The Green Wrap-up 5.February, 2013

Yesterday, the owners of Ann Arbor’s favorite vegan food cart, The Lunch Room, formally announced that they would be following in the footsteps of Eat, and making the transition from seasonal outdoor vendor to year-round brick and mortar. Following is my interview with Phillis Engelbert, who, together with Joel Panozzo, owns The Lunch Room.
  • GreenJoyment(Ally): It’s always great to hear about it when places that serve healthy, animal-friendly food are successful enough to expand! Good for you, Lunch Room!
Saudi Arabia, the world’s largest crude oil exporter, has completed its biggest ground-mounted photovoltaic solar plant, an installation that presented unconventional challenges like sand storms.
Ever forget to clean out the tank? Or water the plants, for that matter? This design kills two birds (but no fish!) with one stone, and doubles as a fun instructional tool for kids learning about how natural systems work.
Could the heat coming from your refrigerator be contributing to global warming?It’s a good question. To answer it, let’s start with a review of one of my favorite topics.
Canada’s Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development, Scott Vaughan, has looked into what would happen if oil and/or gas leaks happened off the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador or New Scotia, where there is currently a big exploration and production book. What he found is rather troubling…The country is not ready at all to handle a major oil spill.
Last year, Germany made headlines when it met half of its weekend power demand using solar energy alone. But that’s not all – the nation just announced that it installed 1,008 new wind turbines last year with a total capacity of 2,439 megawatts.
Two stories flagged by our Gristmill bloggers yesterday got me thinking. There’s this one, about San Francisco’s “managed retreat” from rising sea levels, and this one, about New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) planning to allow some coastal communities to “return to nature.” Both mean the same thing: Shit is getting real.

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