IRENA to Pitch Morocco as Africa’s Renewable Energy Pilot at Rio+20

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Renewing Africa’s Energy Future is the theme of an International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) side-event scheduled to take place today at the Rio +20 conference underway in Brazil. Co-hosted by the government of Mozambique, this high-level meeting aims to spark a renewable energy revolution throughout the African continent, which supports 15% of the world’s population […]

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Lebanon’s Finally Looking at Racism and Human Rights Abuses in the Face

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Racism in Lebanon has rarely been an openly discussed theme in the media. Now racism and migrant abuse are garnering visibility. Racial intolerance in Lebanon  and the Middle East,  is indeed a pervasive problem which especially affects migrant domestic workers and refugees. In Lebanon, manifestations of racism and human right abuses are unfortunately prevalent and […]

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SeaOrbiter: Construction to Start on Renewably-Fueled Research Vessel

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After 12 years of finalizing details and garnering institutional support for his deeply ambitious ocean-going research vessel, Jacques Rougerie has announced that construction on the SeaOrbiter is slated to begin in October. Currently the center of attention at France’s Expo 2012 exhibit in Yeosu, South Korea, the $43 million vessel will also be the world’s […]

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Sun-Believable Solar Nanotechnology Paint May Revolutionize Renewables

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Paint researchers at University of Notre Dame go green, and not just ‘cause they’re the “Fighting Irish” A team of scientists and engineers led by Professor Prashant Kamat is generating energy from solar paint.  Building on recent advances in semiconductor nanocrystal research, they’ve developed a one-coat solar paint for designing quantum dot solar cells. Energy […]

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Google Resorts to Going Green With Trash Talk

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Gmail offers recycling tips. Apparently, they’ve been doing this for years. What rock have I been under? I was doing some email spring cleaning during an especially snooze-inducing conference call, and there in my Gmail Trash file, up popped a random recycling tip.  Newspapers can be reused as wrapping paper for gifts. I’ve been painting the New York […]

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Amman School Grows Tomorrow’s Activists

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Graduation by Demonstration is a school assignment on steroids. Educators Michael Gohde and Molly Van Cleave dreamed up this novel project over three years ago as a means to exercise all the skills in an 8th grader’s backpack. Middle school lays the foundation for high school. Kids learn to write. Really write. They learn to […]

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Istanbul Court Annuls Almost-Finished Roma Project

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The district of Sulukule has been home to Istanbul’s Roma community since Byzantine times, but many of its residents were displaced to make way for a development project that started three years ago. Sulukule was declared a target area for “urban transformation” by the Turkish cabinet in 2006. Six years, four lawsuits, and many evictions […]

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Israel Takes Messianic Stance on the Rio+20 United Nations Conference

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Israeli diplomats and ministers have taken a quasi-Messianic tone as the Rio+20 United Nations conference approaches.”Our main message is that the world has the problems and challenges and Israel has the solutions,” said Galit Cohen, senior deputy director-general of Israel’s Environment Ministry. “Israeli innovation for the world.” Israel has a reputation as an international hub of green technology. […]

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SafeMed Offers Course on Ballast Water and Invasive Species

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Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Tunisia and Turkey were among the representatives at the SafeMed course on the environmental risk of ballast water last month. The course was offered in Malta and is designed to emphasize the effective implementation of the International Convention for the Control and Management of Ships’ Ballast Water […]

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