Eco Topics | Chattanooga Lives Green

The Return of Shades of Green

Written by Sandra Kurtz
August 5, 2010 – 1:04 pm

Editor’s note: Once a month, we are bringing back the “Shades of Green” column, and are delighted to announce it will be written by one of Chattanooga’s most active environmentalists, Sandra Kurtz. If you have questions or suggestions for this column, e-mail them to us at jhashe@chattanoogapulse.com.
Numerous [...]

Eco Topic: We’re Not Ready for Nuclear Power

By Bob Herbert

We were told by oil industry executives and their acolytes and enablers in government that deep-water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico would not cause the kind of catastrophe that we’ve been watching with an acute and painful sense of helplessness for the past three months. Advances in technology, they said, would ward [...]

Eco Topic: Nuclear Energy Loses Cost Advantage

Nuclear Energy Loses Cost Advantage
By DIANA S. POWERS
PARIS – Solar photovoltaic systems have long been painted as a clean way to generate electricity, but expensive compared with other alternatives to oil, like nuclear power. No longer. In a “historic crossover,” the costs of solar photovoltaic systems have declined to the point where they are lower [...]

Shades Of Green: Awareness Is Great—Action Is Best

Editor’s note: We’d like to welcome our new Shades of Green columnist, Elizabeth Crenshaw.
Earth Day is a holiday marked by a lot of talking about awareness. It’s a day on which we reflect how badly our planet needs stronger environmental regulation, enthusiastic stewardship, cleaner business and more efficiently heated and cooled buildings.
And when the [...]

Shades Of Green: Are Carbon Offsets A Cop-Out?

My introduction to carbon offsets came in the form of a Christmas present to my parents. My uncle bought my father a Terrapass for his sturdy old Volvo wagon. “This car’s C02 offset by Terrapass,” it read, plastered to the bumper.
As the idea of mandatory cap-and-trade is argued on Capitol Hill, many people remain [...]

Shades Of Green: Greening Urban Shopping

Most Saturdays, it’s hard to find a parking space at 2 Northshore. Often, even the bike racks are full. People sit on the outdoor patio, walk from store to store, and stop to carry on conversation. This buzz of activity was planned for in the early stages of the complex’s design.
The campus [...]