Nuclear Energy Lobby In U.S. Using Climate Change for Profit
After a hiatus of nearly three decades, nuclear energy is booming. Seventeen power companies in the U.S. are making plans to build more than 30 nuclear plants.
One important factor in the resurgence: new federal and state laws that help utilities pay for nuclear plants that, if completed, would be among the most expensive projects ever built in the country.
One state where nuclear power is making a comeback is Florida. At a meeting last week in Tallahassee, Florida's Public Service Commission voted to approve the state's first new nuclear plants in decades.
Commission member Nathan Skop hailed the decision. "Simply put, nuclear power is a strategic investment for the state of Florida and our national security—to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and to protect our environment," he said. After a hiatus of nearly three decades, nuclear energy is booming. Seventeen power companies in the U.S. are making plans to build mor... more -
Making water from thin air
An architect pursuing a Ph.D. at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and his colleague have devised a low-tech way to collect dew from the air and turn it into fresh water. Their invention recently won an international competition seeking to make clean, safe water available to millions around the world. An architect pursuing a Ph.D. at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology and his colleague have devised a low-tech way to collect ... more
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'Humanity's very survival' is at risk, says UN
The speed at which mankind has used the Earths resources over the past 20 years has put humanitys very survival at risk, a study involving 1,400 scientists has concluded.
The environmental audit, for the United Nations, found that each person in the world now requires a third more land to supply his or her needs than the Earth can supply.
Thirty per cent of amphibians, 23 per cent of mammals and 12 per cent of birds are under threat of extinction, while one in ten of the worlds major rivers runs dry every year before it reaches the sea.
The bleak verdict on the environment was issued as an urgent call for action by the United Nations Environment Programme, which said that the point of no return was fast approaching.
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As I've posted elsewhere, we need to radically change our lifestyles if we are to survive. We can begin with Square Foot Gardening http://www.squarefootgardening.com/ to feed ourselves. There are other interesting and simple technologies which can also help, I will post about them later on. The speed at which mankind has used the Earths resources over the past 20 years has put humanitys very survival at risk, a study i... more
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