The infographic from GOOD on renewables. (Click for larger)Visualizing Renewable Energy
We already know renewables make up a minority of our energy usage (8 percent to be exact), so which ones are most used and at what cost? Check out this great interactive infographic for a look at renewable energy usage in the U.S. GOOD
Shell Wins and Loses
This week oil company Shell is taking the good with the bad. On Thursday, the U.S. Department of the Interior granted the company conditional approval to do exploratory drilling wells in the Arctic Ocean next summer (NY Times). This coincided with the news that Shell and other oil companies were responsible for spills that had been happening in the Niger delta over the past five decades. The UN predicts spill cleanup will cost $1 billion and take up to 30 years. Oops. Guardian
Biotech Corn
Next summer you might be munching on genetically altered corn at your barbeques. Monsanto is launching a “triple-stack” sweet corn that is genetically modified to tolerate the company’s Roundup herbicide and better fight insects. The product is the first that applies the company’s commercial biotechnology with a consumer vegetable product. Initial production of the corn is expected to be very small, but could expand. Reuters
Another Routine Food Recall
The most recent food recall of salmonella-tainted ground turkey by Cargill is massive. But how much is 36 million pounds? And why can’t the USDA prevent these large-scale recalls? This article puts the recalled amount into perspective and raises some interesting points as to why this massive recall is actually routine, not newsworthy. Mother Jones
