L.A. Council shines light on solar power
A pilot program that would pay residents and businesses to sell solar-generated power back to the city received City Council approval on Tuesday. The long-debated feed-in tariff program would generate 10 megawatts of power for the Department of Water and Power – enough to supply about 10,000 households – and take effect in the coming months. The $3 million a year program will help the utility develop a pricing plan for how much residents would be reimbursed for creating solar energy.
Costal cleanup
The Ocean Conservancy has been organizing coastal cleanups for the past 26 years, with more than 9.3 million people collecting 153 million pounds of trash over an area spanning more than 300,000 miles in 153 countries and locations. Over the years, volunteers have found: 55 million cigarette butts, enough to rise to the height of 3,613 Empire State Buildings if stacked vertically; 870,935 diapers, enough to put one on every child born in the U.K. last year; One glass or plastic bottle for every resident of New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, and Philadelphia; Enough appliances to fill 37,434 single-axle dump trucks; and Enough cups, plates, forks, knives, and spoons to host a picnic for 2.15 million people.
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/marine-debris/2012-data-release.html
The Dark Side of Chocolate
Africa produces 70 percent of the world’s cocoa — much of it with the region’s infamously cheap labor. “In West Africa, where Hershey’s sources much of its cocoa, over 200,000 children are forced to harvest cocoa beans every year,” said Judy Gearhart, executive director of the International Labor Rights Forum, via a press release.