The Greening of Europe Taking a Back Seat to the Economy?

When environmental push comes to economic shove, European Union ministers seem willing to back down on the EU’s tough environmental regulations to help limit the economic damage caused by “leakage” (production moving out of the EU to unregulated countries), according to this story: EU ministers responsible for industry, trade and research are due to agree …

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Stockholm Metro Art

Stockholm Metro Art Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. Stockholm’s subway system is geologic, carved out of solid bedrock, with the rock left showing many places. This is from a little alcove in the entrance to the Kungsträdgården metro station in downtown Stockholm. Sorry for the poor lighting, but it’s the best I could do with the …

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Stockholm Chess

Stockholm Chess Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. Thanks to the Inkstain posse for the suggestions for my Stockholm vacation itinerary. In particular Verbal and Dano – it had been rainy since I got to Stockholm (I didn’t mind) but the sun came out this afternoon, as did these two gentlemen in Kungstragaarden for a came of …

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Stockholm bike

Stockholm bike Originally uploaded by heinemanfleck. Stockholm’s bicycling zeitgeist is extraordinarily pragmatic. Almost no spandex. Almost no fixies. Just a lot of bikes like this, with baskets and fenders and locks. Some really nice locks. The people riding the bikes look far more pragmatic, too, like a cross section of the population. Good bike lanes …

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Groundwater Regulation in California (or lack thereof)

Here in New Mexico, groundwater is regulated – sort of. If you’re a big municipality that pumps a lot, for example, you can be required to buy up surface water rights to replace the water that inevitably seeps from the rivers down to replace that which you have pumped. It’s not really regulating groundwater directly, …

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