Australia moves closer to law establishing carbon tax

The Australian government's goal of implementing a carbon tax passed its toughest test today as the lower house of Parliament overwhelmingly approved a package of bills that institutes a phased-in carbon tax, to be followed by a carbon-trading system.

The 18 bills now go to the Senate, where the law is all but assured of passage in mid-November.

According to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, the system will reduce Australia's carbon emissions by 159 million tons by 2020. Australia is the largest per-capita carbon polluter, with an economy deeply dependent on coal.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/greenspace/2011/10/australia-climate-change-carbon-tax-cap-and-trade.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+GreenspaceEnvironmentBlog+%28Greenspace%29

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times –Greenspace posted by Julie Cart

 

Boston public housing going smoke-free in 2012

Boston is set to become the first big city in Massachusetts - and the largest in the nation - to ban smoking in public housing, beginning in September 2012.

In the next few weeks, about 25,000 tenants will receive letters announcing that their buildings will be smoke-free and that they will have to agree to the new policy when they sign their annual leases. http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/health/articles/2011/10/12/boston_to_ban_smoking_in_public_housing_next_september/?p1=News_links

Article courtesy of The Boston Globe by Kay Lazar

 

 

 

Phoenix rates as elite city for hiking

Phoenix's vast network of desert preserves and hiking trails earned the city recognition from National Geographic among the nation's 15 best hiking cities.

Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/community/phoenix/articles/2011/09/30/20110930phoenix-best-trail-hikes-prog.html#ixzz1a0X3A6cL

Article courtesy of The Arizona Republic by Connie Cone Sexton

Believe it: Bob Dylan is favored to win Nobel Prize in literature

According to Ladbrokes, Bob Dylan is the odds-on favorite to win the Nobel Prize for literature. The British betting house has Dylan as the top possibility, running at 5-to-1 odds, ahead of Japanese novelist Haruki Murakami, who is in second place, and Syrian poet Adonis in third. http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/10/bob-dylan-favored-to-win-the-nobel-prize-for-literature.html

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times -Jacket Copy posted by Carolyn Kellogg

Mattel drops paper company linked to Indonesia deforestation

It's official: Barbie has broken up with Asia Pulp and Paper.

Responding to a campaign by Greenpeace, toy giant Mattel, maker of the famed Barbie doll line, announced Wednesday that it will stop buying paper and packaging that the environmental group has linked to rain forest destruction in Indonesia.

Article courtesy of The Los Angeles Times -Greenspace posted by Geoff Mohan

The value of being greener

Farmers find that energy efficiency pays off by saving money, protecting environment

There was a time when farm life was impossible without a big, beefy truck. Carting bales of hay and hauling equipment took a burly gas-guzzler.

At Otter River Farm, David Smith’s utility vehicle uses no gas at all. Zipping around his dairy in Winchendon, home to Smith’s Country Cheese, on a zero-emissions golf cart, Smith is blazing a path for greener and cleaner times in agriculture. http://www.boston.com/lifestyle/green/articles/2011/08/22/on_energy_efficient_farms_greener_cheese_and_other_crops/

Article courtesy of The Boston Globe-Green Blog by kathleen Pierce Globe Correspondent

Scientists seek to document later fall colors

PORTLAND, Maine—Clocks may not be the only thing falling back: That signature autumn change in leaf colors may be drifting further down the calendar.

Scientists don't quite know if global warming is changing the signs of fall like it already has with an earlier-arriving spring. They're turning their attention to fall foliage in hopes of determining whether climate change is leading to a later arrival of autumn's golden orange and red hues. http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/10/06/scientists_seek_to_document_later_fall_colors/

Article courtesy of The Boston Globe by Davdi Sharp/Associated Press