CONSERVATION - America Going Green?

Interesting article over at Newsweek that touches on many areas of personal conservation that could have a major impact on the world if only everyone would/could do it. Wind & solar-powered homes and more fuel-efficient cars are all slowly becoming more viable options for everyone. Recycling efforts are also getting better.

In the face of the coming onslaught of pollutants from a rapidly urbanizing China and India, the task of avoiding ecological disaster may seem hopeless, and some environmental scientists have, quietly, concluded that it is.

Urban planners are also thinking actively about obesity fighting "pedestrian-friendly" communities, something sadly lacking in the US where the automobile is king. And it's not just in America. Last I heard (correct me if I'm wrong), new home construction in Spain requires the mandatory inclusion of solar-panels on the roof.

Steven F. Hayward, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. "There's no problem environmentalists can't turn into an apocalyptic crisis," says Hayward.
[...]
Yet of all things, this hardheaded acolyte of the free market worries most about species extinction, among the most rarefied of ecological concerns. But, you see, Hayward has a young daughter. And she wants to be a zookeeper when she grows up.

Full article at Newsweek - Going Green In America.

As a side-note, let me complain bitterly about over-zealous city rules that prevent people doing what they want with their own home. A colleague of mine wanted desperately to join the growing number of people who are raising "pet" chickens to get their own fresh eggs. Yet a city ordinance denies her the opportunity.

She has ample backyard to accommodate the stylish, award-winning Omlet.com Eglu she wanted to get, but the city says no. What a shame. A couple of chickens pecking away harmlessly in a short chicken run seems far less offensive and dangerous to me than a great big Rottweiler dog, but I'm sure she could have one of those. It's not fair is it?