As the White House starts crunching the numbers behind the costs of BP’s Gulf of Mexico debacle, the projected costs – and future debt of BP – begins to become clearer, placing Washington and London on a collision course.

In the US, the spill has caused BP to become public enemy number one, and a target of the White House. Meanwhile, in the UK, BP is increasingly perceived as the victim. “It was an accident that took place, and BP is paying a very, very heavy price indeed,” said London mayor, Boris Johnson who also called the position held by the US  “anti-British rhetoric” and “name-calling.”

British commentators are outraged that in their denunciations of BP, president Obama as well as other American politicians have repeatedly and purposefully referred to BP as British Petroleum, even though it shed that name years ago and is now a multi-national company, and almost as American as it is British.

To understand British zeal in protecting BP, one must understand that BP dividends provides income for millions of retirees in the UK, and the 40% plunge in share price, as well as a possible dividend delay could cost millions their income.

“When you consider the huge exposure of British pension funds to BP, it starts to become a matter of national concern if a great British company is being continually beaten on the air-waves,” said Johnson.

In a clear shift in tone from supporting the US position completely, British prime minister, David Cameron, has also leapt to BP’s defense last night, emphasizing the “economic value” BP brings to the US. But he seems to be preaching to the choir, as the White House seems to be well aware of the value lost, and have crossed a new line in their determination to take action against BP. The White House seems ready to not only hold BP responsible for the direct costs of the spill, but also for the lost wages of all employees affected by the administration’s six-month ban on deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Beyond the billions of dollars this measure alone represents, it also represents the administration’s willingness to stretch the definition of the damage caused by the spill. The possibilities for similar claims are endless, such as pursuing BP for lost tax revenues the US will not earn on all drilling operations shut down by the ban.

This tension was emphasized in a direct letter to POTUS Obama by John Napier, the chairman of Royal & SunAlliance, the UK insurer. The letter accuses Obama of “double standards” in dealing with American and British companies, calling the criticism of BP “somewhat prejudicial and personal,” and saying that “there is a sense here that these attacks are being made because BP is British.”

The White House dismissed the accusations of being too harsh on BP, or that it was risking relations with the UK. “If anything, we have been called guilty for not being overly dramatic, for not showing flashes of anger,” said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.

Political pundits are well aware that Obama can turn into the main political casualty of the spill. And it is clear that the White House understands the BP spill can turn into this administration’s Katrina, that is why they are ready to increase the pressure on BP and say they are ready to find “ass to kick.”

The post American-British Relations Take a Direct Hit from BP Debacle appeared first on Green Prophet.

As city shelters are buckling under the pressure of countless unwanted pets, and with many US and Canadian pet stores selling pets originating in inhumane puppy mills, more and more cities are enacting laws to ban the sale of cats, dogs and other companion animals.

In 2006, Albuquerque, N.M banned the retail sale of dogs and cats. More recently, South Lake Tahoe and West Hollywood, have also banned pet sales. Other cities in Florida, Missouri, New Mexico and Richmond in Canada are considering similar bans. We hope this becomes a trend in the Middle East, where animal awareness is much lower (see our past post on the abuse of circus animals in Lebanon).

The results so far, have been nothing short of amazing. In Albuquerque, since the ban started, animal adoptions have increased 23 percent and euthanasia at city shelters has decreased by 35 percent.

Several major pet store chains, including PetSmart, have already decide not to sell animals in their shops, instead offering dogs and cats for adoption in partnership with local shelters.

The Problem

There are two main issues with the sale of pets in stores. First is the decrease in adoption of pets in shelters, leading to more pets being put down by euthanasia, and more pets living in horrible conditions. The second is the increase in mass breeding of pets in puppy mills. Many of these puppy mills illegally keep animals in shockingly poor conditions, condemning the breeding animals to a life in a small wire cage until their fertility wanes, and they are either killed or abandoned.

Banning adorable puppies in pet stores, also decreases the chances of impulse buying, which all too often ends with more abandoned animals being thrown out once they grow out of the “cute puppy phase” or once their irresponsible owners grow tired of their responsibility. Those animals then usually find their way to an animal shelter (or worse). Many die or are put down.

“The pet stores don’t screen their prospective owners, and they can go buy a pet the same day,” said Helen Savkovic, a front desk employee at the Richmond Animal Protection Society. “We’re not in favour of impulse purchases of animals.”

So if you’re considering adding a dog or a cat to your home, don’t make the decision lightly, and make sure to visit your local animal shelter, or one of many adoption happenings in your area.

If you live in Israel, here are a few places to get you started:
SOS dog adoption and live music event (Tel Aviv, Friday, May 28, 2010).
Herzelia Loves Animals (Where we adopted our beautiful German Pointer)
SOS Pets

::via msnbc

The post More Cities Join Ban on Pet Sales. Euthanasia Down by 35%! appeared first on Green Prophet.

In their desperate search for a way to clean up the gulf oil spill, BP has just announced they will begin testing a device nicknamed “Ocean Therapy.”

The Ocean Therapy device is based on an invention bought by Kevin Costner 15 years ago, and on which he has spent over $26 million since then, and is said to be able to separate up to 97% of the oil from the water.

By the way, 2010 minus 15 years = 1995. The same year Waterworld came out.

Yes, the film that featured a device that could purify urine into drinking water (and where the bad guys’ base ship was the Exxon Valdez,) was released on the same year when Costner started working on this device which would possibly be used to clean up the gulf oil spill 15 years later. “The machines are basically sophisticated centrifuge devices that can handle a huge volume of water… It’s like a big vacuum cleaner,” said Costner’s business partner, John Houghtaling.

Costner has made available 300 of his Ocean Therapy machines in various sizes, the largest of which, is able to clean water at a rate of 200 gallons a minute – faster than the well is leaking.

Kevin, along with his scientist brother Dan Costner, is an active environmental activist and fisherman. Over the years he has spent over $40 million on technologies he hoped would help the world. “I [am] just really happy that the light of day has come to this, and I’m sad about why it is. But this is why it was developed, and like in anything that we face as a group, we all face it together”

Let’s hope for a Hollywood ending to the gulf spill – as well as partial redemption for Waterworld.

::NYDailyNews.com

The post BP to Begin Testing Waterworld Invention on Gulf Oil Spill appeared first on Green Prophet.

LEGO, makers of timeless bricks of wonder, continue their welcome advance into the classroom with the new Renewable Energy Set. The new set lets students experiment with using energy from their own bodies and the three main energy sources – solar, wind, and water – to generate, store, and use power. The set also contains building instructions for a variety of models such as a solar-powered car and a wind turbine.

The renewable energy set, comes with a new activity pack, which lets students explore renewable energy sources; investigate energy supply, transfer, accumulation, conversion, and consumption; and use measurements and data analysis to describe and explain outcomes through hands-on activities and real-life models.

The new set is part of Lego Education, a branch of Lego which aims to provide pre-schools to high-schools, with an educational package for exploring topics such as robotics, mechanics, electricity, math and even Aerospace.

If the last time you saw a piece of LEGO was in your childhood, I encourage you to check out some of the amazing things that can be done these days with the modern LEGO Mindstorms, it makes the LEGO Technics of my childhood look like naive child’s play by comparison. It is great to see the Legos of this generation, are just as relevant today, as they were for my generation.

And if there is a child in your life (your son or daughter, a niece, nephew, or spouse), pull him away from the TV and computer screen, and build something together.

The post Green LEGO? Build Futuristic Solar Cars and Wind Powered Robots appeared first on Green Prophet.

The post NASA Abandons Flying Cars for Greener Flight with a $1.5m Prize for Green Plane Innovation appeared first on Green Prophet.

In a move that is sure to be a stepping stone to the flying car, Ford is currently testing a new type of laser ignition system to replace the conventional spark plug (invented way back in the 19th century).

The new laser ignition system is reportedly more reliable – especially in cold weather – and aims to reduce fuel consumption and tailpipe exhaust emissions, particularly CO2.

This is something we really care about in the Middle East.

Most modern engines, use multiple spark plugs positioned at the top or bottom of the cylinder in order to ignite as much of the fuel as possible.

Laser beams however, can be focused and split into multiple beams to give multiple ignition points, which means it can give a far better chance of ignition, and far better fuel efficiency.

To produce 3000 RPM, the laser will need to fire more than 50 times per seconds, but should still require less power than a conventional spark plug.

Dr. Tom Shenton, the project lead in Liverpool University mentions a few other advantages:

“[Multiple ignition points] can really improve the performance of the engine when it is cold, as this is the time when around 80 per cent of the exhaust emissions are produced and the engine is at its least efficient.

“The laser also produces more stable combustion so you need to put less fuel into the cylinder.”

Some of the laser beams can even be reflected back from inside the cylinder to provide real time feedback to the car about the level of ignition, and even the type of fuel being used, allowing the car’s computer to adjust the mixture of air and fuel being used, in order to optimize performance.

This optimization of the fuel mixture in real time opens new possibilities for cars which run on mixed fuels, including biofuels.

The project is backed by a £200,000 grant by the Carbon Trust and is already being used in engines in the lab by the scientists at Liverpool University, and the engineers at Ford.

Ford is hoping to offer this technology in their higher end cars by 2011.

The post Ford To Replace Spark Plugs With Freakin’ Lasers by 2011 appeared first on Green Prophet.

Japan Airlines did their part to shed excess weight on their flights by shortening their blankets by a centimeter, and Northwest Airlines did it by removing all the spoons from their planes.

But true change must come from innovation and new thinking by aircraft manufacturers. This week, I visited the Paris Air Show at Le Bourget, to see firsthand what direction the industry is taking. The general sentiment of the show was summarized by Airbus in 10 foot letters on the side of their new Airbus A380 – “Greener. Cleaner. Quieter. Smarter.”

The new Airbus A380 is the largest passenger aircraft in the world, and Airbus boasts that it is the first aircraft ever to achieve a fuel efficiency below 3 liters per passenger over 100 kilometers (a boast which loses some meaning if you take into consideration that all current airlines fly A380 configurations that cater to fewer passengers per flight and are rarely fully booked).

The A380 also uses a new wing design and lighter composite materials to improve its performance. Airbus also claims a 50% smaller noise footprint than the 747-400 while carrying 40% more passengers.

Impressive claims. But as I look up at the A380 flying overhead in slow graceful circles, all of those energy saving statistics melt away and all I can think of is the full-sized, fully stocked bar in the plane’s upper deck.

Not to be outdone by Airbus, Eurocopter are showing their own idea for a greener future. Their new concept helicopter, codenamed Bluecopter, has a “high-compression engine” that promises to reduce fuel consumption, CO2, NO and NO2 emissions by 30-40%… That is if they can get it off the ground.

It seems that calling it a helicopter is a bit of a stretch, as the bluecopter is currently nothing more than an off the shelf Mercedes-Benz V6 turbodiesel engine with a helicopter shaped box around it painted in blue and green. In fact, it is currently so heavy, it couldn’t get off the ground even if you gave up on the fancy extras such as passengers or a pilot.

Not that any of those facts stood in the way of Eurocopter generating a lot of green-buzz around this innovation.

Another recurring theme in the show was increased use of composite materials such as carbon fibers to make aircraft lighter. One notable example was the 4-seater Simba. With a hull built entirely from carbon fibers, Simba weighs less than 500 kg (I’ve ridden motorcycles heavier than that), but can still reach a cruising speed of 220 km/h, and pulled off impressive stunts in the sky above our heads.

After spending a few days looking at the latest and greatest being developed by some of the biggest companies on the planet, it is clear that the current direction is focused on optimizing, refining and improving as opposed to revolutionizing.

But in an industry where it can take over a decade to bring a product to market (The A380 took 13 years to develop), is it fair to expect a revolution right now? Or will we have to wait another decade before seeing a true leap in technology? I’d like to believe that current market forces will accelerate the current progress and bring a revolution out of necessity.

But will this be enough to save the industry? 2009 marked the 100th year of the Paris Air Show, and it was quite a somber one, with fewer Champagne bottles uncorking to celebrate big deals, fewer new models and not enough innovation.

Looking at the big airlines, it is easy to draw parallels between the state of the aviation industry, and the stagnation in the American car industry. Perhaps what we need here is an outsider with a fresh point of view to shake the boat… to borrow an idea from Todd Dagres – Perhaps what the aviation industry needs is a Steve Jobs.

Like a Kid In a Toy Store

All cynicism and skepticism aside, the Paris Air Salon is the ultimate place for the kid-at-heart to check out the latest toys in action.

Where else in the world can you see a Eurofighter Typhoon pull off crazy stunts, walk a few meters under the shadow of two huge space rockets to flirt with an F-15 pilot, then turn your head back to the roar of a 50 year old Lockheed Super Constellation taxiing 5 meters from you, its giant wing over your head.

Even a grumpy treehugger like me can’t help but melt and squeal with glee as a F/A-18 Super Hornet prepares for takeoff next to me, the hot air from its jets blasts me in the face like a thousand splendid suns… Burn all the fuel you want buddy, right now I’m an 8 year old with the shiniest toy.

The post Looking for Green Innovation at the Paris Air Show appeared first on Green Prophet.

His notebook, much like Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex, is filled with wild ideas from across the entire spectrum of human experience. From rough blueprints of Dock-Dock – a tiny futuristic automobile intended to cut congestion and pollution – to sketches of a “portable street,” to the truly wild… Rap lyrics to what he calls The Sustainable Song.

The world leaders he meets every week in the little cafe in Curitiba, Brazil, come because they believe that Lerner’s notebooks, and his experience, may hold some of the solutions to the problems of climate change, and the problems that plague most modern cities.

“There is little in the architecture of a city that is more beautifully designed than a tree.”

-Jaime Lerner

Lerner is a man of innovative and brave solutions. In his days as mayor and governor, he made a deal with the local fishermen, “If he fishes fish, the money goes to him. If he fishes rubbish, bottles, glass, cans, we will buy it from him. If the conditions are bad for catching fish, he’ll catch rubbish. The more rubbish he gets, the more money he gets and the cleaner the bay gets. The cleaner the bay gets, the more fish he’ll be able to fish. It’s a win-win solution.”

Naysayers will dismiss such wild ideas. Say that they will never stand to the test of reality, and are not feasible. But Lerner has repeatedly proven that his solutions are not only feasible, but also sustainable and profitable. And while other mayors measure the pace of change in months and years, for Lerner it is measured in minutes, hours and days.

“Creativity &  innovation is starting… We cannot have all the answers…”

-Jaime Lerner

“Lerner is a longtime proponent of what might be called ‘blitz urbanism’: the rapid, workable improvement that does an end run on bureaucrats and doubters,” says Newsday’s Justin Davidson. He sees stealth, as a key to transformation. “We have to do things quickly because next week we might not be here anymore. And you have to be quick to avoid your own bureaucracy. Bureaucracy is like a fungus that contaminates everything.”

As 3-time mayor of Curitiba, Lerner used this philosophy to transform his city’s main street, into a pedestrian mall in just 72 hours. Fast enough for the tractors to do their work, but not fast enough for the bureaucrats and local business owners to complain, and put a stop to his vision.

Over the next 20 years, Lerner shaped the city’s future and turned it into a shining example that is studied to this day. “We built the opera house in two months, the botanical gardens in three months, Niemeyer’s museum in five months. It wasn’t that we were chasing after records – it was necessity.”

“Creativity starts when you cut a zero from your budget”

-Jaime Lerner

As a young architect in the mid-1960’s, Lerner saw his city’s population cross the 500,000 line. Soon, this third-world city, was struggling with many new problems.

“I saw things happening that I thought were wrong,” he says. “They were destroying the city’s history, opening up big roads that wiped out the whole memory of the city, planning the city just for cars.”

In 1971 he became mayor, and began implementing radical and progressive changes that changed Curitiba forever. Some of this changes are so radical, they may seem impossible… Unless you witnessed Lerner make them possible.

Curitiba is a city bordered by a floodplain, and while many wealthier cities such as New Orleans and Sacramento, have chosen to build expensive levee system, Curitiba purchased the floodplains and turned them into parks. Unable to afford tractors to mow these parks, Lerner employed ‘municipal sheep’ who keep the vegetation under control and whose wool funds children’s programs.

“We arrived to the conclusion that it was better to save an existing wood than to build a new park. So we started to save existing woods with the help of families that could take care of them. Thanks to that, the green areas indicator of Curitiba went from 0,5 square meters per citizen in 1971 to 52 square meters per citizen; while the population grew three times.”

-Jaime Lerner

The city now ranks among the world leaders in per-capita park area.

When faced with the challenge of how to service Curitiba’s slums and shanty towns, Lerner began paying people for their trash.  He paid with bags full of groceries and transit passes.

The slums became much cleaner and to this day, Curitiba has one of the highest levels of garbage separation in the world.

“The car is like our mother in-law. We have to have good relationship with her, but you shouldn’t let her dictate your whole life… If the only woman in your life is your mother in-law, you have a problem.”

-Jaime Lerner

In 1988, Lerner began work on his masterpiece – the Rede Integrada de Transporte (RIT), or integrated transport system.

Lerner was given Federal money to build a subway, but he discovered that a subway costs ten times the amount of a “light rail”, which, in turn, costs ten times as much as a bus system, even one with dedicated bus ways. For Lerner, the choice was clear. He would build a rapid transit system based on buses.

The Speedybus, as it is called, is a system of specially constructed Volvo buses that can carry over 270 people each. The buses run in dedicated lanes, and stop with clockwork precision in high tech bus stops which Lerner designed himself.

The result is an experience that is nothing like the bus systems we know, but is instead similar to riding a subway, at a fraction of the cost, and completed city-wide in two years.

“A sustainable city is the one that integrates housing, work and leisure, while preserving its history and investing in public transportation.”

-Jaime Lerner

So what can we learn from this? It’s a nice story, but are these kind of wild ideas applicable in a city like… Tel-Aviv?

Why not?

Curitiba is a city much bigger, with more people and poorer than Tel-Aviv. Every excuse we can come up with for why this wouldn’t work here has already been proven by Lerner to be just that… an excuse.

All it takes is a leader with a vision, and the courage to make drastic changes without fear of the short-term political fallout.

“One of the things I have learned is that we have to be committed to simplicity. There is no need to be scared of simplicity. And we can’t want to have all the answers in the world. Many cities end up putting off things because they want to understand everything. They don’t understand that innovating is about starting. Taking care of a city is a process that you start, and then give the population space to respond. There is no place in a city that can’t be better. There is no toad that can’t be a princess, no frog that can’t become a prince.”

-Jaime Lerner

I highly recommend Nitzan Horowitz’s excellent documentary called “Urban Legend” which is available online. He travels the globe, from India to Curitiba, and eventually brings Lerner to Tel-Aviv. See the video below:

The post Best quotes from Jaime Lerner about sustainability appeared first on Green Prophet.

Cheese and other dairy containers, small salads, yogurts and the occasional hummus container used to make up a large part of my garbage… Turns out, they can all be recycled just as well as the PET bottles I’ve been collecting for recycling.

The reason the recycling companies don’t advertise this fact is a sound one. Throwing these containers in the recycling bin (at home or on the street) and having them stay there for days, or sometimes weeks, can be a serious sanitary hazard and health risk. On the other hand, asking the public to rinse all containers before throwing them is a huge waste of water.

If you have a healthy active dog, cat or another pet that is willing to help, you can increase the amount of plastic you recycle instantly.

Ingredients:

• 1 or more pets
• 1 or more plastic containers

Instructions:

• Place plastic container in front of pet.
• Watch as your pet helps the recycling effort by making sure that plastic container is so clean, it shines.
• Optional: Grab a camera and take some photos/video. You won’t be disappointed.
• Collect plastic containers and place in recycle bin.

As always, use your own discretion when deciding what your pet can and should eat. Chocolate puddings are of course out of the question, but so are foods that are too sugary, spicy or contain artificial sweeteners. Many foods are usually fine, especially considering the relatively minuscule portion size your pet gets from just cleaning the container.

If your pet is overweight or obese, this tip is not for you! Obese and overweight pets constitute an estimated 48% of all pets in the USA, I encourage you to learn more about the risks, which include Osteoarthritis, Type 2 Diabetes, heart disease, hypertension and even cancer. Even if your pet is not overweight, you should spend at least a couple of minutes online learning about the potential risks of an overweight pet.

I am still in negotiations with my dog regarding his offer to help make our compost heap smaller… he’s such a helpful character.

Final note: What materials are actually recycled changes from country to country and from town to town. Do a web search for your local recycling rules and see what is actually accepted. Filling the recycling bin with stuff that isn’t actually recycled just lowers the efficiency of the recycling center.

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