Image from oldphotosjapan : Mount Fuji in Clear Weather by Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849) Mt. Fuji in Japan is one of the most famous and iconic mountains in the world; it has been the subject of endless photographs, poems and paintings over the centuries. It is also a spiritual symbol, sacred in the Shinto religion. But it has become a huge site of tourism, growing in popularity yearly. There were 200,000 visitors a decade ago and 430,000 in 2008. With that growth comes garbage, noise, tacky tourist shops, more garbage and a lack of toilet facilities....Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo via The Telegraph Oshine the orangutan has a bit of a weight problem. After being kept as a pet for 13 years, lazing around and eating junk-food, the portly primate ballooned up to 220 pounds - but she should soon be on the right track to a hea...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo via NY Daily News It's beyond well-known by now that crucial mistakes and shoddy cost-cutting measures were instrumental in bringing about the tragedy at the Deepwater Horizon drill site. But it's still rather alarming to look at them back-to-back-to-back -- New Orleans Times...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo via MSNBC's Cosmic Blog It's an interesting question for followers of both politics and climate issues: How would things have turned out if Obama had thrown his weight behind clean energy legislation instead of health care reform? Would we now be looking at a freshly passed law designed to map out the future of the American energy economy and to stimulate job growth in sustainable sectors -- while curbing greenhouse gas pollution and ramping up renewables? Would Democrats have benefited from focusing on the economy i...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Image credit: ruurmo/Flickr Everything from fungus to parasites, pesticides to disease, pollution to habitat loss, has been blamed for the startling—often sudden—declines in bee populations worldwide...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo: Flickr, CC Adding 3MW Turbines Europe's largest onshore wind farm, which is located in East Renfrewshire in Scotland, is about to get even bigger. ScottishPower Renewables is planning to add 75 turbines to the existing 140, increasing the capacity of the wind farm from the current 322 megawatts to 539 megawatts. Read on for more details....Read the full story on TreeHugger

Credit: pgegreenenergy The Center for American Progress has ranked the Top 10 states for policies that promote energy efficiency. The report cautions, however, that even those states on the list haven't fully tapped into the power of using less power. ...Read the full story on TreeHugger

Photo: Flickr, CC Might Expand to Other Countries Speaking of "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle", IKEA Sweden wants to make it easier for owners of old IKEA furniture to give it a second life. Against their own commercial interest, the company is offering a free online platform where sellers and buyers can find themselves, and they aren't even taking a cut of the transactions. Read on for more details....Read the full story on TreeHugger

<embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9/59348474001?isVid=1&isUI=1&publish...Read the full story on TreeHugger

photo: Adam Tinworth via flickr Two new illustrations about how the US has stiff competition around the world in renewable energy: New York Times reports on how China has beaten the United States in building the first major offshore wind farm outside of Europe; <a href="http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/with-70-of-new-pv-solar-systems-in-2009-europe-continues-to-dominat...Read the full story on TreeHugger