It’s Friday and hope is in the air. Saving sharks, making biodiesel from coffee, hybrid tug boats… read on for green news from cyberspace.

• A Shark Plan with Teeth?  The European Commission has offered up a proposal that aims to improve its shark fisheries.
• Another Reason Why… we should have joined Kyoto. A new report says countries that ratified the Kyoto Protocol have had more clean tech innovations than those that didn’t. (Hat-tip: Environmental Capital.)
• Brewing Biodiesel: The Economist reports that researchers are exploring coffee grounds as another source of plant-based fuel. (Hat-tip: Environmental Capital.)
• Little Toot: Southern California ports will be home to the world’s first hybrid tug boat, the Carolyn Dorothy. Perhaps she’ll star in a 21st century take on the classic children’s book?
• Big Toot: Let’s hope the hybrid tug boat  market fares a little better than the market for hybrid locomotives.
• Tax on Cow Toots? Farmers are finally able to laugh over the absurd rumors of a cow methane tax. (I swear, that’s the last time we’ll use “toot” today.)

• Smart Spending? Red, Green and Blue wonders if a smart grid will be part of the Obama economic stimulus package.
• Not a Bad Start: According to a report commissioned by Greenpeace, the economic stimulus package will reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by at least 1 percent.
• Preventative Measures: A huge swath of relatively un-fished Artic waters will now be legally closed to fishing. It’s a proactive step to help protect the area from biological changes that could be coming.
• Species Short-Changed? A new study shows that talking about conservation in terms of dollars saved — through benefits like cleaner water and reduced soil erosion — does not negatively impact species protection efforts.
• Lucy Goes Digital: The 3.2 million year-old fossil Lucy has gone digital, with new high-resolution scans that reveal even more about how early humans lived, ate and moved around.

(Image: Nurse shark, taken at the Newport Aquarium in Ohio. Source. Jeff Kubina via Creative Commons.)

Posted: February 6th, 2009 under Animals, Arctic, Climate Change, Conservation Issues, Cool Green Morning, Ecosystem Services, Energy, Europe, Green Technology, Policy, United States.
Tags: Arctic fishing, biodiesel, economic stimulus, Europe, Kyoto, Lucy, shark, smart grid

Comments

Comment from Aaron Becker
Time February 6, 2009 at 10:04 am

Amazing how much mainstream news there is concerning the environment in just one week. If only we had this much interest years ago! And if only we can keep it up!