Share
Dear EarthTalk: What would you recommend as a non-toxic/non-lethal way to keep squirrels, gophers and groundhogs away? – Faye Gillette, Coarsegold, Calif. Keeping unwanted critters away can be tricky business, and options are somewhat limited. For starters, make sure exterior garbage, recycling and compost containers are shut tight, and pick up and remove any fallen…
Share
The statistics are in for the first two weeks of the Friendly City Food Co-op Member Loan Campaign. The Co-op has raised $176,000 towards the goal of $600,000. Of the FCFC members who were contacted by phone, 24 percent have made a loan or loan commitment.
Share
U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., this week sent a letter to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate Appropriations Committee and Subcommittee on Interior Appropriations requesting that the Civil War Battlefield Preservation Program be funded at the House-supported level of $9 million in the FY 2010 Interior-Environment Appropriations bill.
Share
Enhancing its commitment to environmental stewardship, James Madison University has formed the Institute for Energy and Environmental Sustainability. The new institute will coordinate the university’s current stewardship efforts while seeking opportunities to expand its research in environmental stewardship areas. “JMU is taking an important step toward solidifying our statewide energy and environmental leadership role by…
Share
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine today announced the allocation of $40 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) to implement the Virginia State Energy Plan (SEP), a blueprint for funding energy-related initiatives throughout Virginia. The funding will help create jobs, encourage energy conservation, and promote alternative energy generation through rebates to residential and commercial…
Share
The Friendly City Food Coop is moving into a new phase of development that has the potential to lead to the start of store renovations. Member-Owners of the co-op are being asked to make interest-bearing loans in order to raise owner equity in the store. The goal for the loan campaign is to raise $600,000…
Share
Monday, Oct. 5 MR. GIBBS: Since we didn’t have a chance to do this at the end of last week, let me do a brief week ahead on a couple of scheduling items. I think some of you may know, but tomorrow the President will visit the National Counterterrorism Center in Washington, D.C., where he…
Share
Oct. 2-Dec. 15: PRISM Gallery Exhibition, open during normal building hours, lower level of Festival Conference and Student Center: “Looking Out – Thirty Years of Study Abroad at JMU, 1979-2009” traces the development of JMU’s study abroad program since its beginnings in London; the program continues to flourish and now sends more than 1,000 students…
Share
Dear EarthTalk: As I understand it, hair salons are pretty toxic enterprises on many counts. Are there any efforts underway to green up that industry? – Paula Howe, San Francisco, Calif. Hair salons have long been criticized for the pollution they generate. Traditional hair dyes and many shampoos contain harmful synthetic chemicals that are routinely…
Share
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine today announced significant improvements in Virginia’s air quality during the past decade. Between 1999 and 2009, the Commonwealth saw a 96 percent decrease in the number of days that exceeded the national air quality standard for ground-level ozone at monitoring stations statewide, with summer 2009 standing out as the best year…
