It is an early fall morning in Long Island, as orange and red colored leaves drift down to gather in piles along the empty streets, rustling from the gutters and sidewalks to gather in drifts against the row of tents set up outside the packed Walmart parking lot. The tent’s inhabitants crowd in front of […]
More bad news for people who like Earth: Plastics emit greenhouse gases
Last week, the scientific journal PLOS ONE published a study by researchers from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology which revealed that several greenhouse gases are emitted as plastics degrade in the environment. That’s right: Plastic waste, which flows into oceans at a rate of 18 billion […]
American Lung Association says Maui and Oahu have nation’s cleanest air
Kahului-Wailuku-Lahaina (reported as one city) ranks as the number four cleanest city in the nation for year-round particle pollution, according to The American Lung Association’s State of the Air 2018 report. The Maui “city” was also ranked as one of the cleanest cities for short-term particle pollution. The ALA’s report reveals that Hawaii continues to […]
Eh Prius Hater!
Eh, you driving the big red 4×4. You can’t miss your truck, especially considering the smoke stack exhaust pipes sticking up in the truck bed and the arrow stickers on the cab window pointing to them. Oh, and the truck is also emblazoned with the words “Prius repellent.” I noticed your Washington license plate–just where […]
EPA, Fish & Wildlife Service To Help Clean Up PCB Contamination At Tern Island
We’ve known for sometime that plastic garbage and refuse is wreaking havoc in the delicate ecosystem of the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. But did you know birds and sealife there also have to contend with PCBs and lead from junk we buried there during and after World War II? For 37 years, the U.S. military buried highly […]
EPA, Fish & Wildlife Service To Help Clean Up PCB Contamination At Tern Island
We’ve known for sometime that plastic garbage and refuse is wreaking
State Health Department Fines HC&S $1.3 Million For Alleged Emissions, Reporting Violations
There’s nothing sweet about the trouble Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar (HC&S) is now in. On June 24, the state Department of Health’s Clean Air Branch announced that it was fining the only sugar mill left in the state more than $1.3 million for alleged violations in emissions and reporting from 2009 to 2013 at its […]
What One Researcher Found When She Visited The Great Western Garbage Patch With The Sea Dragon
The development of a new man-made plastic called Parkesine won the bronze medal in The Great London Exposition in 1862. Since then, scientists have created more plastics at an ever-increasing pace. It’s no wonder that more than a hundred types of plastics are littering our oceans and gathering into great garbage patches and swirls. Giant […]