Environmental Alert: New Garbage Island Found in Atlantic

A few years ago, a huge island of garbage (twice the size of Texas!) was found in the Pacific between California and Hawaii, poisoning the ecosystem and posing a major health risk to fish, seabirds and other marine animals.

Then, another environmental disaster made the news: two months ago, National Geographic announced that a second floating vortex of trash had been found in the Atlantic Ocean

Like vast icebergs of garbage, as much as 70% of these “islands” lie beneath the surface of the sea.

As much as 10 percent of the 260 million tons of plastic produced annually wind up in the world’s oceans. Green technologies that convert plastic to fuel or clothing or more sustainable packaging could give consumers a good reason to pick up all that plastic and make a profit from it … while preventing other environmental nightmares.

Green Update: Minnesota Taxes Carbon Emissions…from North Dakota

It can cost more to be an environmentally-responsible manufacturer (at least initially), so how does government level the economic playing field for a manufacturer who uses renewable energy? By levying carbon tariffs against a competitor who pollutes, reports Boing Boing.

Minnesota recently passed a measure to stop CO2 at its border with North Dakota. To encourage the switch to clean, renewable energy, Minnesota plans to add a fee (ranging from $4 to $34 per ton of carbon dioxide emissions) to the cost of coal-fired electricity produced in North Dakota, beginning in 2012. Besides being the greatest source of greenhouse gas emissions, coal has been implicated in asthma, diabetes, heart disease and neurological damage.

State officials in North Dakota—who are arguing that the carbon tariff would unfairly discourage coal-powered electricity sales in favor of renewable energy—are suing the state of Minnesota, the Bismarck Tribune reports. Anticipating this, Minnesota has set aside a half million dollars to fund its fight.

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