Freshman congressman Tom Perriello , a Democrat representing the 5th district of Virginia, had a hard decision to make in voting for the American Clean Energy and Security Act ( ACES ). His hard fought seat and freshman status left him vulnerable to Republican attacks vehemently opposed to the bill, yet he voted for the legislation nonetheless, believing it the right thing to do. The decision to do so was made even harder after he received five letters from local constituency groups, including a Hispanic advocacy group and a local chapter of the NAACP, opposing the legislation. Or so he at first thought. According to an investigation by DailyProgress , it turns out those letters weren’t what they appeared to be and were in fact forged by Washington DC-area lobbyists. Read more of this story »

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Lobbyists Forge Letters Urging Vote Against Waxman-Markey Climate Bill

Photo credit: Getty Images The heat is on! Keep the glare out of your eyes—and protect those precious peepers of yours—with a pair of UV-deflecting shades. We’ve rounded up five of the most environmentally friendly sunglasses around, including two fresh new styles that launched within the past few weeks. (Don’t forget your sunblock !)… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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5 Sizzling Sustainable Sunglasses For Soaking in the Rays

The cap-and-trade legislation currently working its way through the US Senate aims to entice companies into cutting their greenhouse gas emissions before the law says they have to by offering early action credit for a handful of activities. Critics say that not only won’t do the job, but might entice them to delay improvements they can undertake now.

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Can U.S. Plan Entice Polluters into Early Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions?

Trash Shoes Can Dunk Nike’s Trash Talk basketball shoe is just as high-performing as its best shoes — it can play in the NBA — but it’s made from leftover leather and synthetic leather, foam, and rubber. And it just won Best in Show at the annual International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA), a prize handed out to the iPhone last year. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Nike’s Trashy Sneakers: Top Honors at Design Awards

Photo via Wallpapers Arena Hayden Panettiere made her love for sea mammals clear when she joined with other protesters to stop a dolphin hunt in Japan, but she’s proved herself as a hero to flying animals as well as swimmers; click through to see why–and for the rest of the week’s best celebrity green news. … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Hayden Turns Hero, Justin Tees Off, Gisele Saves the World, and More

Red Bull plead guilty Monday to 16 counts of failing to recover and recycle tonnes of packaging waste for eight years. The company must now pay a record £271,800 (US$453,868) in fines and fees.

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Red Bull Runs Afoul of U.K. Recycling Laws

Plant DNA ‘barcodes’ can help identify plants quickly and easily, without requiring an on-site visual ID from a botanist. Photo by Victoria Porter via Flickr.com. After four years of research, scientists have decided on a standard ‘DNA barcode’ for identifying plants. It sounds cool, if you like science (which I do), but is it perhaps one of those findings that’s great if you’re a researcher, but pretty much useless to the rest of the world? Well, no. According to a BBC article , DNA barcodes can be used to investigate illegal trade of

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Plant Barcodes to Help Quash Illegal Trade of Endangered Species

Diesel crop irrigation pump. Image credit: BEI International Today we are an oil-based civilization, one that is totally dependent on a resource whose production will soon be falling. Since 1981, the quantity of oil extracted has exceeded new discoveries by an ever-widening margin. In 2008, the world pumped 31 billion barrels of oil but discovered fewer than 9 billion barrels of new oil. World reserves of conventional oil are in a free fall, dropping every year…. Read the full story on TreeHugger

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The Oil Intensity Of Food

photo: Mike via flickr It’s only been a short while that you could actually participate in the Cash for Clunkers program — four days in fact — but response was so overwhelming that the program has already depleted its $1 billion budget, Raw Story reports: … Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Cash For Clunkers Breaks Its Bank in Less Than One Week (UPDATED)

Image via Carbon Gold Today the world’s first biochar methodology has been published for public consultation by the Voluntary Carbon Standard . This ground breaking paper has been submitted by the UK based biochar project developers Carbon Gold . They are confident that their methodology will help create an ethical and sustainable structure for a potential biochar offsetting industry. This method of turning waste biomass into charcoal has been lauded as… Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Carbon Gold Promote Strict Regulations With World’s First Biochar Methodology