Environmental news: 25 November 2008

Your environmental news of the day:

• Acidic oceans: Worse than we thought (ArsTechnica)
  Carbon dioxide, released from burning fossil fuels, doesn't just enter the atmosphere; it dissolves into the seas, which makes them more acidic. New data suggest this is happening even faster than we thought, and that's bad news for shellfish.
• Where do all those used computers go? (ArsTechnica)
  Demand for repurposed secondary PCs is strong worldwide, but less than half of the systems intended for resale actually end up on someone's desk. The current market for these systems is fragmented, diverse, and somehow "losing" over half its inventory.
• Kerry and Specter push for more high speed rail (L.A. Times)
  The legislation authorizes billions in bonds to invest in our nation's crumbling to non-existent passenger rail infrastructure.  The Federal Rail Administration has already designated ten rail corridors that these bonds could help fund, including connecting the cities of the Midwest through Chicago, connecting the cities of the Northwest, connecting the major cities within Texas and Florida, and connecting all the cities up and down the East Coast.
• Save Coal River Mountain -- Now (DailyKos)
  Coal River Mountain in West Virginia is a beautiful forested area surrounded by communities with long experience with coal mining has been practiced for decades... Just yesterday, a permit to start blasting the top off the mountain was awarded to Massey Energy... And perhaps worst of all, Coal River Mountain has already been studied as a site for a wind farm. This wind farm would produce more energy than the coal that Blankenship will get from blasting down the mountain. It will employ more people.  And it will do it cleanly, preserving both the mountain and the surrounding communities... Sign the petition and contact Governor Manchin (1-888-438-2731) to put a hold on this permit.

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