My old college bud, Kenny Scharf, is arguably the original green artist – a brilliant guy from L.A. who began his career nabbing trash from the streets of Manhattan and embellishing old appliances with his phantasmagorical, Fifties-inspired, squiggly creatures and symbols.

Working alongside East Village graffiti muralists like Keith Haring and Jean Michel Basquiat, his uproariously spacey icons were quickly embraced by Andy Warhol and other enthusiasts with clout. He quickly rose to the ranks of artist superstar.

Scharf  conveyed his …

Tags: AIDS , alternative transporation , Andy Warhol , art , bikes , Brazil , Brooklyn , carbon footprint , Cosmic Cavern , East Village , emissions , graffiti , Jean Michel Basquiat , Keith Haring , Kenny Scharf , los angeles , New York City , pop art , recycle , reuse , sculpture , trash art

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The Department of Energy was asleep at the wheel, but  tough new national appliance standards for 26 common household and business products during President Obama’s term could slash total U.S. electricity use by over 1,900 terawatt hours (1.9 trillion kilowatt hours) by 2030.

The savings to the consumers and businesses: Over $123 billion.

This was the findings of a report released by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and the Appliance Standards Awareness Project (ASAP). It  figures the standards will make a huge contribution to our efforts …

Tags: appliances , battery chargers , Coal , Congress , consumers , Department of Energy , electric grid , emissions , energy , furnaces , Greenhouse Gases , heaters , Obama , power plants , refrigerators , savings , standards , taxpyers , terawatt hours

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A new study by University of California scientists finds exposure to local traffic-generated pollution increases a pregnant woman’s risk of developing preeclampsia (pregnancy-induced hypertension) and/or having a premature baby.

The study focused on a review of over 81,000 medical records that documented births in the Long Beach/Orange County area between 1997 and 2006. Having built a database capable of estimating what the pregnant women breathed within the three kilometres of their homes, the researchers examined the records to determine where the highest numbers …

Tags: air , birth defects , California , emissions , pollution , preeclampsia , premature birth

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It just became official: global warming is bad for our health.

You think? This headline may look like something lifted from The Onion – but in fact we’re talking legally and in the Here and Now. For the first time, the Environmental Protection Agency appears to have designated greenhouse gases (the most infamous being carbon dioxide) as a danger to human health, opening the way to regulating these gases under the Clean Air Act.

In other words: the government is legally required to directly …

Tags: emissions , government , greenhouse emissions , legislation , politics

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Call me a cynic, but I’m always skeptical when a powerful, multinational corporation announces any sweeping green initiative. I can’t help but pull back the shiny press release and look behind it. In the case of Carl’s Jr.’s recent unveiling of a flagship green restaurant in Carpentaria, Calif. there was one glaring omission – the food.

This list of goodies from Carl’s Jr. will get a green building expert all hot and bothered:

- ENERGY STAR rated appliances
- Solar reflective roofing material to reduce cooling needs
- Rainwater collection …

Tags: Carl's Jr. , emissions , food , green restaurant , livestock , locavore , sustainability , waste

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Imagine capturing the CO2 people exhale and converting it into biofuel to power diesel vehicles and heating systems. It’s all part of an experiment that’s taking place at the Liverpool John Lennon Airport in the UK.

The Eco-Box, designed by scientists from Origo Industries, works by capturing CO2 through a photo-bioreactor. This CO2 becomes feedstock for algae which then produces a biomass that can be refined and converted into green fuel.

The Eco-Box carbon recycling system was installed at the airport in January, with a goal of harnessing 24,000 during its …

Tags: algae , alternative fuel , biofuel , carbon , eco-box , emissions , Origo , transportation

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