It may come as a surprise to some, but even in a densely populated area like the close-in suburbs of Washington, D.C., farmers markets are numerous and popular. Within five miles of where we live, there are at least five or six large, weekly venues where the quality of goods puts the grocery stores to shame.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say shopping at the markets is “buying local.” The fact is, nearly all of the farmland that existed within an hour’s radius 20 or 30 years ago has given way to planned communities, shopping malls and office parks.

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Solar. Wind. Geothermal. Fuel Cells. Biopower. Hydropower. Hardly a day goes by that we don’t read or hear about renewable energy.

Of course, not everyone who’s talking knows what they’re talking about, and for the average citizen, sorting through the claims and counterclaims can be confusing. Moreover, the field of renewables is changing so rapidly that what was fact three years ago may be fiction today.

The 128-page, Renewable Energy Data Book, helps put things in perspective. Published in September, 2008, by the U.S. Department of Energy, it’s chock full of recent U.S. and worldwide data on various forms of renewable energy, much of which is illustrated through charts and graphs.

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Ever wonder what your elected officials are interested in learning more about? Well,  when members of the U.S. Congress want the facts, one place they go for answers is the Congressional Research Service (CRS).

If you’re unfamiliar with the CRS, they not only answer Congressional inquiries, they  produce outstanding resource documents that are well-researched, empirically-based, non-partisan and, to the extent possible, written in accessible language.

From time to time, we browse recently released CRS reports and highlight those with potential interest to our readers. Once again, we’ve attempted to categorize the list but note that documents may cross over categories.

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Lake Bogoria National Reserve, located in a volcanic, basin region of Kenya, is an amazing natural resource known for it’s countless hot springs and geysers — and huge flocks of stunningly beautiful, pink flamingos that at times can number in the millions.

Created in large part to protect the greater kudu, a woodland antelope found throughout eastern and southern Africa, the park is also home to herds of gazelle, zebra, warthog, klipspringers, leopards and cheetahs. Still, the main tourist attractions remain the hot springs and those crazy flamingos.

If Lake Bogoria sounds like a little slice of paradise, well, not exactly. Think hot springs, pouring boiling water into a highly caustic lake that is essentially sterile.

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Iceland’s energy needs, more than any other country in the world, are predominantly met by renewable energy sources.  Over 70 percent of Iceleand’s energy needs are met by renewable energy sources with imported coal and oil making up the rest.  Practically all of Iceland’s electricitiy is provided by renewable sources with well over 80 percent coming from hyrdoelectric and the rest coming from geothermal (heat from within the Earth).

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Green Patriot car guy Paul Scott reports that BMW is making its Mini-Cooper plug-ins available in select areas of the country.

The web was buzzing last week with stories about BMW’s Mini E. To recap, BMW will be leasing 500 Mini Es from dealers in New York, New Jersey and Southern California starting some time early in 2009. To be considered for one of these cars, visit the Mini Space site and sign up, but remember, they are only going to consider you if you live in one of the regions cited above.Those of us familiar with powerful EVs were curious where the drive train for the Mini E originated. There was speculation that Tesla was behind it, and not hearing Tesla deny it, rumors spread that it was indeed them. However, I called Nathalie Bauters of MiniUSA and she told me AC Propulsion of San Dimas, CA was their supplier. This is great news since the ACP 150 is the gold standard for EV motor/controller drive trains. She also confirmed ACP would be supplying the battery pack.

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It is generally accepted and uncontroversial within the scientific community that 95 percent of the landmass of Antarctica has cooled over the last 20 years.  Yet, it is also showing signs of shrinking.  Note the calving of some of the largest icebergs known to exist off of the major Antarctic ice shelves in recent years.

With the Arctic Ice Cap shrinking to its smallest known size in 2007 and predictions that it could vanish completely by the summer of 2030 or sooner, all of which is attributed to effects of global warming and the warming of the northern ocean currents, should we see the same with the southern ice cap covering Earth’s fifth largest continent?

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Today the Bush and Obama families will meet at the White House for a polite visit to discuss the workings of the institution and perhaps even talk a little politics.

Essentially this is just a social visit but underscoring the polite niceties there is an active Bush political agenda at work in the background.

The President may be making public declarations of co-operation with the in-coming administration but mostly he is a player in an elaborate piece of ideological theater.

Behind the scenes his aides have been working feverishly to ram through the remaining items left on the Bush agenda.

Those aides have been particularly focused on the environment and on further weakening regulations that promotes clean air and water and protects endangered species.

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Efforts to harness the energy potential of Earth’s ocean winds could soon gain an important new tool: global satellite maps from NASA. Scientists have been creating maps using nearly a decade of data from NASA’s QuikSCAT satellite that reveal ocean areas where winds could produce wind energy. 

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With the election of Barak Obama as the 44th President of the United States last Tuesday, many in America and around the world celebrated what they hope will be a new era of progress and engagement across a variety of pressing national and international issues. The reality of factors beyond his or our control will, of course, play a role in how much he, and we, can accomplish over the next four years. But for that moment, that evening, rejoicing in the mere possibility of progress was irresistible and more than enough for many.

Now, it’s time to get down to the business of making “change” happen.

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Canada doesn’t allow Asbestos to be used in Canada but is more than willing to export it to third world countries.

Asbestos is a cheap insulating agent that is banned in most of the developed world because it is highly toxic and exposure to it greatly increases the odds of developing lung cancer.

Lax regulation in the third world has maintained a ready market for the toxic Asbestos, a market that Canada is more than willing to supply.

The United Nations’ Rotterdam Convention is an international system of labeling products that are toxic or dangerous. If a substance is listed by the convention there is a requirement that it be labeled with warnings about its dangers. The convention was designed as an early warning system for those that may not be aware of health and safety issues that might be attached to specific products.

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It was as if America released a collective sigh of relief.

After weeks of Senator Barack Obama leading in most political polls the pundits suddenly became cautious and began telling us that the race was close.

The American voter was unwilling to accept another election that was close. They wanted a clear decision made about the next four years, a clear and definitive break from the policies of the last eight years. They stood in line for hours, some in rain, some in blazing heat, to dramatically and specifically state that the United States of America had moved on.

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